The United States exports bone-in chicken meat to South Africa under a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) arrangement, which was set at 71,290 tons to be imported quarterly for the April 2021-March 2022 quota year.

The US bone-in chicken quota for the year 2021/2022 was filled at 84%, a 10% drop from the previous quota year. The US, European Union and Brazil are top major exporters of bone-in chicken meat to South Africa.

The quota was not utilized fully due to several factors including higher poultry prices and shipping costs, consumer substitution, COVID-related restrictions, complications from violent unrest in Durban and major delays caused by cyber-attacks on South Africa’s ports in July 2021.