The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters of Southern Africa (AMIE) says speed is of the essence in rolling out emergency measures to mitigate possible poultry shortages and price increases this festive season.
This is due to recent recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza HPAI (bird flu) outbreak in the country. The highly contagious H7 strain has resulted in over 7.5 million chickens being culled in the local poultry industry this year alone.
Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa, Ebrahim Patel gave the industry and affected parties two weeks to make submissions to create a temporary rebate on imported chicken products.
This short submission timeline was made in an attempt to take urgent measures to protect consumers against shortages and a spike in chicken product prices.
In a statement, the association said it is concerned that this urgent process has been delayed by parties opposing the rebate. Some groups have allegedly asked for an extension to provide their submissions.
AMIE added that the sense of urgency is not being seen on the ground, within the relevant Government departments responsible for fast-tracking poultry import permits.
“The sooner that we start behaving like we’re in a crisis, the sooner we can address the crisis, and we are just not seeing that behaviour yet.” AMIE CEO, Paul Matthew
Matthew says that while the local poultry industry has initiated measures to address the shortages, like importing over 50 million hatching eggs over the next 6 months, the reality is that there is a shortage now, which will persist for some time to come.
The current shortages have already resulted in price increases, with some stores restricting customers to only purchasing a certain amount of eggs and/or chicken meat. Some wholesalers have seen the price of whole birds increase by 20%, chicken necks by 17% and chicken carcasses and bones by 25%.
The temporary rebate will help offset the negative impact chicken supply shortage on households, particularly low-income households that are increasingly vulnerable to food insecurity.
“Unless the rebate is granted, the domestic market is likely to experience significant price increases following the decline in local supply.”
READ MORE: Bird flu cases on the decline – SA Poultry Association
