Photo by: Bloomberg
The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) has welcomed antidumping action taken by the International Trade and Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) against European Union (EU) countries found dumping poultry products in South Africa.
Preliminary antidumping duties were instituted against imports from the Netherlands, Germany and the UK after Sapa applied, in October, for Itac to investigate.
Newswire Bloomberg reported that provisional duties of 22% to 73% were imposed until January on frozen bone-in portions from the three countries.
Sapa CEO Kevin Lovell said in a statement that the dumping activities of the three countries was “difficult to understand” as poultry was imported from the EU duty-free as a result of trade agreements signed 20 years ago.
However, as a result, he noted that the local industry was “suffering material injury” from dumped poultry produced by these countries.
The association would now seek clarity on why differing antidumping duties were applied against poultry from Germany and the Netherlands.
“We have no doubt that poultry importers will continue to look for cheap chicken, dumped or otherwise, and we will remain vigilant to ensure that international trade agreements are adhered to and our local industry does not suffer from a stacked deck,” he concluded.