Johannesburg –
The National Freedom Party is calling for an end to the importation of
chickens.
This comes as
media reports emerged that some 3 500 workers in the chicken farming
industry will be retrenched this year.
Several chicken
companies have been battling as a result of chickens being imported from
countries such as the US as they are not able to effectively compete.
Under the
African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), South Africa agreed to allow
chickens to be imported into the country so it can benefit from trade benefits
with the US.
When SA lifted
the barriers to US poultry, beef and pork imports, the US government said this
would likely increase the sales of those products by about $160 million a year.
Read also: Chicken imports damage Astral
Mike Brown,
President of the US National Chicken Council, said last March that said close to
$100 million of that would be chicken exports.
In a statement,
the political party said it is government’s responsibility to ensure the South
African public is aware of the ramifications of the imports, adding that
government should be supporting local businesses.
“As the party,
we urge people to support local businesses and do away with imported chickens
in order to save our fellow South Africa’s jobs in poultry industry.”
Spokesman Sabelo
Sigudu argues in the statement, issued under his name, that the chickens are
genetically modified and can be “poisonous”.