N.Z. opossums to feature in Hong Kong menus

Press, 7 December 1987, Page 2

N.Z. opossums to feature in Hong Kong menus

Political reporter

New Zealand opossums should soon feature in Hong Kong menus, as a result of the Meat Amendment Bill which was introduced to Parliament on Tuesday. The bill will solve a problem experienced by the Auckland-based Kiwi Bear Company, which has an opossum farm near Reporoa in the Bay of Plenty. The company’s efforts to export opossums have been frustrated by the lack of legal status for the animals in the Meat Act, which has prevented them from gaining the certification required for the Hong Kong market.

The bill would widen the definition of “animal" in the Meat Act to include farmed opossums.

The associate Minister of Finance, Mr Butcher, said that this section of the bill should be passed with urgency to facilitate trading opportunities. He told the Opposition spokesman for agriculture, Mr John Falloon, that the bill would not mean that opossums were given a preferential inspection system over other meat.

He also assured Parliament that opossum inspections would not be done by the National Roads Board — a reference to the road toll of the animals.

Mr Falloon has indicated that the Opposition would not delay the bill unless something “comes out of the woodwork” in the select committee stage. The bill would also al-

low fish by-products to be processed in unlicensed premises if they were destined for markets where certification was not required.

Products and by-pro-ducts would not be exempt from licencing if they were altered so much from their original, animal state, that they ceased to have public or animal health significance.

The bill would also allow, on the authorisation of the Director-General of Agriculture, the presence processing in licenced meat packing houses of meat slaughtered elsewhere than in a licensed slaughterhouse. A great "user pays” element would be introduced in meat inspection by the bill. The Ministry could charge for the issue of a

licence, the costs of setting up an inspection system and also the costs of disestablishing systems.

Mr Butcher said there had been a recent rise in the number of premises being built Many were small or in remote areas which entailed considerable inspection costs, and these should be met by those who incurred them.

In the case of shutdowns, the cost of dispersing an inspection staff of 25, then creating a new staff on reopening, was about $1 million. The bill would also replace the present system of paying inspection costs, with a system of projected costs.

Mr Falloon questioned whether the meat industry would have a greater say in the inspection process to match the increased costs.