The SA Poultry Association (SAPA) said in a statement it was puzzled by the approval of import rebate permits when it had assured the government that there was no shortage of chicken on the local market.
A shortage caused by bird flu is the requirement the government itself has set for approving import tariff rebates.
The rebates are based on a calculation by trade regulator ITAC that last December that there would be a shortage of 172 000 tonnes of chicken in South Africa in 2024. SAPA says the reality since then has been very different – the measures it has taken have ensured that there have been no shortages.
“In 2023, the Poultry Association guaranteed South Africa that it would not experience any shortages over the festive season, and it didn’t. The Association and its members are confident in its calculations and its approach in supplying South Africa with chicken, as the last reported shortage was over three years ago.
“Capacity has grown significantly in the last five years due to the industry’s investments totalling more than R2.1 billion; creating thousands of new jobs, and bolstering South Africa’s food security status in the process.”
SAPA said promoting imports through rebates was undoing the work undertaken by the industry as part of the 2019 poultry master plan.
“[Rebates] are designed to encourage additional chicken imports when the country does not need them. They will cause further harm to the South African poultry industry, which is beset by challenges on all sides,” said SAPA’s Izaak Breitenbach.
These challenges included the worst bird flu outbreak in the industry’s history. He noted that no poultry farmer had received a cent in recompense despite legislation which stipulated that farmers would be compensated for culling flock in accordance with the law.
Breitenbach said that, before the rebate permits were approved, the industry had formally advised the country’s agriculture department of research and findings that showed there was currently no shortage of chicken on the local market. It was distressed that, despite this, the department had apparently confirmed a shortage to the trade regulator, ITAC, which issued the rebate permits.
“It’s confusing, damaging to the poultry industry, and greatly undermining (and undoing!) the work of the master plan,” Breitenbach concluded.
