THE cat has been set amongst the chickens in the poultry industry due to increasing dissent between established players, and proponents of transformation who want a better empowerment stake, bringing into question tenements of the Poultry Master Plan.
Proponents of the Master Plan, mainly the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) and advocacy group Fairplay, argue it is the best way to bring at least 50 emerging players into the fold with a target of R1 billion to develop local producers.
Kobedi Pilane, co-ordinator of the African Poultry Producer (APP) chapter of the African Farmer Association of South Africa (AFASA) said the stake needed to be higher for emerging producers, with as much as 60 percent interest.
He also argued for the opening up of the export market to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the European Union (EU) itself which have shown a penchant for pre-cooked white chicken portions, the very preference that leads to dumping of chicken into the South African market.
Pilane is opposing the closing off of imports to protect local producers whom he identified as holding more than 75 percent of the market, and are in the main white male, who are clogging up the industry for black producers in the supply of inputs including chicks and eggs.
"The Poultry Master Plan is failing. It has to change because it is a continuation of the dominance by established producers who only want emerging farmers to be growers,” Pilane said.
Local importers have decried the new review of import tariffs as a ploy to block transformation in the sector as progress is awaited on the Poultry Master Plan by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (Dtic).
The International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) confirmed this week that a sunset review of investigation on frozen bone-in chicken from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland and Spain was on-going.
Local producers have made a fresh application to Itac for a new tariff structure to control anti-dumping practices – a move importers are unhappy with, citing a consequent increase in poultry prices if import tariffs are effected.
The last tariffs were implemented in March last year and levied rates for Most Favoured Nations from 37 percent to 62 percent for bone-in cuts, and 12 percent to 42 percent on boneless cuts.
Local producers have made a fresh application to Itac for a new tariff structure to control anti-dumping practices – a move importers are unhappy with, citing a consequent increase in poultry prices if import tariffs are effected.
Emerging Black Importers and Exporters of South Africa (Ebisa) chairperson Unati Speirs, said this week that the organisation was aggrieved as additional tariffs on imports would spike the price of chicken for consumers and raise barriers for importers.
“The Itac application is a ploy by the South African Poultry Association to talk about their crisis when they are opposed to transformation. We have submitted our argument to the government agency, Itac. We pleaded for transformation in both imports and production. There must be space for black businesses in a black consumer market,” Speirs said.
Itac communication manager Thalukanyo Nangammbi confirmed an on-going investigation on frozen bone-in chicken, following an earlier determination in August to the sunset review of the anti-dumping duties on frozen bone-in chicken originating from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
South Africa consumes about 26 million chickens a week, close to a billion meals a year, making poultry the biggest sector of the agricultural industry.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE