Taiwan And Korea May Buy N.Z. Meat

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31867, 20 December 1968, Page 1

Taiwan And Korea May Buy N.Z. Meat

(Aetu Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, December 19. Taiwan and South Korea want to buy New Zealand meat next year, according to the Assistant Secretary for Overseas ! Trade (Mr G. L. Easterbrook-Smith).

Mr Easterbrook- ] Smith has just re- ] turned from an over- ] seas trip during which : he visited Taiwan, South Korea, and I India, and led the New Zealand team to I the General Agreement of Tariff and Trade talks in Geneva. “My feeling is that Taiwan will become a substantial market for us,” Mr Easter-brook-Smith said today. New Zealand’s exports to Taiwan were about Sim a year at present, but a rapidly rising standard of living would increase the demand for the type of products New Zealand had to offer. Sales of dairy products were “growing pretty quickly” and there were good markets

for wood pulp, wool, and textile yarn. “Trade officials told me they were going to start importing meat next year and would be looking to New Zealand as a source of supply,” he said. Mr Easterbrook-Smith said South Korea was also a possible market for meat, because, like that of Taiwan, its economy was growing rapidly. “There is a pretty distinct possibility we will start supplying the Koreans with meat over the next year or so.” he said. The best prospects were for timber, although there was some possibility of selling dairy products and, in the long term, components for their developing manufacturing industries. He said New Zealand's move in G.A.T.T. to have all residual import restrictions removed would probably be repeated next year. The object of the New Zealand move was to make sure that those import restrictions which remained were allowed to remain at the special dispensation of G.A.T.T and were subject to annual G.A.T.T. examinations. New Zealand import controls and the United States agricultural import restrictions both had G.A.T.T. waivers and were subject to G.A.T.T. reviews. He said the New Zealand proposal had received strong support from all the developing countries and the United

States and Canada but was opposed by the European , Common Market and the Scandinavian countries.