This month’s butter

Press, 11 February 1983, Page 14

This month’s butter

The European Economic Community Council of Agriculture Ministers agreed last October that New Zealand should be allowed to send 87,000 tonnes of butter to the Community during 1983. This was not ratified. At the meeting held this week in Brussels, the Council of Agriculture Ministers failed to ratify it again, though provision was made, as it has been made in previous months, for New Zealand to send butter for one more month. New Zealand is thus placed in a curious position to run its dairying; it is also a curious way for the E.E.C. to conduct its relations with New Zealand. The E.E.C. has long had ambitions of being taken seriously in world affairs, and occasionally its independent voice has made good sense. It will have to do better than taking a series of interim decisions if it is to be convincing.

The next meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers will be on March 8 and 9. The question of Spanish and Portuguese accession to the E.E.C. is expected to be discussed then. There is little hope for a discussion on butter. The meeting after that — on March 14, 15 and 16 — is expected to discuss farm pricing. It is possible that the question of butter will be injected in this discussion, though it should hardly be a reconsideration of the question of access for 1983. In any event the monthly quotas would need agreement. In the meantime the E.E.C. has plunged into the talks with the United States about subsidies on agricultural products. At worst, a trade war between the E.E.C. and

the United States could break out before the March meetings.

The ratification of the agreement with New Zealand has been held up because France and Ireland want the E.E.C. to sell subsidised butter to the Soviet Union. West Germany and Britain are opposed to this, and the European Parliament is keeping a disapproving eye on the possibility of sales of subsidised butter to the Soviet Union. Both West Germany and Britain face elections this year. The West German elections will be on March 6. The Christian Democratic Government in West Germany and the Conservative Government in Britain oppose, as a matter of principle, supplying the Soviet Union with butter made cheap by the European taxpayer. They are not likely to change their minds before the elections. Similarly, France and Ireland have shown themselves to be persistent in wanting the sales. All of this leads to a conclusion that ratification may take some time. New Zealand may conclude that these arguments have little to do with New Zealand, and that New Zealand has become a bargaining chip in the negotiations. The difficulty for New Zealand lies in the sense of uncertainty arising from the month-by-month decisions and in the fact that, until the 1983 quota is ratified, no-one can face squarely the question of continued access after 1983. The messy way in which the E.E.C. is conducting its own affairs bogs down others who have to conduct their relations with the E.E.C.