South Africa Lifts Chicken Import Tariffs

South Africa will increase the import duty on chicken to help the local industry and stop job losses, a government official said.

Briefing the media in Pretoria, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies claimed that the increase in the tariffs on imported chicken is aimed at cushioning South Africa's distressed poultry industry, which employs about 100 000 people.

The new import tariffs on shipped whole birds from abroad took effect on Sep. 30, 2013, marking a rise from 27 percent to 82 percent, except those from the European Union.

The duty of imports of chicken carcass will be up from 27 percent to 31 percent.

The carcasses represented around 2 percent of poultry imports over the last 12 months, while the whole birds during the same period made up less than 1 percent of poultry imports.

Claiming that the imports of chicken from other countries like Brazil would result in the loss of about 20 000 jobs, the South African Poultry Association and other related organizations have approached the government in the recent months, requesting the increase of import tariffs to protect home producers.