CERTIFICATION OF SEEDS

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30536, 3 September 1964, Page 20

CERTIFICATION OF SEEDS

Decision Soon By Government

The Government wis considering a report on proposals that New Zealand should Join the seed-certification scheme proposed by the Organtastion for Economic Cooperation and Development, mid the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Taiboys) in a letter received by the council of tho Dominion agriculture section of Federated Farmers yesterday. A decision on whether New Zealand should join would be made as soon as ail the necessary information was available to the Government, he said. At its annual conference, the council expressed alarm that the position had been allowed to drift end that Standards for international seed clarification might be adopted which would be impracticable for Now Zealand’s circumstances and which would seriously interfere with, the country's export seed trade. A remit was carried at the conference requesting the Minister of Agriculture to take prompt action to protect New Zealand’s export seed trade in relation to the O.E.C.D. proposals and to investigate the delay in taking action after attention had been drawn to the serious possibilities. “The Government has constantly kept in touch with developments which might affect New Zealand’s overseas trade, and I can assure you that the position has not been allowed to drift as stated in your let- . ter,” Mr Taiboys said. He said a technical Interdepartmental committee had recently reported on the proposal that New Zealand should join the O.E.C.D. seedcertification scheme. The committee’s report was now being considered by the Government