The legal challenge, led by the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), targets an annual quota of approximately 72 000t to 74 000t of chicken imports from the US under a trade agreement linked to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The quota, introduced in 2015 as part of negotiations to renew AGOA, allows US poultry to enter South Africa duty-free and without antidumping tariffs that would normally apply to imports sold below local production cost.
The quota started out as 65 000t in 2016, rising to just under 74 000t for 2025, according to the South African Revenue Service.
Izaak Breitenbach, CEO of SAPA’s Broiler Organisation, told Farmer’s Weekly that SAPA opened the court case in February this year after repeated unsuccessful attempts to speak to Tau about the rebates since January 2025.
“According to the original agreements, the rebate is supposed to fall away if South Africa loses any AGOA privileges, for instance if the US imposes tariffs on South African imports,” he said.
“[Tau], however, has allowed the rebate to continue without consulting us, despite findings by [the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa] that these imports amount to dumping and are doing material harm to the local poultry industry.”
Breitenbach added that the court case is expected to start in June or July, with Tau expected to appeal after failing to submit his case in February.
