Pork imports

Press, 3 August 1981, Page 16

Pork imports

Sir,—R must be; assumed, from Mr Talbot's remarks to

the pork industry conference, that the balance of payments situation stood to benefit from the exchange of Canadian imported pig meat, with our exported beef and lamb to Canada. Could Mr Talbot enlighten the bemused pig farmer who may well be up to his middle, in mortgage, muck and mud, just where the incentive to produce and export comes from when having to cope with such uncontrolled decisions. How does an increased export trade to Canada, under such conditions, at the direct expense of a farmer’s income, assist with the purchase of a pair of school shoes? Perhaps Mr Talbot ought to observe a certain retail outlet in Christchurch. advertising imported coffee sets, the pot for which sells at $4090. How can the use of New Zealand's overseas funds be condoned to such an end?—Yours, etc., MICHAEL LAVENDER, Greenpark. July 17, 1981.

[Mr R. G. Talbot, Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, replies: “Your correspondent has, in general, posed the question as to how New Zealand benefits from an exchange of trade, be it in the form of an exchange of Canadian pork for New Zealand beef, veal and lamb, or by the importation of expensive coffee sets? This question can be answered quite simply, for as most New Zealanders are only too aware, this country exists by what it can export, and if we are to sell overseas, we must buy as well, even if that means buying products similar to those that we produce ourselves and which would compete with the domestically produced product. Access to the New Zealand market for Canadian pork has allowed New Zealand meat products to obtain a more secure and cheaper access to the Canadian market, to- the extent that the New Zealand meat industry is now in a position where it is providing 56 per cent of the lamb consumed in Canada, and is unfortunately unable to fulfil its share of the global beef import quota imposed by the Canadians. The value of New Zealand meat exports to Canada in 1979-80 was of the order of $50.8 million (f.0.b.) _ for beef and veal, and $18.5 million (f.0.b.) for lamb which must be regarded as very significant at a time when New Zealand must seek to maximise all of its export opportunities. In turn, in 1979-80, Canada exported only $2.9 million (c.i.f.) worth of pork to New Zealand. The gains from New Zealand’s meat trade to Canada may not accrue directly to the bemused pig farmer, but would eventually by some indirect means, trickle down to the pig farmer, perhaps in the form of consumer purchases of pork, to enable him to purchase a pair of school shoes.”]