Chicken fight back in court

An application by the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) to have restrictions on poultry imports into Namibia set aside returned to the Windhoek High Court yesterday. SAPA, along with South African chicken producers Astral Foods Ltd, Supreme Poultry, Crown Chickens, Sovereign Foods, Afgri Poultry and Rainbow Farms, have brought the application against Namibia's trade minister. The government, Namib Poultry Industries and the Meat Board are cited as the second, third and fourth respondents.The matter is now back in the Windhoek High Court following a ruling by the Supreme Court that High Court Judge Shafimana Ueitele's dismissal of the application on 8 July 2016, without hearing the merits of the case, was wrong. Ueitele had ruled that there had been an unreasonable delay in the launching of review proceedings. Then trade minister Calle Schlettwein had, in April 2013, limited imports of frozen chicken portion to 1 500 tonnes a month. The applicants launched their application for review on 17 April 2014, a year later.The applicants then appealed to the Supreme Court.In the January 2018 Supreme Court ruling, Judge Dave Smuts, along with acting judges Theo Frank and Yvonne Mokgoro, said Ueitele's finding that there had been unreasonable delay was correct. But they added that he should have considered the merits of the case before deciding whether or not to condone the delay.The Supreme Court made specific mention of the public interest in the case but would not entertain the merits of the matter. The judges ruled that they condoned the delay and directed that the matter return to the High Court to be heard. Double standardsInterestingly, SAPA, as published in the South African Government Gazette on 30 November last year, has applied to the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) to increase the general rate of customs duty on bone-in chicken portions from 37% to 82%, and that of boneless chicken portions from 12% to 82%. SAPA is effectively seeking a substantial hike in import tariffs to protect the South African poultry industry, while at the same time asking Namibian courts to set aside Namibia's 'procedurally unfair' import limitations. It alleges that the Namibian government has violated the Protocol to the SADC Agreement and also the SACU Agreement. The entire Namibian poultry industry is equivalent to 2% of South Africa's poultry production.Speaking to Business Live this week, South African Food and Allied Workers Union general secretary Katishi Masemola appealed to that government to grant the new tariff.“Let South Africans produce the food that our people eat … SA chicken producers should be expanding and creating jobs, not the opposite. This is the biggest sector of the agricultural industry and tens of thousands of workers depend on chicken production for their livelihood, particularly in rural areas where unemployment is an epidemic,” he said.Even Fairplay South Africa, an organisation that fights against predatory trade practices and dumping, supported the application.Francois Baird, the founder of the organisation, told Business Live: “We have watched in dismay as a highly competitive local industry has been reduced to an existential crisis by years of steadily increasing imports of chicken portions dumped below the cost of production. “Higher tariffs will help protect the industry and the thousands of jobs which are at risk because of these opportunistic imports that have been steadily rising to the point where imports now claim between a quarter and a third of the SA market.”Business Live reports that the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein warned of dire consequences for SA consumers and the economy, should the application for higher import tariffs be granted.It said the argument that SA, as a “globally efficient producer of chicken” faces profit challenges and job losses due to imports of frozen chicken “does not sustain itself”. It stated that bird flu outbreaks since 2017 are the main reason why the poultry industry in South Africa is facing challenges.In court yesterday before Judge Harold Geier, the parties discussed the structure of the matter. At the heart of the issue heard was whether an interlocutory application brought by the defendants to file another, supplementary affidavit would be heard separately or concurrently with the main application.YANNA SMITH

Chicken fight back in court

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-05

Please login to leave a comment

Chicken fight back in court

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-05

Please login to leave a comment

Login