South Africa investigates EU Chicken ‘Dumping’

South Africa’s European trading partners — Germany, the Netherlands and the UK — are being probed by the International Trade Administration Commission Itac for alleged dumping of frozen bone-in chicken portions.

According to BusinessDay, the investigation follows the recent increase of import duties on five categories of imported chicken products. The new tariffs have already been introduced, but did not apply to imports from the European Union EU, with which South Africa has a trade and co-operation agreement

.The South African Poultry Association has, however, brought an application against European poultry producers and exporters, claiming they are dumping their products in the South African Customs Union Sacu countries.XA International Trade Advisors director Donald MacKay said on Monday that it seemed as if the association was determined to close the market for chicken imports.

“Importers have become quite fatigued by the frequency of the applications, but will go to battle again. They expected the application, but exporters are a bit more surprised and quite concerned

.”Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies last month defended the overall average tariff increase of 8.75 percentage points on chicken imports, and said they did not constitute “protectionism”.

Itac accepted the association’s latest application on the grounds that there was prima facie evidence of dumping by the European countries that caused producers in Sacu material injury.”

The applicant submitted sufficient evidence and established a prima facie case to enable the commission to arrive at a reasonable conclusion that an investigation should be initiated on the basis of dumping, material injury, threat of material injury and causality,” Itac said in the Government Gazette on Friday.

via Commission Probes Claim of Chicken Dumping in South Africa – The Poultry Site.