EU dumping put the South African poultry industry into crisis mode in 2017 before widespread bird flu outbreaks curtailed EU chicken exports. Imports from the EU dropped to near zero in recent years, but are now starting to rise again.
FairPlay has frequently cited the example of Ghana, where EU dumping reduced a formerly thriving local industry to just 5% of the market. The Ghana government has invested millions in an effort to rebuild local chicken production.
Now there is a report that EU dumping has ruined the poultry industry in another West African country, Cameroon.
An article in Uganda’s Independent newspaper quoted Jane Nalunga, head of a regional trade promotion organisation, on the outcomes of a recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference in Dubai.
“She complained that while the poor countries are calling for an end to subsidies, especially in Europe and the USA, the farmers there are protesting and calling on their governments to increase the subsidies.
“She says that this makes trade agreements like the Economic Partnership Agreements irrelevant and dangerous for Africa as they only allow the West to continue producing cheaply and dumping the products into Africa and killing the local industry.
“She gave the example of the recent dump of chicken parts by Europe in Cameroon (which) she said has not only killed the poultry industry in West Africa but also the other industries like maize,” the newspaper reported.
This is yet another example of the harmful effects on local poultry industries of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that African countries, including South Africa, have signed with the EU.
While these agreements have been beneficial to African economies – encouraging investment and easing access to EU markets – sectors that are forced to compete with subsidised European imports suffer.
Africa’s poultry industries, for example, have been hammered because duty-free access for EU products led to a flood of dumped chicken imports that ruined local production. The only defence is safeguard duties and anti-dumping duties, which require expensive applications and lengthy waits for outcomes.
