MEAT IMPORTS Restriction Attempt By U.S. Fails

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32210, 31 January 1970, Page 44

MEAT IMPORTS Restriction Attempt By U.S. Fails

•: (A'.Z. Press Association —Copyright* WASHINGTON, January 30. The Nixon Administration’s attempt to restrict meat imports last year through voluntary agreements among supplying countries failed by 35 million pounds, the Agriculture Depart- ; ment disclosed today, the Associated Press reported.

The foreign suppliers —including New Zealand and Australia —agreed to hold United States meat shipments, mostly beef, to 1.035 thousand million I pounds last year to avoid j strict quotas called for by law if estimates exceeded 1.086 thousand million pounds. But final figures for the! year, supplied to the Department by the Bureau of Cenisus, show that meat imports in 1969 totalled more than 1.084 thousand million! pounds, just under the quota! trigger level prescribed by a: 1964 import law. I An Agriculture Department I spokesman said that about 13.5 m pounds of meat was i rejected. Thus the net total permitted in last year was about 1.070 thousand million pounds, or about 35m more than the Administration had officially estimated on the basis of foreign commitments. It is expected that the 35m pound margin between foreign commitments and actual : shipments will stir demands from farm belt members of

Congress and livestock groups I for stricter policing of the i meat quota system. Most of the imported meat came from Australia and New i Zealand, which exceeded their i 1969 commitments by a com- :

bincd total of 18m net pounds, the department said. The original 1969 agreements—totalling 1.035 thousand million pounds—included 505 m pounds for Australia and 211 m pounds for New Zealand. Part of what Canada had (planned to ship—about 25m '■ pounds—was later pro-rated among the other exporting countries. This gave Australia :an adjusted 1969 agreement i total of 519.8 m pounds, but it | ended up shipping a net—not (counting rejections—of 536.3 I million pounds. New Zealand’s revised ishare was 217.4 m pounds, but net shipments totalled 218.9 m pounds, the department said.