Resistance is mounting in the country to cheap EU chicken imports already on supermarket shelves.
Both the Food and Allied Workers Union and the South African Poultry Association said that the recent introduction of a 13.9% import tariff, while a step in the right direction, was not enough to protect South African jobs.
On Friday Fawu said the recent hike in the import tariff was "too little too late" and it warned of further protest action on this issue in the new year.
“Whilst increased tariff hikes, safeguard duties and anti-dumping measures are welcomed interventions, we nevertheless have qualms in their short-term nature and in their little-impact effect and hence our call for a review of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), between South Africa and EU as well as the bilateral trade between RSA with UK, on the issue of trade in poultry produce and products,” said Fawu's Katisha Masemola.
He said that the dumping of chicken on the South African market affected the country’s food security, eliminated local manufacturing jobs and contributed to unemployment in a country that already has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.
In a statement on Monday, the South African Poultry Association said the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa's (ITAC) original essential facts letter agreed with the local industry’s claim of severe distortion and material damage to our market.
"This is a direct result of the huge volumes of dumped and unwanted bone-in chicken portions entering South Africa via the EU because of the unlimited access provided by the bi-lateral free trade agreement between the EU and SA," says Stander. "We know from bitter experience that the 37% most favoured nation tariff that applies to all countries except the EU barely stems the tide of imports, so it is absolutely baffling how ITAC believes that 13.9% could ever work," the statement said.
The statement further added that Chris Schutte, CEO of Astral Foods, said the duty applied is "ridiculous" and will do nothing to halt the job losses facing the industry, and is tantamount to "spitting on the graves of poultry sector workers".
Schutte also said, "It is disappointing when you see how other governments, like the US' recent AGOA interventions, work to protect their industries, create and maintain jobs in rural areas, and ensure their country's food security into the future."
Stander also said "The one instrument our country had to fight back is gone, leaving an industry decimated and thousands of job losses imminent," he says, adding that the only winners are the few white-owned profiteering importers belonging to the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE).
Schutte said that food security cannot be built on the back of imports, because when more lucrative markets present themselves, these imports dry up, leaving empty shelves and people without food.
He added that "as producers, our responsibility is to ensure a sustainable supply of quality and nutritious food at the reasonable prices - the right food at the right price."
