South Africa increases tariffs on poultry imports

The South African Government has increased tariffs on poultry imports to address the issue of cheap shipments.

On 13 March 2020, the government released a gazette in which it decided to increase the poultry tariffs from 37% to 62% on bone-in chicken portions.

The increased duty will apply to poultry imports from all countries excluding European Union and Southern African Development Community members.

Bloomberg reported that the increase in poultry tariffs has drawn criticism from the US Government.

In an email to the publication, the US Embassy Pretoria spokesman Robert Mearkle said: “The US Government is deeply disappointed with South Africa’s decision to raise the already high tariff rates on imported poultry to a substantially higher level.

“Ensuring that US poultry exports continue to have fair access to the South African market is critical.”

On the other hand, the South African Poultry Association is said to have urged the government to increase the tariffs on poultry shipments from the US and Brazilian markets as it contributed to an annual loss of $393m for South African poultry farmers.

In addition, the South African Government also increased tariffs on frozen boneless chicken cuts from 12% to 42%.

South African Poultry Association general manager Izaak Breitenbach was quoted by Bloomberg as saying: “We created grain farms in Brazil, America and Europe and we’ve created feed mills, chicken farms and slaughterhouses there, and what we’ve created is poverty in South Africa and slow economic growth in South Africa.”

According to the government’s official data, the country imported 383,000t of chicken in 2018, which was used to make processed food such as sausages.