28 November 2017
Memorandum of Understanding between the Ghana Nation Association of Poultry Farmers, SA Poultry Association, Food and Allied Workers Union and the FairPlay anti-dumping movement.
Whereas the pernicious trade practice of dumping and predatory pricing has virtually destroyed the Ghanaian poultry industry so that it produces only 5% of broilers consumed in Ghana today, and;
Whereas dumping and predatory pricing in South Africa has destroyed thousands of small black poultry farmers and thousands of jobs in the broiler industry, with thousands more jobs at stake, and;
Whereas the primary dumping and predatory pricing practices in the poultry industries of Ghana and South Africa originate in countries in the European Union, and;
Whereas the governments of South Africa and Ghana seem to be unwilling or politically constrained to take appropriate, timeous action action against the EU, due to reported threats from the EU to act against these governments with punitive trade practices in other industries;
We therefore jointly resolve to;
1. Fight for a level playing field, requiring our respective governments to apply more appropriate tariffs, strictly apply the rules of health and other phytosanitary measures, food safety, labelling and tracing of product origin, and halaal certification in the same way that the EU and other countries apply rules.
2. Fight for the equal application of the Rule of Law by enforcing current rules, and level the playing field for local producers by applying the same rules for local and imported product.
3. Take the fight international to unite the voices of civil society and business with trade unions, politicians, governments and multi-lateral organisations to outlaw dumping and predatory pricing.
4. Seek competition law redress for people who lost their jobs and farms.
5. Advocate for a united African policy approach to the threat of dumping from the EU and other harmful traders.
6. Promote a case for development to benefit from appropriate trade practices, instead of being harmed by dumping.
7. Support the transformation of industry through the growth of new players into success, not into failure.
Signed:
Victor Oppong Adjei, Chairman, Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers
Charlotte Nkuna, interim CEO, SAPA
Katishi Masemola, general secretary, FAWU
Francois Baird, founder, FairPlay
