U.S. bill to control beef imports may lapse

Press, 22 September 1978, Page 3

U.S. bill to control beef imports may lapse

NZPA' Washington Legislation in the United States House of Representatives seeking to amend the Meat Import Act, 1964, may be headed towards extinction, according to informed sources. The bill, opposed by exporting nations and a variety of groups in the United States, sets a minimum floor level for beef imports and establishes a so-called counter-cyclical formula for computing precise import levels.

Under this system, imports from New Zealand, Australia, and other exporters would fluctuate from year to year depending on American production. The bill, reported favourably from the House Ways and Means Committee last month, was to have been de-

. bated and voted on yesterday. But the legislation now will not be brought to the floor of the House this week, apparently at the request of the Administration. No new date has been set and if the bill is not considered before the end of the present Congress on October 7 it will automatically lapse. New Zealand, Australia, beef producers in Mexico and Central America, meat importers, port authorities, and the labour movement have lobbied against the bill. They have alerted the Administration to protectionist features of the legislation and its effect on jobs in the United States. The Administration is now fully aware of the controversial nature of the bill and its implications.

The Commercial Counsellor at the New Zealand

Embassy (Mr D. Walker) said it was not certain what would happen to the bill. “But the latest delay makes us more hopeful it won’t now come to the floor for action,” he said. Beef prices were now back to what they were before President Carter sanctioned increased imports early this summer.

This had destroyed domestic cattlemen’s arguments that extra imports were the reason for price falls in June and July. If the bill did get to the full Houise and was passed there was a chance the President would veto it because it had a provision diminishing the President’s authority to approve extra imports if he thought such action was warranted.

The President might not accept such a provision.