Lamb’s future rosy —Shah’s meat chief

Press, 14 December 1977, Page 14

Lamb’s future rosy —Shah’s meat chief

PA Auckland A buoyant future for New Zealand frozen iamb in the important Middle East market of Iran has been forecast in Auckland by a top Iranian official who has the main say in importing. Dr Mahmood Oloomi, director of the Iran Meat Corporation, said that if Iran could get enough of the product at a competitive price then it was likely imports would increase year by year. He emphasised that expansion of rhe trade would

depend on both price and quality. The present policy of the I.M.C. was to place greater reliance on frozen lamb than on live sheep from Australia, said Dr Oloomi. Iran was now experiencing difficulty in getting live sheep and they were more expensive. The comments of Dr Oloomi. whose corporation is the Government agency responsible for virtually all the supply and distribution of red meat in Iran, reflects an important shift in policy since he was interviewed by the agricultural

correspondent of the “New Zealand Herald” in Teheran in May last year. At that time Iran was buying large numbers of live sheep from Australia. As a residua) supplier of frozen lamb. New Zealand was fitting into package deals arranged by international middle-men responsible for live-sheep shipments. Apart from the huge cost of importing Australian live sheep, Iran has had reason to change its policy because Australia is now ’ experiencing great difficulty in maintaining anything like the number of sheep required. Recently in Teheran, Dr Oloomi signed a long-term agreement for sale and purchase of frozen lamb with the immediate past president of the New Zealand Meat Exporters’ Council, Mr V 7. F. Leonard, of Auckland.

The agreement provides for direct selling of increasing quantities of lamb. With provision for periodic reviews of price, it should lead to significant expansion of a trade already worth more than SSOM a year. Although Britain is likely to remain the most important market for New Zealand lamb the new market outlook in Iran comes at an appropriate time because of the pending 'introduction of a common sheepmeats policy by the European Economic Community. The E.E.C. policy could have detrimental effects on the New Zealand return from the British market. In Auckland this week Dr Oloomi showed that New Zealand is now very much part of his thinking for supplying an increasing demand from an Iranian population approaching 40 million, and growing at the rate of 3 per cent a year. He said that Iranian redmeat consumption was now 600,000 tonnes a year and of that 20 per cent or 120.000 tonnes was imported. New Zealand was the biggest supplier of frozen lamb, and over the next 12 i months Iran expected to I buy 70,000 tonnes of red ’ meat, live and frozen, from New Zealand and Austra- ’ Ha.

Dr Oloomi said that New Zealand frozen lamb was being well received by the Iranian people and if the price were acceptable Iran would buy more and more. Meat demand was, he said, increasing at the rate of 5 per cent a year. Coldstorage facilities were adequate to cone with present imports and storage was being increased as were the facilities at Iranian ports.

Questioned about the possibility of New Zealand now moving into the private sector of the Iranian trade such as supermarkets hotels and institutions, he said the policv of the new Government in Iran was to allow an increasing amount of trade by the private sector provided certain criteria were fulfilled.

The home producer of meat had to be protected. But he hoped within the next three months to work out a set of conditions under which the private sector of the trade could import. Dr Oloomi. who is one of seven Deputy Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Develonment in Iran and who. as the man responsible for meat supply, is close to the Shah, is in New Zealand for a week at the invitation of the Government, the Meat Exporters’ Council, and the Meat Board. He will have discussions in Wellington with the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Taiboys). This is his third visit to New Zealand.