Free trade standards hard to achieve

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 32

Free trade standards hard to achieve

PA Wellington Common health and safety standards for free trade between Australia and New Zealand will be hard to achieve, says the chairman of the Economic Development Commission, Mr Bernie Galvin. Additives in food, frowned on by the Health Department, had already been a bone of contention between the two countries, asid Mr Galvin. Discussions on health were under way between the governments. With quota and tariff barriers being pulled down, producers might seek regulations to protect their goods or services from competition. In Europe, as the E.C. moved to internal free trade by 1992, there had been debate on how products such as beer and jam were to be defined. Countries had different standards. The simplest solution would be to accept a range of definitions. "I think you will find there are still standards accepted, but they will be international standards,” he said. jdJnsafe products wouiq'

clearly have to be controlled, he said. The commission will be wound up in about two months. The Government’s decision to scrap it was announced in the Budget. Mr Galvin said it was up to the Minister of Finance to comment on how the commission’s work would be carried forward. The commission believed there had to be a body looking at regulations. Since it was formed in 1986, the commission has looked at a wide range of issues, including insider trading, occupational licensing, the role of producer boards, town and country planning and accident compensation. The aim was to help stimulate informed debate on the role of the Government in the economy. Mr Galvin said occupational licensing should not be a device to protect a profession from competition. Self-regulation could work, but it was important to have lay members on bodies which regulated an occupation. This helped avoid the organisations becoming self-protective.