Delicensing of meat industry ‘breach of faith’

Press, 16 April 1980, Page 2

Delicensing of meat industry ‘breach of faith’

PA Wellington Delicensing of the meat industry would be a “total breach of faith” by the Government, Parliament’s Lands and Agriculture Select Committee was told yesterday. Hygiene expenditure in the decade to 1981 would cost meat processing companies $3Bl million, said Borthwicks-C.W.S., Ltd, in a submission on the Meat Amendment No. 2 Bill. Such expenditure could only have been made on a clear Government policy to support, control, and balance the industry, the company said. I “It would be a total breach of faith to delicense.” The bill, introduced by the Government last December, removes much of the Meat Industry Authority’s power to decide on the building of export meat works and abattoirs. Borthwicks gave five main reasons why it believed deli-

censing should not be pursued by the Government. i It concluded by saying ithat the time, effort, expertise, and money that (went into devising a policy; for the meat-processing in- [ dustry, and then into its im-l piementation, were in- j calculable. : “The industry’s contribu-! tion to the economy is in-' calculable,” the company said. “Delicensing will irrejversibly destroy the balance 'now achieved.” Borthwicks said that delicensing would fly in the face of the findings of the] Meat Industry Authority,] 'which only declined applications that were found to be contrary to the development of an economic industry. . - “Delicensing would create surplus capacity, and create it in the wrong places with serious consequences for New Zealand,” the company said.