Threat seen to N.Z. meat sales in Pacific

Press, 16 August 1985, Page 25

Threat seen to N.Z. meat sales in Pacific

PA Wellington The Opposition’s meat and wool spokesman, Mr Denis Marshall, says the latest E.E.C. inroad into New Zealand’s Pacific Basin markets threatened sheep and beef exports. The E.E.C. recently decided to send heavily subsidised beef into 10 countries it had previously left alone.

Four, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, are buyers of New Zealand meat.

The Meat Board group public relations manager, Mr Barrie Saunders, said that the decision would be particularly harmful to beef exports to Hong Kong and mutton shipments to the Philippines. “It’s another unhelpful development in the meat industry,” he said. While the move did not breach Europe’s agreement with the Australian Government about limiting the

flow of cut-price beef into the Pacific rim, neither New Zealand nor Australia was pleased. “It will have an unhelpful effect on our exports that have been driven out of Europe and are having a hard time in the Middle East,” he said. “This is just bringing things closer to home, particularly with Hong Kong.” A spokesman for a big beef exporter, Borthwicks, was equally concerned. “We are concerned about any move by the E.E.C. into what has been traditionally our market areas, and we will be urging the Government to take steps to prevent this happening,” said the chairman, Mr Robert Baldey. Mr Marshall said Europe “ran rings around” the Overseas Trade and Marketing Minister, Mr Moore, and the Agriculture Minister, Mr Moyle, who failed to protect New Zealand’s interests.

The Community’s move into new Asian markets highlighted the problems it was having disposing of its huge 800,000 tonne beef surplus.

“If the E.E.C. dumps that surplus into our Asian market it would be disastrous for our beef exporters,” Mr Marshall said.

According to the board’s annual report, Hong Kong last year imported 2434 tonnes of beef and 767 tonnes of sheepmeat from New Zealand.

The Philippines brought 37 tonnes of beef and 87 tonnes of sheepmeat, while Indonesia imported 455 tonnes of beef and 117 tonnes of lamb and Thailand took 34 tonnes of beef and 55 tonnes of sheepmeat.

Other countries the E.E.C. has extended restitutions to are Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Vietnam, China and North Korea.