N.Z. butter deal delay

Press, 4 August 1981, Page 13

N.Z. butter deal delay

NZPA Washington An American State Department spokesman, Mr Dean, Fischer, has said that the department would not support any transfer of United States subsidised butter to the New Zealand Dairy Board if it meant the butter then would be sold to the Soviet Union. Mr Fischer said President Reagan and the Cabinet had made no final decision on how to handle about 900,000 kg of surplus butter by the United States Government over the last three years for about SUS 3 a kilogram. The Secretary of State, Mr Alexander Haig, is believed to think it would be sending a wrong signal to the Russians if they were sold butter at a price subsidised bv American taxpayers. ‘ The State Department also opposed selling butter to a third party, such as New Zealand butter-brokers, who could then sell it to the

Russians, who were believed to want to buv it. Mr Fischer said. ‘‘We would not support an arrangement which would allow subsidised United States butter or butter products to reach the Soviet Union." Mr Fischer said when asked about the idea of selling butter to New Zealand brokers. The various alternatives of disposal of the surplus butter were still under review within the Administration, he said. No final decision had been made on the best way to handle the problem. One proposal before the Administration is to sell butter to the New Zealand Dairy Board, a non-Govern-ment trading organisation, for about $2.10 a kilogram. Some United States officials had thought this arrangement. would satisfy Mr Haig’s concerns . since the butter would not go directly to the Soviet Union.