PAN-PACIFIC TRADE

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30809, 22 July 1965, Page 10

PAN-PACIFIC TRADE

Subject To Be Pursued “The Press" Special Service WELLINGTON, July 21. New Zealand needed not only expanded trade with Australia but ■ greater trade among Pan-Pacific nations generally, said the president (Mr E. W. McCallum), speaking at the opening today of the annual conference of New Zealand Federated Farmers. He said that among those attending the conference was the president of the National Farmers’ Union of Australia (Mr A. F. Havard). Delicate matters had been raised in the negotiations for an Australia-New Zealand free trade area, he said. Many New Zealand industries had been making a loud plea that their products should be excluded from the talks. Mr McCallum said he thought that the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Marshall) had very properly reminded these people that industry prospered most soundly when it was not subject to hothouse conditions. Benefit “I know that some Australian products are to be excluded, but a successful outcome of the negotiations would benefit both countries,” he said. “Preliminary discussions at Rotorua indicated interest in Pan-Pacific trade expansion by representatives of Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan and New Zealand. “It is our intenttan to pursue the subject when the International Food and Agricultural Producers’ executive committee meets in Rome to wards the end of this year,” he said. “If there is adequate preparation and study, I consider that the talks will be well worth while, and may lead to beneficial results for the producers in the countries concerned.”