About 400 people participated in the march in Pretoria, the capital, to hand in a memorandum about the fees, Katishi Masemola, the union’s general secretary, said by phone.

“The point we are making is for more, faster action to be taken,” Mr Masemola said.

“We are creating more of a sense of urgency. Our industry is threatened.”

IOL reports that South Africa imposed additional anti-dumping duties of 6 per cent to 63 per cent from February to August last year on some chicken cuts imported from Brazil.

The Latin American country filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

Trade Minister Rob Davies in December decided not to impose anti-dumping duties on whole birds and boneless cuts from Brazil and instead said there was scope to raise general tariffs for shipments, it was reported.

The South African Poultry Association has applied to the country’s International Trade Administration Commission to impose a general tariff and has asked for anti-dumping protection from EU shipments under World Trade Organisation rules, the Johannesburg-based newspaper reported today, citing the association’s chief executive officer, Kevin Lovell.

Industry stakeholders met about three weeks ago and will follow up soon, Mr Masemola said.