Call for govt to impose temporary tax rebate on imported chicken
The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters says a temporary tax rebate on import duties for chicken will help cushion consumers against the rising cost of poultry products.
The association has welcomed Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel's request to the International Trade Administration Commission to look into the possibility of relaxing duties.
It's in an effort to mitigate against the impact of the bird flu outbreak in South Africa.
The AMIE has written to the minister asking for a 12-month rebate on frozen bone-in chicken from 62% to 37%.
It wants duties on boneless chicken to be dropped from 42% to 12%.
READ: Bird flu outbreak could see spike in chicken, egg prices – association
The association says chicken offal like feet, livers and heads, which are consumed mostly by low-income households should be zero rated.
CEO Paul Matthew says reducing duties will allow chicken to be imported at an affordable price, while giving local producers the time to recover from the outbreak.
"So, we can balance the scale by bringing that 62% down to 37%, and that allows the product to be competitive to the retail stores which have a huge benefit to the SA consumer.
"Obviously, once the local producers can get their production sorted or sort out the AI issue at a tariff of a 37%, they'll still be very competitive."
