David Wolpert has got himself into a froth about mechanically deboned meat, or MDM (“Let us all be honest,” May 20). He’s concerned that market share statistics for local and imported chicken are somehow manipulated by including imported MDM in the calculations.
Wolpert is presumably referring to the financial results publication by Astral Foods, which estimated that imported chicken has 26% of the local market. This is a larger share than any one of the local producers.
Wolpert knows the SA Revenue Service publishes monthly chicken import statistics, listing various chicken portions and MDM. Added together, you get total chicken imports. The total does not include imports of chicken by-products such as “eggs, soups, pastes, pet foods and spreads”, which he seems to think are necessary for a fair comparison with local production.
Changes in total market share, including MDM, are relevant to the local industry because they provide an accurate picture of the SA market. And imported MDM does compete with local poultry because it is a lower-priced substitute.
Wolpert also implies that the International Trade Administration Commission (Itac), the local regulator investigating an application for anti-dumping duties, is going to be confused by an import total including MDM. He knows the application concerns only, and specifically, bone-in chicken portions such as leg quarters, and that Itac has ruled that importers have a case to answer.
Casting aspersions on the honesty and integrity of the industry is unhelpful and disingenuous. He may be trying to distract from the real issue, which is that dumping is a contravention of international trade rules and is not legally defensible. Every tonne of dumped imports steals SA jobs and livelihoods, and arguing as he does is the moral equivalent of saying “I only stole a small amount”.
Francois Baird
Founder of FairPlay
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