’N.Z. Trade Wanted At Rotterdam’

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32391, 2 September 1970, Page 20

’N.Z. Trade Wanted At Rotterdam’

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, August 31. With the world’s largest port at Rotterdam, the Netherlands had a special interest in fostering New Zealand and E.E.C. trade, the Netherlands Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr H. J. de Koster) said today.

’ Mr de Koster, speaking on his arrival In Wellington after a visit to Queenstown, said his country had an interest in fostering this trade because intra-Common Market trade was not going through Rotter dam. Mr de Koster, who is in New Zealand for six days at the invitation of the Government, said he thought Britain would join the E.E.C. after the coming round of negotiations, and that New Zealand’s position in this event was "100 per cent recognised by the Netherlands Government’’ This did not mean any solutions had yet been found, he said, but several possibilities would be discussed tomorrow in talks with the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Marshall), the Cabinet Overseas Trade Policy Committee, and officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs. “Even by telling each other which alternatives are not possibilities we will become wiser,” he said.

Included in the possibilities was a transitional period of continuing imports without levies, or with levies lowei than those on goods from other third countries not in a special condition. This period would be al least until 1975, but Mr de Koster did not exclude the possibility that it might lasi longer. There was also the possibil ity thmat world-wide dairy treaties could be arranged at a later date. He said he had noticed New Zealand had a plentiful sup ply of smoked eel which it could export, among other things, in p'drive to diversify. “There’s a shortage of big eel in Europe,” he said.