The SA Poultry Association (SAPA) says South African consumers can relax – the industry has acted quickly to address supply problems, caused by the mandatory culling of millions of chickens due to bird flu outbreaks.
Local producers will be able to supply all or most of the year-end demand and “the industry expects that any shortages this festive season will be minimal”.
Chicken importers dispute the “no shortages” message.
“That’s just not true,” Paul Matthew, CEO of the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters, said in a radio interview with SAFM.
Those are strong words. If year-end supplies are adequate, Matthew may have to eat those words, and apologise for calling wolf.
While that’s several weeks away, what matters to Matthew is what the government believes now. There will soon be an announcement on whether or not to rebate (ie discount or cancel) import tariffs and anti-dumping duties on imported chicken.
The motivation for those rebates would be to avoid a chicken supply shortage at year-end and into 2024. Importers want the rebates, which would lead to more chicken imports, and it’s important to them that the government believes there’s going to be a shortage.
As the rebate decision gets nearer, Matthew is arguing that we have a supply crisis and “emergency measures” – such as rebates – are required.
The message from poultry producers is very different – rebates are not only unnecessary, because the crisis has passed, but they would threaten the existence of many of South Africa’s chicken farmers.
That’s a far more serious message for the government to listen to.
