Following representations made by the South African Poultry Association in January 2021, the Government International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) has imposed anti-dumping duties on bone-in chicken imported from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, and Spain to be levied until June 2022. Chicken meat from the E.U. was imported duty-free until January 2022, but from January 2022 onwards, the rate for Brazil will increase from 62 percent to 265 percent, for Denmark the anti-dumping duty will be 67.4 percent, for Ireland 158.4 percent, Poland 96.9 percent, and Spain 85.8 percent. The ITAC will announce final anti-dumping duties for the five nations in June 2022.
The action by the ITAC follows imposition of anti-dumping duties on bone-in chicken from the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom in August 2021. United States exporters pay a 62 percent duty on bone-in portions under the Tariff Rate Quota.
The USDA-FAS Post in Pretoria estimated that in 2020, the U.S. supplied 39 percent of bone-in chicken followed by Ireland and Brazil at 18 percent each, Denmark at 11 percent, and other EU nations 13 percent.
Domestic producers in the Republic of South Africa are unable to satisfy demand and profitability is restrained by high ingredient, fuel, power and labor costs. The price of frozen chicken increased by 22 percent over the 12-months to July 2021. Imposition of anti-dumping duties will result in a rise in the price of chicken and reduce availability to the majority of the population. This will have political implications for the ruling African National Congress Party that is currently unable to restrain inflation, supply electric power or maintain services in the nation.