By Melody Chikono PRICES of chicken products are set to rise as government is yet to renew legislation which suspended import duty on fertilised poultry eggs. Statutory Instrument (SI) 245 of 2020 instituted in October suspended duty on fertilised poultry eggs imported by approved poultry breeders. “Duty is wholly suspended on fertilised poultry eggs for hatching of tariff code 0407.11.00 imported by approved poultry breeders, with effect from 1st October, 2020 to 31st March, 2021 (for a period of six months), in the quantities listed ,” the SI read. The suspension of duty ends at the end of this month and the government has not announced plans to extend the reprieve. Some companies that benefited from the suspension include Irvines, Huku Chicks, Sondelani Ranching, Kudu Creek Farm, Supachick, Zim Avian, Doctors Henn Investments and Chinyika Day Old Chicks. Each company was given a ring-fenced quota. Should the government fail to extend the reprieve, poultry products would be liable to pay 40% duty starting April 1, raising fears that prices of chicken, the most commonly accessed source of protein by most Zimbabweans, could rise beyond the reach of many. This comes as the cost of procuring raw materials for stockfeed rocketed by 886% in 2020 after maize prices rose threefold during the period. According to the Stockfeed Manufacturers Association, poultry feeds continued to dominate the stockfeed industry, accounting for 68% of all feeds produced by weight and 75% by monetary value in the fourth quarter of 2020. Production averaged 37 328mt per month while the production of broiler and layer feeds were 33% and 22% higher than the fourth quarter of 2019, respectively. However, poultry concentrates were 23% lower than the fourth quarter of 2019. Table egg production in the country last year reached a new high of 59,3 million dozens, surpassing the previous year’s by 18%, but fourth quarter large-scale table egg production, however, decreased by 11% over the third quarter to 1,9 million dozens per month . Follow us on Twitter @NewsDayZimbabwe
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