Nonprofit trade movement FairPlay and the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) have welcomed the new, higher chicken import tariffs that were published in the Government Gazette on Friday.

However, FairPlay said it remained to be seen whether or not the tariffs would stem the tide of “predatory” trade and chicken dumping in South Africa.

Government has approved chicken import tariff increases to 62% on bone-in chicken portions, from 37% previously, and to 42% on boneless portions, from 12% previously.

The South African poultry industry had applied for an 82% tariff increase on both categories.

“The industry has, for a long while, been in distress owing to unfair trade and the dumping of chicken into South Africa. As a key agricultural, food-producing industry that has been under threat, with repercussions for food safety, employment and rural economic development, we believe the tariffs granted . . . are a step in the right direction,” said Sapa broiler organisation GM Izaak Breitenbach.

“This will be the first test of the Poultry Industry Master Plan that was signed late last year. One of the plan’s objectives was to contain imports so that the industry could recover, grow and create jobs.

“To succeed, the new tariffs on chicken imported from Brazil, as well as earlier higher duties on chicken imports from the European Union (EU), must prove to be sufficient to halve the surge of predatory imports and prevent job losses,” said FairPlay founder Francois Baird.

He pointed out that chicken imports had doubled between 2010 and 2018, and, because protection of the local industry had been inadequate, most of the increase in demand for chicken in recent years had been catered for by imports, at the expense of small-scale farmers and their workers.

He said imports accounted for nearly 30% of all chicken sold in South Africa. Baird suggested that this market share for imports would need to be curbed to 10%, as the EU had done with a curb to around 7% in its imported chicken market.

Baird added that the R6-billion that was paid last year to foreign producers of imported chicken could have instead been spent on local production.

“The new tariff is a step to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the local poultry industry, which is the largest contributor to agricultural gross domestic product in South Africa.

“The industry had already started rolling out a R1.5-billion expansion programme aimed at creating economic growth and jobs, based on its commitment to the Poultry Sector Industry Master Plan,” said Breitenbach.