Another call on Minister Patel to implement the anti-dumping duties came from Remgro, the majority shareholder in Rainbow’s parent company, RCL Foods.
Remgro also said the Minister should have consulted the poultry industry before deciding to suspend the implementation of the anti-dumping duties, a decision which would negatively affect poultry producers.
“As investors in the poultry industry, we remain supportive of the Poultry Master Plan which was co-created by government and industry to harness and support the local industry’s potential. We therefore share the industry’s disappointment in the Ministry’s lack of consultation prior to the latest determination,” Remgro said.
“We believe the goodwill created over the years of crafting the Master Plan would have led to finding the appropriate solutions to better alleviate the plight of the consumer without reversing the gains made by local industry to date, and in turn putting the industry’s prospects at risk.
“We believe the postponement of the implementation of the anti-dumping duties will negatively impact the local industry’s capacity to grow and continue to incrementally contribute positively to job creation and government’s localisation efforts.
“That said, we are proud to support Rainbow Chicken’s planned R220m investment at its Hammarsdale processing plant. We however join the call on the Ministry to reconsider the latest determination in order to create an operating environment for local industry that supports its efforts to remain competitive, grow and deliver on the Master Plan,” Remgro concluded.
