French buy N.Z. venison

Press, 22 May 1986, Page 16

French buy N.Z. venison

PA Wellington The Chernobyl disaster seems to have forced France to buy venison from non-nuclear New Zealand, according to the exporting firm, Wrightson NMA.

Sales of venison to European countries since the April 26 accident earned well over $1 million, according to figures given by New Zealand’s four main exporters. All were confident this week about New Zealand’s main venison marketing area — Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands.

New Zealand venison earned $lB million in the year ended June 30, 1985, and nearly $lO million of that came from those four countries.

Three weeks ago exporters believed that because of the dispute over the jailed French agents there would be no sales to

the French in the year ending June 30, 1986, said Wrightson’s venison marketing manager, Mr Andrew Williams, in Auckland. French venison-eaters relied on game from Poland but because of the nuclear plant explosion, the E.E.C. has banned venison from Eastern bloc countries for at least two months. France last week bought 22 tonnes of venison at a cost of $150,000 from Wrightson N.M.A.

The New ZealandFrance venison trade in the year ended June 30, 1985, was worth only $91,000, and almost all the 15 tonnes was sold by Wrightson N.M.A. The previous year France bought only one tonne and before then, nothing. Wilson-Neill’s export division general manager, Mr John Scandrett, said from Dunedin that his firm had sold about five tonnes of venison to France recently but he

was unsure whether it had any connection with the disaster.