Domestic poultry sector faces 'major threat'

The Namibian poultry sector has been battling against large quantities of poultry imports, increasing from an estimated 27 719 tonnes in 2017 to 58 508 tonnes in 2021 – an 111.1% increase.

According to the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), the domestic poultry meat sector competes with products imported at an average price of N$16.8 per kilogram, while the local selling price is about N$42.0, excluding VAT.

"The large number of imported products has resulted in surplus domestic produce."

It says that a continuation of more of these unsold surplus products will result in near-future job losses, a loss in government revenue, and material injury to the domestic market.

"The domestic poultry sector is therefore under a major threat."

Careful consideration

South Africa recently announced a decision to suspend anti-dumping duties on poultry from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, and Spain for a period of 12 months.

It said that this was because of the rapid rise in food prices and the impact that the imposition of the anti-dumping duties may have on the price of chicken.

According to the NAU, the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) lodged an anti-dumping application with the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) of South Africa against the importation of frozen bone-in portions of chicken from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, and Spain into the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) market.

ITAC accepted the application on 13 January 2021, and commissioned an investigation after careful consideration about whether poultry meat was being imported at dumped prices in SACU.

The NAU said that during the process, ITAC made preliminary determinations and imposed provisional anti-dumping duties effective from 1 December 2021 to 14 June 2022, pending the outcome of the said investigations.

Duties suspended

ITAC’s procedures only require that a substantive portion of the domestic industry or market be affected for it to act. The South African poultry sector is deemed sufficiently large to meet this requirement on its own without the need for poultry industries in other SACU countries to be taken into account.

Therefore, Namibia also had to pay the applicable anti-dumping duties when importing from those countries, while domestic producers will also benefit from the protection provided by the additional duties.

The duties lapsed in June 2022, and on 1 August, South Africa declared the approval of anti-dumping duties after confirming dumping and material injury within SACU.

"South Africa suspended the duties due to high food inflation in South Africa, the SACU market and globally. The question is, will consumers really benefit from this decision," the NAU said.