The regulations on brining of poultry products published on Friday by the Department of Agriculture‚ Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) will render chicken unaffordable for many of the poor‚ shrink the local poultry sector‚ increase unemployment and weaken the outlook for soya bean processing and maize production.That’s according to the South African Poultry Association (SAPA).The association’s CEO‚ Kevin Lovell‚ said while many allegations and unsubstantiated statements were made around the issue of brining by competitive stakeholders‚ no checks were done at any time to test whether these points were valid.“All the scientific‚ technical and economic information SAPA supplied on brining has essentially been ignored‚ with no impact assessments conducted by DAFF on the effects of the regulations on consumers‚ retailers or the local poultry industry‚” said Lovell.“Besides the potentially devastating results on local poultry production and the jobs that depend on it‚ this constitutes an assault on the poor of South Africa who will now find the price of Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) chicken unaffordable.”In 2006‚ on behalf of the local industry‚ SAPA wrote to DAFF asking the department to update the poultry regulations under the Agriculture Product Standards Act.“For the last 10 years‚ we have fought to have these regulations updated in a way that benefits all parties in the poultry value chain‚ with the added assurance that South African consumers can be absolutely certain that what they believe they are buying is what they actually get‚” said Lovell.“But having refused to consider the true facts of brining‚ its purpose for improving meat quality‚ and most importantly the manner in which this practice actually improves the national diet by reducing the cost of South Africa’s favourite protein product‚ these regulations will reduce the size of the largest sector of local agricultural production and cause considerable job losses – all of this for no good reason.”Lovell added that chicken importers had long campaigned against local brined IQF as they had to date not been able to compete in this market segment.“South Africa is ranked as one of the top importers of chicken surplus and waste products from mostly developed countries that favour the white meat and export the rest‚ mostly at prices equivalent to dumping that has been proved repeatedly in various ITAC investigations‚” he said.“For every 10‚000 tons of chicken imported we lose over a 1‚000 local‚ direct and indirect job opportunities in our economy. These regulations will simply heighten our attractiveness as an export destination for the chicken pieces the developed world doesn’t eat‚ and our ability to feed ourselves as a country through sustainable and secure food production will be reduced.”Given the economic crisis facing South Africa today‚ these regulations symbolised the beginning of a major contraction in our industry at a time when the country could not afford contraction in any industry.“SAPA will be contesting this assault on our industry and our consumers in the strongest possible way so that the harm that it will cause to our economy is stopped.”..