High court to hear about chicken import duty costs

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 The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters will bring an application in the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday for information about an increase in chicken import duty costs.

Announcing the planned court action earlier this month, the Association said the information might shed light on future chicken import duty costs.

It opposed an increase, which it feared could be anything up to 82%, from the present 24%.

It said its application was being filed against the SA Poultry Association and the International Trade Administration Commission of SA for access to information the former had supplied to the latter.

The Association claimed that higher import duties would make prices higher for consumers, whose only source of protein, in many cases, was chicken.

It was also concerned that it could cause job losses among the 15 000 people who cut, repackaged and distributed the imported chicken.