South Africa going to war over chicken imports

Tariffs imposed by South Africa on imported chicken have come under scrutiny from both local importers and international export markets.

Trade negotiators from the United States have demanded that the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) tariffs be removed on US chicken exports to South Africa.

These MFN tariffs apply to all countries except the European Union, the United Kingdom, and other Southern African Development Community countries, such as Namibia and Botswana.

According to the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), these tariffs are estimated to apply to approximately 30% of all South African chicken imports.

The non-profit trade movement FairPlay has warned that if an MFN exemption is granted to the US, other major poultry exporters such as Brazil will likely campaign for similar treatment.

This comes after the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA) president, Ricardo Santin, criticised the anti-dumping duties imposed by South Africa on Brazilian chicken exports.

Speaking at ABPA’s International Animal Protein Trade Show in São Paulo, Santin labelled this as a form of “protectionism” not from South Africa’s government, but from its poultry industry.

“They say that we harm their business, and this is not true,” Santin said. “We support meat protein supply in instances where there are supply shocks such as avian flu.”

FairPlay refuted this assertion, explaining that the anti-dumping duties were imposed by the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) in 2023 specifically to protect local poultry producers.

An investigation undertaken by ITAC in 2022 determined that bone-in chicken pieces from several countries, including Brazil, were being exported to South Africa at unfairly low prices.

In addition to the anti-dumping duties, Brazilian chicken exports coming into South Africa are also subject to general MFN tariffs ranging from 30% to 82%.

These tariffs were raised in 2013 and again in 2020 in response to multiple countries, including Brazil, doing the same with their chicken products.

Despite the duties and tariffs imposed on Brazilian chicken, the country remains the single largest exporter of poultry to South Africa, accounting for 85% of all chicken imports in 2025.

What this could mean for South African poultry

In addition to the MFN tariff exemption, the United States demanded that South Africa import a substantial quota of US bone-in chicken, free of anti-dumping duties.

This second request was ultimately granted to the US, with FairPlay warning that a subsequent removal of the MFN tariff would signal unfair treatment to other poultry exporters.

“South Africa has already conceded the duty-free quota and is under pressure on the additional MFN tariffs,” FairPlay said.

“If the US gets its way, then Brazil and other countries will claim that America is being given an unfair trade advantage. ‘Our chicken should also be free of MFN tariffs’, they will say.”

FairPlay said this move would likely be supported by domestic chicken importers, who would stand to profit from the removal of these tariffs, while local jobs and production would suffer.

Many of these domestic importers are members of South Africa’s Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE), who were present at ABPA’s trade show.

Speaking at the event, AMIE CEO Paul Matthew told Business Times that South Africa should follow Brazil’s model to become a key poultry exporter itself.

“This African agricultural side, if you take poultry, can learn so much from Brazil,” Matthew said. “You have to look at how Brazil works, how the farmers are integrated into the whole system.”

“If South Africa and Africa got their act together, we could also be in that position, but we just focus on this protection issue and don’t look at the bigger picture.”

Matthew pointed to the Poultry Sector Master Plan, which was launched by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) in 2019.

At the time, the DTIC listed reducing export barriers and increasing poultry export volumes as one of the key aims of the plan.

This has been largely ineffective, as key markets such as the UK and the EU remain closed to South African poultry exports nearly seven years after the master plan’s launch.