The South African Poultry Association welcomes the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the new Government of National Unity will look to expand the basket of essential food items that are exempt from value added tax (VAT).
The announcement, made during President Ramaphosa’s opening of parliament speech, indicates multi-party support for an initiative that will help to lower food prices for low-income households. SAPA strongly believes that targeted chicken products should be included in an expanded list of items that are zero-rated for VAT.
Chicken is South Africa’s most popular and most affordable meat source, accounting for 66% of all meat consumed in the country. It is therefore the main source of meat protein for millions of poor people, including children in poor families.
South Africa’s chicken producers are already doing everything in their power to keep chicken prices down. Removing the 15% VAT from the chicken portions, most consumed by poor households would bring immediate price relief and ensure that essential food items remain affordable. The basket of zero-rated food items was last reviewed in 2018, after the VAT rate was raised to 15%.
SAPA proposed to parliament that targeted chicken products should be exempt from VAT because of their importance in the diet of millions of poor people. This included the popular packs of individually quick frozen (IQF) chicken portions. Because of differences in the review panel, chicken was not included in the expanded list of VAT exempt food products.
