Distortion may arise on U.K. lamb market

Press, 24 October 1980, Page 14

Distortion may arise on U.K. lamb market

Now that the common external tariff on lamb entering the European Economic Community has been reduced from 20 to 10 per cent, New Zealand cannot afford to rejax and assume that all will be much brighter for our product on the British market.

. Concern is already starting to surface in the very week that the sheep meat regulation has come into force in the community that artificial mechanisms and procedures may tend to distort market patterns and may be. to, our; disadvantage.

Quite apart from the longer term dangers that are foreseen by some in the form of much greater production in Britain as farmers there are: assured of much higher prices, there could be distortions in the quite short term that-could be harmful. About- a’ fifth of- the Home produced product goes to markets like Belgium, West Germany and France. The danger is that there may be some interruption of that trade. Where a British exporter now ' sends lamb to markets outside Britain he has to pay back the equivalent of the supplementary payment being made to the British farmer — a so-called clawback — and the concern is that rather than be troubled with this procedure he niay elect to give up export and concentrate on volume sales on the local market

The additional supplies on the British market would no doubt have a depressing influence on prices for New Zealand lamb.

This situation will be watched with considerable interest On the other hand, there has been good news about the continued shipment of lamb to Iran in spite of the war. Four vessels had' still to unload supplies to fill the old season’s orders when the war with Iraq erupted and the word is now that unloading of three of these has been completed and another, the Timaru Star, has also been unloading at a port away from the war zone but at some distance from a railhead. This would have brought total shipment for the season ,to over 64,000 tonnes. The first shipment from new season’s supplies is due to leave this country about the middle of December.

. Slaughtermen coming from Iran to perform halal killing for their market •this season are not able to fly out of Teheran airport because it .is closed as a result of the war and it seems that the first 'of these at least may have to travel overland to Karachi and fly from there. The first group could be here in about a week. This year they will not all be coming at once but as there is a need for them in various parts of the country. In all something over 30 will be coming this year compared with 20 last year. About 12 slaughtermen will also be coming from Fiji this season under the government to government work scheme, with the first also arriving in about 10 days time. Last year some Fijians were among slaughtermen

selected in New Zealand .to do the halal procedure. About 30 will also be drawn from New Zealand, bringing the total number employed to do this sort of slaughtering to about 75.

All have to be Muslims and after training are qualified to perform tire ritual slaughtering,