Lamb bleats a message from Fleet Street

Press, 1 May 1978, Page 10

Lamb bleats a message from Fleet Street

From

JOHN ROSS

in. Lan-

don Suddenly, New Zealand is being noticed in Fleet Street again. It has nothing to do with the All Blacks, the cricket tour, an Olympic boycott, or sports contacts with South Africa. This time it is New Zealand lamf which is hogging the headlines of Britain’s national newspapers. “The wolf draws nearer New Zealand’s door” says the “Financial Times;” “Will lamb riow get the chop?” asks the “Daily Express,” “Fight to save that Sunday joint,” declares the “London Evening News.” Iri the last few months there have been scores of similar stories in British newspapers. In most cases the publicity has been prompted by the realisation that tighter control over lamb imports by the Common Market can mean just one thing —- high lamb prices. For New Zealand, that would inevitably lead to a drop in consumption, probably followed by a demand from Brussels for import restrictions. The British housewife does not want dearer lamb; nor do the British shipping lines, which have recently spent a fortune investing in the New Zealand trade; and nor do British butchers, for whom a drop in the lamb trade would be disastrous. So while common customs tariffs, safeguard glauses, deficiency paymeats. consumption trends, intervention sys-

terns, and transition periods are another language to the British housewife, any suggestion that she may have to pay substantially more for such a staple food as New Zealand lamb is guaranteed to win her immediate attention. Fleet Street’s remarkably sympathetic coverage of the latest New Zealand plight in Europe in recent months is the result of several factors. They include the visits of two New Zealand Cabinet Ministers and other members of Parliament to Europe; tours of New Zealand by British politicians and journalists; persistent lobbying in London of British politicians, trade contacts and journalists by the High Commissioner (Sir Douglas Carter) and his staff; a booklet on the place of New Zealand lamb in Europe, produced by the London office of the Meat Board; and the concern of the shipping lines about a possible drop in trade. “But the overriding factor is that New Zealand’s interests coincide with those of the British people,” said Mr M. J. Taylor, public affairs officer at New Zealand House. In the next few months, New Zealand will step up its campaign, developing closer liaison with British consumer groups, publishing regular information for public consumption, and generally increasing efforts to make New Zealand's voice heard more clearly in Europe.