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Poultry groups urge WTO challenge in South Africa dumping case
Story Date: 7/11/2012
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Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 7/10/12
In a letter sent to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk last week, the National Chicken Council and USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USPEEC) said that they “strongly urge you to match Brazil’s commitment to its industry by filing a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge on behalf of U.S. chicken exporters” against the anti-dumping duties South Africa imposed on U.S. chicken nearly 12 years ago.
They also urged the U.S. government to support Brazil as a third-party in its case “if Brazil will agree to reciprocate and support the United States in its case,” the letter added.
On June 21, Brazil filed a challenge with the WTO against the anti-dumping duties South Africa imposed on Brazilian chicken. South Africa imposed anti-dumping duties on U.S. poultry imports over two decades ago using the “same flawed theory” that it recently used against Brazilian imports, the letter explained.
Using a weighted average export price for U.S. bone-in chicken cuts from 2000 through the first quarter of 2012, the effective average duty levied by South Africa on those products is 258.8 percent, the letter said.
The groups argued that if South Africa opens its market to U.S. bone-in chicken parts, exports would increase to 127,000 metric tons annually, and U.S. bone-in chicken parts price would increase 4 percent at the wholesale level.
“At every step, the South African government acted on the assumption that it would violate WTO rules with impunity, and U.S. inaction has confirmed and rewarded that approach. … Countries like South Africa are illegally blocking U.S. exports at a time when the president’s policy is to double U.S. exports over a five-year period,” according to the letter.
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