THE PRESS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1981. Less beef for Japan

Press, 5 December 1981, Page 14

THE PRESS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1981. Less beef for Japan

The fact that Japan is reducing its imports of beef this year is an indication that it plans to continue present policies. For the last few years it has occasionally increased its quotas. In this part of the season it is cutting back. As a market for New Zealand beef Japan is not large. It imported only 3809 tonnes of beef and veal from New Zealand in the 1981 season and 804 tonnes in the previous year. The import quotas are for specific classifications of beef, which-exclude New Zealand over a large range. Most of the quota is filled by the grain-fed beef from the United States, some is for beef from Australia. The grassfed beef from New Zealand meets some classification criteria but Australia has generally been able recently to tender lower prices. New Zealand has directed much of its beef to the United States, where prices have been better. It remains the choice of the Japanese importing organisations that the quotas remain as low as they are. The Japanese beef industry is powerful politically and the price of beef remains high. The Japanese consumer has little say in all this. Over-all Japanese meat consumption is low by the standards of countries that might be considered to have comparable living standards. Meat consumption in Japan in 1979 amounted to 20.9 kilograms a head, compared with 100 kg in Argentina, 83kg in the United States, 70kg in Canada,

and 100 kg in New Zealand. There is very little reason indeed to believe that Japanese would not eat more beef if they were allowed to and if they could afford it. The reason they do not undoubtedly lies in the hands of the Japanese Government and the importing agencies.

New Zealand has attempted, at various times, to persuade Japan to open up its markets for agricultural produce. The long-drawn-out struggle of trying to trade access to New Zealand’s fishing grounds for access to the Japanese market for agricultural produce produced only limited concessions from Japan. New Zealand appeared to abandon hope of gaining concessions on beef. The most definite statement on the point appeared to have been made to Mr Doug Anthony, the Australian Minister of Trade and Resources, who came back from a visit to Japan persuaded that Japan would increase its quotas by 5000 tonnes a year. There appeared to be nothing in writing to confirm this. Mr Taiboys, the New Zealand Minister of Overseas Trade, was a little sceptical but unable to do much else than accept the assurance to Mr Anthony. The reduction in the Japanese import quota this year does not give any reason to hope that a gradual change is being made in Japan. The New Zealand Government should protest vigorously.