South African poultry body criticised for over-protectionism
South Africa's SA Poultry Association (Sapa) has been slammed for its zealous protectionism of the local chicken industry, a move that could contribute to the country's suspension from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), AllAfrica reported.
Agoa is a US trade initiative that serves to improve market access to the States for qualifying sub-Saharan African countries.
David Wolpert, CEO of the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters of SA (AMIE), accused Sapa of playing a "disproportionate" role during negotiations with the US by insisting on "unreasonable" and "extraordinary" measures that favour the "uncompetitive" local industry.
Wolpert's displeasure stemmed from the stringent Salmonella testing regime placed on US poultry entering South Africa. The protocol, in use by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, was based on an EU model and complied with standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health.
"With any local production, you can test all steps in the production process so you have a wider set of results on which to base an assessment of disease incidence," said Kevin Lovell, CEO of Sapa, as he compared testing on US chicken imports to domestic production.
Testing for South Africa's poultry sector is conducted on multiple categories including breeding stock, feed ingredients, farms, abattoirs, and the final product. All data are then made available to government veterinary services.
"With any imports, DAFF can but only test what lands on our shores," Lovell told South Africa's business and finance news site, Fin24.
The US poultry trade to South Africa is significantly affected as poultry from close to 20 US states - affected by 2015's avian flu outbreak – are prevented from entering the market due to terms listed in the Poultry Veterinary Trade Protocol (PVTP). These products are hence excluded from 65,000 tonnes of chicken that the US could resume exporting to South Africa, from December 31, 2015 onwards.