Meat freight to rise 5 per cent

Press, 3 October 1979, Page 7

Meat freight to rise 5 per cent

Refrigerated freight rates for meat shipped to Europe with the Conference Lines will rise 5 per cent on November 1, according to the chairman of the .Meat Board (Mr C. Hilgendorf). Mr Hilgendorf made the announcement on his return from a visit to Europe. the Soviet Union, and North Ameirca. "In view of the present inflation and when you consider that everything else is going up it is not bad." Mr Hilgendorf said. •‘Of course it is never good enough.” However, he did not think that the modest size of the increase could be attributed to the interest of the Belgian A.B.C. line in the trade. The board recently prevented Waitaki N.Z. Refrigerating. Ltd, from shipping meat to Hamburg and Southhampton in an A.B.C. vessel and the company is now seeking a Supreme Court opinion on its dispute with the board. Mr Hilgendorf said that there were always shipping companies anxious to enter the business. One of the strong points that the board had always made in opposing the European Economic Community’s imposition of a sheep meat regulation on the E.E.C. meat trade was that the board, through its control of shipping, could control the flow of meat on to the European market and therefore avoid any disruption of the market. Mr Hilgendorf was asked about the recent report from Europe that Mr O. F. Gundelach, the European commissioner for agriculture. would ask

New Zealabd to reduce its exports of lamb to Europe.

For the first time Mr Gundelach had been given permission by the council of Agriculture Ministers to talk to Third World countries about the introduction of a regulation, but only in a very general way.

“So far as we know there is no question of a reduction,” Mr Hilgendorf said. What Mr Gundelach had asked the board and the Government when he was in New Zealand was if the Community proposed a reduction in the levy (on meat imports into Europe), would New Zealand look at some restriction of supplies of lamb entering Europe, particularly in the first few years'? It was assumed that the restriction would be at something like the present levels of exports.

Mr Hilgendorf said that their answer was that while they were prepared to look at any proposition, this was a hypothetical question. They would want to know what the reduction in the levy would be — a reduction "in the levy from 20 per cent to 10 per cent would raise the return on New Zealand lamb by about S 3 a head. Mr Gundelach had said that he agreed with this view. If the French were quite sure that there would be no increase in New Zealand lambs entering Europe it might allay some of their unnecessary fears, said Mr Hilgendorf.

French farmers have demonstrated against a sheep meat regulation that might be unfavourable to them. Once or twice effigies of Mr Gundelach had been burnt.

Mr Hilgendorf said that the French Prime Minister (Mr Barre) had said he would take no notice of a recent European Court decision ruling against France keeping sheep meat from Britain out of France when the price fell to a certain level. Because he did not think that France_ could continue to discriminate against the rest of the Community — except the Republic of Ireland — it was inevitable that there would be a regulation. Mr Hilgendorf also visited the Soviet Union to look at the possibility of a more regular mutton trade.

It seemed that the board and traders would have to continue to talk to the Russians to build up longterm, friendly relations that would lead to a more regular trade. On meat purchases in the near future by Russia, Mr Hilgendorf said that there were two contradictory theories. One was that having imported, a lot of grain Russia would use up all its foreign exchange. The other was that because Russia was short of feed grains it would not be able to feed its pigs poultry and cattle and would be short of meat and would have to buy more.