N.Z. lambs to be held out of Aust. meantime

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 36

N.Z. lambs to be held out of Aust. meantime

PA Wellington New Zealand is not rushing to sell lamb to Australia, even though the Meat Board’s ban on exports across the Tasman expires on December 31. A gentlemen’s agreement made by the board with the Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation last year will not extend into 1986, but low lamb prices in the oversupplied Australian market and currency fluctuations mean New Zealand will continue to hold off exports in the immediate future. The two producer boards said after a meeting in Wellington this week that they would talk about reviving this year’s agreement if conditions changed. Australian farmers fear New Zealnd lamb would flood their market and drive down their already depressed prices. Their past threats of countervailing duties and the relatively low potential of the market led to the board’s acceptance of a ban

this year in return for the Australian corporation’s cooperation .in third markets, trade access and research. Countervailing duties are now less of a deterrent since the removal of many farm subsidies, and the board is not happy about undercutting by Australian meat companies in Japan. However, the board does not consider the trade lucrative enough to push for yet. The corporation’s chairman, Mr Richard Austen, said neither group had changed its stance but there was little point in fighting over the issue when the Australian market was not attractive to New Zealand. “It’s a standoff and if things change we will get together again,” Mr Austen said. Australia was determined not to accept New Zealand iamb at any price and New Zealand was still keen to send meat across the Tasman eventually, but both sides were showing enqrmous good will in the meantime, he said.