Johannesburg - A court application for information pertaining to an increase in chicken import duty costs was disrupting what was usually an internal process, the SA Poultry Association (Sapa) said on Thursday.
It was responding to the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters' (Amie) announcement that it intended filing a high court application on June 18 for access to information which might shed light on future chicken import duty costs.
"Amie is disrupting the normal [International Trade Administration Commission of SA (Itac)] process by using the courts, but we respect their right to do so. It is for the judge to decide," said the Sapa's CEO Kevin Lovell.
The proper way of doing things would be to take Itac's decision about an import duty increase on review once it was made, he said. Itac would hear the Sapa's proposal for an increase on Tuesday.
"We do not believe it is necessary [for Amie] to have the information. We gave them all the information we could, they disagree with that [and are] trying to force Itac to release confidential financial information of some companies," Lovell said.
Amie said it opposed an increase, which it feared could be anything up to 82%, from 24%.
It claimed that while Itac had initiated investigations, it had not verified some information, and had reduced the period for comment from four weeks to three.
Itac had said it had to move fast, because the industry was in distress.
Amie disputed this, and said it was mostly doing well.
It said any problems were not to blame on imports, at up to 12% of local consumption a year, but on the local industry's business model, which had focused on creating a market for cheap bags of frozen chicken pieces made heavier with brine.
"We are not a threat to local industry, and we are hardly an import- dominant industry," said Amie CEO David Wolpert.
Amie said its application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria would be filed against the Sapa and Itac's chief commissioner, for access to information the Sapa had supplied Itac.
"We believe [the information] is flawed, and we want a chance to interrogate it properly," said Amie executive committee member Georg Southey.
Amie said 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.