According to a recent media report there is no love lost between the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council USAPEEC).
Under the renewed US Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa), the import of 6500 metric tons of duty free US poultry will enter the South African market. In return South Africa's agricultural and manufacturing sectors greatly benefit through duty free export of a host of products to the US market.
Agoa is an export bonanza for South Africa's products. No so, for the local poultry industry, according to Sapa. The association vigorously opposed the duty free import of US poultry, and as a sore loser, continues to do so. It myopically refuses to acknowledge that the Agoa benefits to the agricultural and other sectors far outweigh the insular interests of the poultry industry.
In a letter to Sapa's chief executive I pointed out that his "repetitious haranguing against US export of poultry to South Africa, has run its course and served no useful purpose". Agoa was a done deal, and no amount of whining would change the paradigm.
I also pointed out that "the South African consumer is not interested in the source of its poultry. All that matters is price and product safety. There is a perception that local producers have had a monopolistic lock on the market for too long. If anything US exports will create much needed competition, especially with ever- increasing food costs".
The lesson for Sapa is clear: competition is liberating inasmuch as the local poultry industry can successfully compete with US poultry exports. To do so, it must shed its complacency through decades of non-competition, and focus on local consumer needs and expectations. In doing so, locally produced poultry will fly off supermarket shelves. Isn't that the answer rather than wallowing in self-righteous indignation?
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