Deadline delay sought

Press, 14 June 1983, Page 3

Deadline delay sought

PA Wellington The Government is asking the Common Market if it can continue to use the outlawed stockinette on meat exports beyond the May deadline next year. The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Maclntyre, said he expected a favourable response. The E.E.C. amended directives on meat imports earlier this year, saying it wanted meat from outside countries both wrapped and packed, or enclosed in a material that satisfied both requirements. An E.E.C. veterinary team which inspected New Zealand meat works recently indicated to officials that the stockinette would not be acceptable once the directive came into force for New Zealand on May 1 next year. Mr Maclntyre said New Zealand would make "strong representations” for a time extension to meet the new requirements. The main problems were the cost and time involved in plastic wrapping methods, he said. Some works had been using plastic for some time but had problems with stacking and handling carcases. These had been overcome by wrapping in plastic and packing in stockinette, but this increased packing time and costs. A single method capable of meeting both wrapping and packaging requirements was still being sought.