Mr Marshall On E.E.C. Problems

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31378, 25 May 1967, Page 12

Mr Marshall On E.E.C. Problems

New Zealand’s trade deals with a Britain inside the Common Market must be thought of as permanent rather than transitional, the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Marshall) said yesterday. Permanence of trade would be the key point of his talks with the British Government next week.

“We are in the good position that Britain as a whole agrees there is a special case for preserving trade with New Zealand,” he told the Canter-bury-Westland division of the National Party. “We will be talking around the table, hot across, when we meet the British Government.”

Mr Marshall said he wanted to secure a continuing access for New Zealand butter, cheese, and lamb. This was vital, because as yet there were no alternative markets. He said he was anxious to ensure that New Zealand would be able to maintain the

volume of its trade in primary produce with Britain. This would be extremely difficult because of the agricultural policy of the Common Market and the growth of primary production within the six countries. France, he said, now had a dairy industry twice as big as New Zealand’s and within the Six there was a surplus production of 16,000 tons of butter annually.

The price of New Zealand butter in London wouid double to come up to Common Market prices. This would cause an immediate drop in consumption. He said that 92 per cent of lamb, 86 per cent of butter, and 78 per cent of cheese exported from New Zealand went to Britain. “We must find some other markets for the increase in production,” he said. It was neither timely nor appropriate for New Zealand to make direct approaches to the Common Market countries, he said. In spite of speculation of another veto by France of Britain’s application for entry, New Zealand must assume that Britain would get in. In spite of the difficulties facing New Zealand, the out look for its economy, based on primary produce, was better than ever, Mr Marshall said. In the long run, New Zealand would be a great food producer for a hungry world, more so as the standards of living in many countries rose.