Apple imports restored

Press, 6 July 1988, Page 6

Apple imports restored

i By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

New Zealand has had its apple imports rights for this season restored by the European Community.

The European Commission has issued licences for an extra 12,980 tonnes of apples to the Apple and Pear Marketing Board. This gave the board the ability to sell almost as much fruit to the E.C. as it had originally planned, said the Minister of Overseas Trade, Mr Moore. Total sales would now be nearly 128,000 tonnes

instead of the 115,000tonne limit unilaterally imposed by the E.C. in April. This was close to the 130,000 to 135,000 tonnes New Zealand had hoped to sell. “But this does not mean we accept any E.C. right to impose quotas on us,” he said. “In accepting this solution we are not in any way relinquishing or surrendering any of our

G.A.T.T. rights.” Mr Moore did not want to see the outcome in terms of victory versus defeat. The E.C. had imposed an illegal quota and New Zealand’s strenuous lobbying against it had been successful. “This does not ensure that we will not face the same problems next year or in some future year,” he said.

New Zealand was not aware what specific decisions had been made for other suppliers who had had a quota imposed, but it was understood the E.C. had made an exception to its April quota in New Zealand’s case only. “We had a strong argument in opposition and were taking a claim to the G.A.T.T., but with this out-

come our G.A.T.T. case will be dropped,” he said. The increase would be worth another $7 million to New Zealand from apple sales, in the E.C. and would help to take supply pressure off other markets. But New Zealand still maintained that any quantitative restrictions on apple exports were unjustified, Mr Moore said.