On 14 August 2026, the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) invited comment on its initiation of a sunset review of the anti-dumping duties on imports of frozen bone-in portions of fowls of the species Gallus Domesticus originating in or imported from Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK). Comment is due by 21 September 2026.
In accordance with the provisions of Regulation 53 of the Anti-Dumping Regulations (ADR) and Article 11.3 of the World Trade Organization Agreement (WTO) on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), any definitive anti-dumping duty shall be terminated on a date not later than five (5) years from its imposition, unless the authorities determine, in a review initiated before that date, on their own initiative or upon a duly substantiated request made by or on behalf of the domestic industry within a reasonable period of time prior to that date, that the expiry of the duties would likely lead to the continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury.
On 30 May 2025, ITAC notified interested parties through a Government Gazette notice that unless a substantiated request is made indicating that the expiry of the anti-dumping duties against imports of frozen bone-in chicken portions originating in or imported from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK would likely lead to the continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury, the anti-dumping duties on frozen bone-in chicken portions originating in or imported from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK will expire on 22 August 2026.
A response to the sunset review questionnaire was received from the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) on behalf of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) industry on 09 March 2026.
SAPA lodged the application on behalf of the SACU industry. The information was provided by the following producers: County Fair, a division of Astral Operations Limited (Astral County Fair); Festive, a division of Astral Operations Limited (Astral Festive); Goldi, a division of Astral Operations Limited (Astral Goldi); Grain Field Chickens Proprietary Limited (GFC); Rainbow Limited (Rainbow); Crown Chickens Proprietary Limited t/a Sovereign Foods, which is a subsidiary of Sovereign Food Investments Proprietary Limited (Sovereign); and Supreme Poultry Proprietary Limited (Supreme).
The applicant alleges that the expiry of the duties would likely lead to the continuation and recurrence of dumping and material injury to the SACU industry. The applicant submitted sufficient evidence and established a prima facie case to enable ITAC to reach a reasonable conclusion that a sunset review investigation of the anti-dumping duties on frozen bone-in portions originating in or imported from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK should be initiated.
The product allegedly dumped is frozen meat portions containing bones from fowls of the species Gallus Domesticus, classifiable under tariff subheading 0207.14.9, originating in or imported from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
The allegation of a recurrence of dumping is based on comparisons between normal values and export prices.
The applicant determined the normal value using domestic chicken leg prices reported by Germany to the European Commission (EC) DG AGRI Poultry Prices Dashboard for the period January to December 2025. Monthly average domestic market prices for Germany were derived by averaging all weekly reported prices for each calendar month during the investigation period for dumping.
For purposes of export price determination, the applicant submitted TradeMap export price information since the South African Revenue Service (SARS) does not reflect any imports of the subject product from Germany during the investigation period for dumping.
Furthermore, TradeMap did not record any exports of the subject product from Germany directly to South Africa during the investigation period for dumping. The applicant used information from TradeMap on exports of the subject product from Germany to Ghana as the basis for the German export price.
The margin of dumping for Germany was determined as 425.64%
The applicant determined the normal value using domestic chicken leg prices reported by Germany to the EC DG AGRI Poultry Prices Dashboard for the period January to December 2025. Monthly average domestic market prices for the Netherlands were derived by averaging all weekly reported prices for each calendar month during the investigation period for dumping.
For purposes of export price determination, the official SARS import statistics for the investigation period for the dumping investigation were used.
The margin of dumping for the Netherlands was determined as 32.48%
As the UK no longer reports poultry prices to the EC following its withdrawal from the EU, the applicant was unable to obtain directly verifiable domestic market prices for the investigation period. The applicant therefore estimated the domestic price using the last UK poultry price reported to the EC in November 2020, together with the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Monthly Agricultural Output Price Index for Chickens.
For purposes of export price determination, the applicant submitted TradeMap export price information since SARS did not reflect any imports of the subject product from the UK during the investigation period for dumping. Accordingly, the export price for the UK cannot be determined from official SARS import statistics, and the applicant has instead relied on TradeMap export price information. TradeMap records exports of the subject product from the UK to South Africa during the investigation period for dumping.
The margin of dumping for the UK was determined as 61.84%
On this basis, ITAC found that there was prima facie proof of the likelihood of the continuation and recurrence of dumping.
The applicant alleged and submitted sufficient evidence to show that it would experience an increase in imports, decline in sales volume, decline in profit, decline in capital expenditure, decline in capacity utilisation, decline in output, decline in growth, decline in productivity, decline in investment, decline in cash flow, Increase in price depression and Increase in price suppression if the duties expire.
On this basis, ITAC found that there was prima facie proof of the continuation and recurrence of material injury if the anti-dumping duty expires.
The investigation period for dumping is from 01 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, and the injury investigation involves evaluating data from 01 January 2023 to 31 December 2025. ITAC will also consider estimates of what the situation would be if the anti-dumping duties expire.
Having decided that there is sufficient evidence and a prima facie case to justify the initiation of an investigation, ITAC has begun an investigation in terms of section 16 of the International Trade Administration Act, 2002 (ITA Act). ITAC will conduct its investigation in accordance with the relevant sections of the ITAC Act, the WTO on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (the Anti-Dumping Agreement) and the ADR. Both the ITA Act and the ADR are available on ITAC’s website (www.itac.org.za) or, on request, from the Trade Remedies section.
To obtain the information it deems necessary for its investigation, ITAC will send non-confidential versions of the application and questionnaires to all known importers and exporters, as well as to known representative associations. The trade representative of the country of origin has also been notified. Importers and other interested parties are invited to contact ITAC as soon as possible to determine whether they have been listed and whether they were furnished with the relevant documentation. If not, they should immediately ensure they receive copies. The questionnaire must be completed, and any other representations must be made within the time limit set out below.
The Senior Manager: Trade Remedies should receive all responses, including non-confidential copies. Late submissions will not be accepted except with the prior written consent of ITAC.
The information submitted by any party may need to be verified by the investigating officers before ITAC can consider it. ITAC may verify the information at the premises of the party submitting the information, within a short period after the submission of the information to ITAC. Parties should therefore ensure that the information submitted would subsequently be available for verification. Specifically, it is planned to verify the information submitted by the foreign producers within 3 to 5 weeks of submission. This period will only be extended if it is not feasible for ITAC to do so within this time period or upon good cause shown, and with the prior written consent of ITAC, which should be requested at the time of the submission. It should be noted that unavailability of, or inconvenience to, appointed representatives will not be considered to be good cause.
Parties should also ensure that, when they engage representatives, those representatives will be available at the requisite times to ensure compliance with the above time frames. Parties should also ensure that all the information requested in the applicable questionnaire is provided in the specified detail and format. The questionnaires are designed to ensure that ITAC has all the information required to determine in accordance with the ITA Act and the ADR. ITAC may therefore refuse to verify information that is incomplete or does not comply with the questionnaire format, unless ITAC has agreed in writing to a deviation from the required format. A failure to submit a non-confidential version of the response that complies with the rules for Confidential Information will be regarded as an incomplete submission.
If the required information is not received in a satisfactory form within the time limit specified above, or if verification of the information cannot be obtained, ITAC may disregard the submitted information and make a finding based on the facts available to it.