The deadline for submissions or public comments in to the Competition Commission of South Africa’s poultry market inquiry is on the horizon. Economist at the Commission, Kagiso Zwane, tells the OFM Business Hour the deadline is 15 March at 4:00 pm. Members of the public – those in the sector and those who are not – can send their submissions to pmi@compcom.co.za. 

Following criticisms of the inquiry, Zwane stresses “a market inquiry is instituted where the commission has reason to believe there are distortions in the competitive process in the market”.

A four-year decline in #poultry #imports into South Africa has come to an end. Imports for the first 11 months of 2023 were higher than the total for 2022. Read more here: https://t.co/ESp3ux6e85@sa_poultry

— @veeplaas1 (@Veeplaas1) January 18, 2024

In the Terms of Reference for the inquiry published on the Comp Com's website, market participants and any other interested party will see a layout of several aspects of the competitive dynamics of the poultry industry which the commission thinks might be a contributor to low levels of competition in the industry and the value chain, explains Zwane. The outcomes that ultimately aren’t beneficial to consumers or to other goals as outlined n the Competition Act include:

• High levels of concentration throughout the value chain;
• High degree of vertical integration;
• Large enterprises acting as both competitors to independent smaller players, but also; suppliers of crucial inputs such as feed and genetic material

The scope of the inquiry

The inquiry will probe the entire poultry value chain, including:

• the production and supply of poultry feed;
• the supply and rearing of grandparent and parent stock;
• the production and supply of day-old broiler chicks and layer pullets (dayold chick reared for commercial egg production);
• the rearing of broilers to produce chicken meat products;
• the rearing of point-of-lay hens to produce commercial eggs and;
• the processing (abattoirs) and marketing activities of poultry products.

We encourage relevant stakeholders & interested parties to continue to send submissions on the draft terms of reference for the Poultry Market Inquiry. Submissions should be sent to pmi@compcom.co.za by no later than 16:00 on 15 March 2024. Read more: https://t.co/Klxk4mfF6T#PMI pic.twitter.com/Xq8j4fTMOJ

— CompComSA (@CompComSA) March 6, 2024

What happens after submissions are received on 15 March 2024? 

Zwane says all submissions will be reviewed, and a final Terms of Reference published by the Commission. The inquiry will commence 20 business days after the publication of the final Terms of Reference and the final report will be completed within 18 months.

Inquiry not an investigation into specific businesses or establishments 

The Competition Commission's economist says a market inquiry is not an investigation into specific businesses or establishments. It's much broader than that and it should not be pre-empted who is going to be blamed or not. 

Pundits have expressed surprise at the inquiry maintaining the poultry industry has seen tough times of late and remains in quite the volatile state. 

OFM Business Hour