The poultry industry is facing a new crisis that could cause more than 12,000 jobs to be lost in the industry.
The SA Poultry Association is accused of having employed a so-called “gate-waiting” strategy when applying their 82% tariff increase to poultry imports.
The application was sent to the International Trade Administration Committee, which has to make the decision in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry.
The suspicion is that a 66% increase in the import levy will be approved, but the unpredictability in the department may yield other surprises.
The poultry industry has suffered major losses over the past few years when the government imported tons of frozen chicken carcasses from the US, the grade of which is much weaker than the domestic product.
An increase with the import levy will protect the SA industry as farmers in the US and European countries are heavily subsidized and, consequently, can
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