South Africa and the US have agreed to facilitate deliberations between the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) and the US Poultry and Egg Export Council towards finalising discussions on market access for US chicken bone-in cuts into South Africa.

The meeting, which would take place in Paris, France, on June 4 and 5, on the margins on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Ministerial Council Meeting, would be attended by South African Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies and US trade representative Ambassador Michael Froman. 

The Department of Trade and Industry said in a statement on Monday that both governments remained committed to working with their respective poultry industry to find an amicable solution.

A bilateral engagement between Davies and Froman had been scheduled for  June 5 to brief them on developments, it added.

The meeting would be a follow-up to the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meeting, held in Washington, in the US, in April, which was cochaired by Davies and Froman.

Davies told Members of Parliament during his Budget Vote last week  that he had been concerned about the terms outlined by the US with regard to South Africa’s re-entry into the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) – a nonreciprocal trade preference programme that provided duty-free treatment to US imports of certain products from eligible sub-Saharan African countries.

This followed a decision by the US Senate to pass a Bill that provided for the Agoa to be extended for a period of ten years, with South Africa included.

“New provisions in the Bill, however, strengthen the conditionalities that will apply and clearly seek to chart a course ‘to transform the relationship between the US and Africa from nonreciprocal concessions to reciprocal agreements,’” said Davies.

The Minister added that, despite these challenges, he remained optimistic that the Paris meeting could resolve the chicken impasse between Sapa and the US Poultry and Egg Export Council.