FairPlay expresses concern about price increases after Brazil poultry ban

It appears chicken importers are already exploiting consumers by raising prices due to South Africa’s ban on the import of poultry from Brazil.

This is the view of FairPlay, an advocacy movement committed to combating dumping and predatory trade, which said it had been told that chicken importers were suddenly charging local meat processors 30% more for imported mechanically deboned chicken meat (MDM).

MDM is a paste used in the manufacture of processed meats such as polony and South Africa imports most of its MDM from Brazil.

“The price, we are informed, has gone up from about R20/kg to more than R30/kg. If this is true, it would be a scandalous and totally unjustified exploitation of South Africa’s ban on the importation of poultry from Brazil because of a bird flu outbreak in that country,” FairPlay said.

It called on chicken importers and their representatives to deny this huge price increase in MDM, or to explain why it was happening.

The Brazil ban was announced on May 19. As poultry imports from Brazil can take up to six weeks to reach South Africa, Brazilian consignments reaching the country at the moment are not affected.

“So what is the justification for the price increase? Is this a case of make as much as you can while you can?”

FairPlay said the bird flu ban on Brazilian poultry will affect the supply of MDM in South Africa, and it will be up to meat importers to arrange alternative supplies.

It said importers could also encourage Brazil to apply to South Africa for a compartmentalisation agreement, which would allow the import of MDM from parts of Brazil not affected by bird flu.

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