The Press THURSDAY, AUGUST 26,1965. Meat Agreement

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30839, 26 August 1965, Page 12

The Press THURSDAY, AUGUST 26,1965. Meat Agreement

The chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board (Sir John Ormond) can expect his major speech of the year—to the annual meeting of the electoral committee of the board —to be widely reported in Britain as well as in New Zealand. His call for a renewal of the meat agreement between the two countries may even now be the subject of unofficial discussion in Whitehall and at Smithfield market. The agreement, negotiated in 1952, binds Britain to accept New Zealand’s exportable surplus of beef, veal, mutton, and lamb without restriction of quantity. Although the agreement will not expire until October 31, 1967, Sir John Ormond’s call for “ immediate negotiation ” on its renewal is by no means premature. The trade is so valuable to New Zealand that meat producers cannot reasonably be expected to wait until 1967 to learn whether Britain intends to restrict or tax her imports from this country. In 1963-64 68 per cent of New Zealand’s meat exports (by weight) were marketed in Britain. The figure is running slightly above 70 per cent this year, because higher prices in Britain have diverted supplies from the United States and Japan. New Zealand depends rather less on the United Kingdom market today than 10 years ago, when Britain took 85 per cent of our meat exports. Even so, the British market is still worth more than £5O million a year and is the source of some 15 per cent of New Zealand’s total export income. Any development restricting access to the British market for meat must be strenuously resisted by New Zealand wherever possible. A renewed application by Britain to join the European Economic Community would constitute a threat to our established market in Britain. Britain’s meat and dairy agreements with New Zealand proved embarrassing to Britain in her abortive 1962 negotiations with the E.E.C. As both agreements will expire in 1967, it would not be surprising if negotiations were resumed in Brussels in that year. The British Labour Party, when in opposition, suggested that the forging of closer links with Commonwealth countries should be explored as an alternative to Britain’s entry into the E.E.C. Now that the Labour Party occupies the Treasury benches the time is fast approaching when the vague promises of a party in opposition can be matched against the performance of a party in power. A 10-year bulk-purchase agreement for lamb might prove to be a good insurance policy for New Zealand.