Share

'Dumped' poultry will impact jobs - Fawu

Cape Town – Increased poultry tonnages shipped from the US under the Agoa agreement will negatively affect job retention, according to the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu)

“It is clear that the much higher ‘dumped’ poultry will negatively affect job retention and may cause major downward pressure on wages. It will also push certain local firms to the edge, and some may close shop,” Fawu said in a statement.

In his budget speech in Parliament on May 21, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said that the US Senate passed a bill for the African Growth and Opportunity Act to be extended for a period of 10 years and for SA to be included.

READ: Value of Agoa is diminishing, says Rob Davies

South Africa has imposed anti-dumping tariffs of above 100% since 2000 on certain products derived from a chicken carcass. SA’s rationale for imposing duties is the fact that, due to the local market, all cuts of the chicken are valued equally.

In the US white meat - more commonly known as chicken breasts - fetches a premium price due to market demands. Brown meat, known as bone-in chicken, is a surplus product which allows the US to enter the SA market with cheaper prices.

The South African Poultry Association has entered negotiations on the premise that an unrestricted influx of US poultry undermines the SA market and will essentially “remove the third largest producer from our market in volume terms", the association's CEO Kevin Lovell told Fin24 in an exclusive interview in March.

Fawu has warned that the new Agoa arrangements shouldn’t undermine economic development and employment sustainability, directly or indirectly, in the poultry sector of South Africa.

“Fawu’s stance is informed by its policy decisions that the manufacturing industry in this country must be defended and expanded and food security needs to be entrenched as a matter of government policy imperative.

“Our Government is now being asked to subject our poultry sector to increased dumped poultry tonnages from the USA, more than
double the allowable tonnage limit under the current Agoa agreement,” Fawu said.

At a Parliamentary briefing on April 10 Davies acknowledged that the issue was “far bigger than chicken”, and said it did not mean that SA would dismiss the interests of the large poultry industry and its thousands of jobs.

ALSO READ: Davies: 'Sweet spot' sought on Agoa chicken row

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.93
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.90
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.43
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.1%
Platinum
907.85
+1.2%
Palladium
1,012.25
+1.1%
Gold
2,218.87
+1.1%
Silver
24.85
+0.8%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.8%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.8%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders