Rather than make findings on the current state of the poultry industry and the ongoing challenges it faces owing to the dumping of imported chicken products, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), together with the government-led Poultry Task Team, which was established in January, would make specific policy interventions, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said on Wednesday.
In a written response to questions posed by the Democratic Alliance’s Dean McWilliams, Davies pointed out that this included the recently announced agroprocessing incentive which would be made available “as and when this work on each measure has been completed, and as and where appropriate”.
Further, Davies noted that the task team would keep in similar fashion as collaborative engagements in other sectors of the economy.
“In the steel sector, there is extensive and ongoing, long-term work and collaborative engagements with the private sector. In this regard, details of the ongoing work of government and with respect to its engagements in the Poultry Task Team, are a matter of public record since they were presented to Parliament on two occasions in considerable detail,” he said.
He added that private sector measures and interventions to save jobs, increase investment and exports, secure empowerment objectives and so forth, would continue to be made by the private sector as and when such institutions consider it appropriate to do so.
“Government respects the commercial and legal independence of industry associations, trade unions and companies, including with respect to those matters with which government may not be in agreement and whether or not they may have or may not have been discussed in the task team,” Davies pointed out.