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Global Poultry Industry Profile

Market Access & Tariff Measures

Regional Trading Agreements

SPS / TBT Measures

Domestic Support &
Export Competition

Latin American Poultry Association Guatemala Declaration

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Market Access

Most countries in the world, especially the leading exporters, employ a variety of measures to restrict access to their domestic poultry markets. For example, four of the six largest exporters, only allow less than 1% of their consumption to be imported. Hungary imports less than 5% of consumption. The other large exporter, which only just joined the WTO, imports 25% of it's consumption.

    USA < 1%
    Brazil < 1%
    EU < 1%
    Thailand < 1%
    Hungary < 5%
    China > 25%

Apart from the countries which import a large part of their consumption such as and former soviet republics like Russia (65%), the middle eastern states like Saudi Arabia (50%), Japan (30%), and Nigeria (25%), most countries import only a small part of their consumption, i.e. less than 1 -10%. In the FTAA all countries import less than 5% of consumption except Canada (13%) and Mexico (10%). In particular USA and Brazil imports less than 1%. CARICOM imports 35% of broiler consumption, and on a percentage basis, is one of the largest importers of poultry products in the word and certainly in the FTAA.

 

Tariff & Tariff-Rate-Quota Systems

Many countries employ a variety of tariff measures to defend their local industries. While Tariffs and Tariff-Rate-Quota systems are WTO compatible they must be seen as parts of a basket of policies including domestic supports, export competition and sophisticated SPS measures to defend industries, for which developed countries have negotiated the right and have the means to offer their poultry industries vastly more "special and differential treatment" than do developing countries with under-developed industries.

High Simple and Specific Tariffs - Some use relatively high tariffs, especially developing nations which have market structures where parts such as leg quarters command a relatively higher price and need to use these higher tariffs to defend this segment of their industry from imported products being sold below the cost of production.

Panama - Parts 293%
South Africa 100%+
India 100%
Egypt 80%
Nigeria 75%
Pakistan 70%
Honduras 70%

Tariff Rate Quotas - Other countries, especially several key poultry producers like the EU, Canada employ Tariff-Rate-Quotas systems which use high over-quota-tariffs and volumetric quotas to limit imports. Generally Over-Quota-Tariffs are especially high for poultry cuts, as is shown below.

Canada - Parts 271%
Mexico 240%
El Salvador - Parts 176%
Nicaragua - Parts 170%
Costa Rica - Parts 154%
Russia is seeking to establish a TRQ at 100%
Dominican Republic 99%
EU - Parts (1.00 E/Kg) 75%+

In addition Tariff-Rate-Quota systems restrict access beyond the use of tariffs as they allow for quotas to be issued for specific products, times or market actors as is shown later below.

  • Other Border Measures - Other measures which are in principle not "WTO compliant" are also used to restrict access in one way or another.
    • The Andean Community uses a variable duty systems which changes poultry duties every two weeks based on US prices and provides an effective duty of over 125%
    • Egypt applies a duty of 80% on a reference price of 1,500 USD
    • Thailand applies a duty of 45% and an import fee of 250 USD/ MT
    • EU reclassified some products originating out of Thailand to allow greater seasoned poultry imports, under lower tariffs, but limited to access only to processors only.

  • Special Agricultural Safeguards - Many countries,especially the leading exporters have access to safeguards which provide for supplementary import tariffs when imports increase and/or prices fall.
  • CARICOM - In the Caribbean, tariffs average 50% (12 - 86%) for whole birds and 80% (12 - 134%) for leg quarters. Barbados which is in the process of implementing its TRQ applies a tariff of 201%. In addition CARICOM imports these poultry meat products, most of its 400,000 MT feed stuffs and hatching eggs at zero to low duties making it the most open market in the FTAA. Most Caricom countries except Barbados and many other developing countries do not have recourse to the Special Agricultural Safeguards.
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