Chile, Brazil may join wool body

Press, 15 April 1980, Page 13

Chile, Brazil may join wool body

Wool growers in Chile and Brazil are showing a strong interest in joining New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Uruguay as members of the International Wool Secretariat. The body furthers the cause of wool through research, product development, technical help for industry, ad promotion of wool and wool products. The desire to improve the preparation of their clip and their marketing programmes is cited by the deputy-chairman of the Wool Board (Mr J. D. Mcllraith) as the main reason for the interest.

Chile and Brazil together produce 55,000 tonnes of wool annually and their membership would spread the burden of members’ levies, which finance the organisation. South America's biggest wool producer, Argentina, with 173,000 tonnes, is another possible member, although opinion there was divided, Mr Mcllraith said. He gained these impressions during a recent visit to Chile where he addressed South American wool-growers at the World Corriedale Congress. “They wanted to know the benefits, through the eyes of a farmer, of being a member,” Mr Mcllraith said. “Any new member country of the secretariat would be great news for the New Zealand woolgrower. Apart from spreading the funding levies, it would result in a greater understanding of our marketing policies,” he said. > Mr Mcllraith ■ said if South American wool was dumped on to the world markets at unrealistic rates it could undercut support schemes and

prices in New Zealand. South American growers were under the mistaken impression that New Zealand operated as a branch of the secretariat, which controlled wool from the sheep’s back, he said. In South America, there were no standards of clip preparation ad no marketing system such as existed in New Zealand. “All of the wool is bought in the sheds by private buyers and the South Americans see the secretariat as a saviour in gaining higher prices at true world levels from a different marketing system,” Mr Mcllraith said. The Corriedale breed of sheep, developed in New Zealand, is extremely popular in South America, where some of the biggest Corriedale flocks in the world are found,” Mr Mcllraith said. “New Zealand stud stock are keenly sought,” he said.