Tokyo’s hard line on meat worries council

Press, 22 February 1978, Page 7

Tokyo’s hard line on meat worries council

PA Wellington The apparently uncompromising attitude of Japan to imports of New Zealand beef worries the New Zealand Meat Exporters’ Council. The chairman of the council (Mr R. A. Cushen) has said in Invercargill that New Zealand is not seeking its own set of regulations to market beef in Japan, but is trying to achieve parity with other nations exporting beef to Japan. Mr Cushen was commenting on statements by Mr Zenko Suzuki, a former Japanese Minister of Agriculture, who had said he could not see any early cahnge in Japan’s meatimport regulations. “We are asking the Japanese to announce their imported beef requirements annually, instead of the present quarterly system which puts New Zealand producers at a disadvantage because of production commitments,” Mr Cushen said. “If we were put in the position where we could forward-plan our production with the Japanese requirement known, I am sure | we could capture a far greater share of the import quota than we do at present. "In addition, tenders are left to Australian specifications, which is another disadvantage to the New Zealand processor, and we have called on the Japan-

ese authorities to amend their tenders to include New Zealand specifications as well as the Australian ones,” Mr Cushen said. “If this is successful, it can only lead to a lowering of the price of beef in Japan and an increase in consumption, which must strengthen the position of New Zealand exports. This will not have any detrimental effect on the local beef farmers, but quite the reverse, as it will further assist in the development of consumption in their meat industry.” Mr Cushen said the government and trade officials should take full advantage of Mr Suzuki’s visit to make their views known on New Zealand requirements for a more equitable beef deal with Japan. The exporters had achieved a good liaison with the Japanese meat trade, at the recent JapanNew Zealand Businessmen’s Council in Nelson, Mr Cushen siad. But this had to be followed up by continuous representations from within both the industry and the Government if New Zealand was to improve its trading position with Japan. Mr Cushen noted that Mr Suzuki had said New Zealand’s penetration of the Japanese market depended on its marketing efforts, but this was not

the full story because New Zealand had entered the market place under disadvantageous conditions. “Our marketing of meat is on the highest of world standards, as shown by the continuous development and the scope of our exports,” Mr Cushen said. He had been pleased to hear of the Japanese Government’s plans to increase beef consumption locally, and also to review the import and distribution methods of imported beef, which added many times the production cost to the final price the Japanese consumer paid for imported beef.