Caution over farm reform

Press, 11 April 1989, Page 4

Caution over farm reform

PA Wellington New Zealand’s primary producers have reacted cautiously to the long-awaited agreement on the need for reform to international agricultural trade.

Participants at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (G.A.T.T.) talks in Geneva at the week-end agreed to ensure domestic and export farm support and protection levels were not increased before the end of the G.A.T.T round in 1990. They have also indicated intentions to phase out internal subsidies and protectionist policies after 1990. The Minister for External Relations and Trade, Mr Moore, has hailed the agreement as the most important, development for New Zealand farming since refrigeration.

The agreement meant New Zealand’s 40-year wait for meaningful agricultural reforms may soon be over, he said.

“Not only will it (the Geneva agreement) make sure further

talks focus seriously on the important issues, it will ensure they are steered in the right direction,” he said. But producer boards are waiting cautiously to see whether the agreement will result in concrete improvements. “I’d like to see the results before I start drinking the champagne,” said the Meat Board’s market services manager, Mr Laurie Bryant, yesterday.

“We have here a basis for further talks from which we may gain better access to markets or we may not,” said the Dairy Board’s public affairs assistant manager, Mr David Graham. Both agree the latest move in the G.A.T.T talks is a positive step, particularly since talks on agriculture almost collapsed last December.

Any move to reduce protectionism must have positive effects for the meat trade, Mr Bryant said. The decision not to increase farm support and protection levels made meat’s future position more certain.

The biggest impact would be in Europe. Mr Bryant said the main problem was subsidised meat production in Europe.

If efficient meat producers could compete in Europe it would open up a whole new market. Exporting more beef to Europe could be particularly profitable, he said. Mr Graham said the agreement could benefit the dairy industry in the long term but there would be no instant results. “We are not leaping on an express train. We are walking

down a long highway. There is still a long way to go,” he said. But if the agreement did result in real progress, it should open up Northern Hemisphere markets from which New Zealand dairy products were excluded.

It was unlikely to have any effect on prices as these were already firm for dairy products, he said. Timetables have been drawn up for further work and agreement has been reached on ways to ensure parties comply with their commitments.

"These important undertakings should mean the situation cannot get worse — only progressively better,” Mr Moore said. “This is of vital significance for New Zealand farmers, exporters and the country as a whole.”