Penalties In New Meat Scheme

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31000, 4 March 1966, Page 3

Penalties In New Meat Scheme

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, March 3.

A scheme to diversify New Zealand’s meat exports was endorsed by a combined meeting of the electoral committee of the Meat Board and the meat and wool council of the Federated Farmers today. The scheme provides for annual industry consultations to determine the amount of lamb to be sold outside the United Kingdom and North America.

Under the plan, exporters who fail to meet their diversionary targets will be liable to pay a “market development charge” which will be added to producer funds set aside for

this purpose. Details of the scheme were released at today’s meeting by the chairman of the Meat Board (Sir John Ormond). The resolution endorsing the plan said that the financing of the scheme should come from a market development charge and from interest accruing to the Meat Industry Reserve Account

The meeting also resolved “that there should be no restriction placed on the use of the interest accruing to the meat industry reserve account.” The Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Marshall) and the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Taiboys) attended the meeting. Sir John Ormond said he wished to assure everybody that there was no secrecy, no crisis, no alarm, involved in the board’s, the Government’s, and the industry’s thinking on the future of the meat market. “We are simply concerned to adapt marketing outlook and practice to the new requirements of the day,” he said. Provisions The plan for lamb specifically set out by the board has the following provisions: Each year, the Meat Board, after consultation with the Government, and the owners of freezing works, will determine the weight of lamb (expressed as a percentage of the estimated total lamb production) which should be sold in markets other than the United Kingdom after the Meat Export Development Company has submitted an estimate of quantities required for North America. The Meat Board would, after consultation with the Government, and the owners of freezing works, determine the anticipated cost (if any) per lb which may be incurred in marketing lamb outside the United Kingdom. The anticipated cost would be regarded as a “market development charge.” Exporters would participate by selling the required quantities of lamb to markets outside the United Kingdom, having regard to the requirements of the Meat Export Development Company in North America.

To the extent that any exporter’s sales to other markets fall below the percentage diversion required, he would be required to pay to the

board the market development charge on the quantity of meat by which he had fallen below the diversionary target. Each year, all exporters would be advised of the required diversionary percentage and of the market development charge. U.S. Operation Sir John Ormond said the Government had raised questions about the North American operations of the Meat Export Development Company and the expenditure of funds. “We said that this was the producers’ money and it was being used in the interests of the industry and country. The Government agreed to come half-way to our point of view —it agreed that we meet half 'he cost out of the industry funds.” The board had had discussions with the Government, with the freezing industry and with the meat and wool council of Federated Farmers. The meat and wool council had twice in recent months affirmed its belief that a diversionary scheme for lamb was urgently necessary. The council believed that the Meat Board should administer the scheme. The board had appointed a committee comprising three members of the board, the chairman of the electoral committee and the chairman of the meat and wool council to consider further detail. This committee had defined a method of operation and financing. This had been considered by the board and there had been evolved the plan which the board had endorsed for presentation to the meeting.

Not All

“We should clearly understand that a scheme of diversionary incentives is not the whole answer to the need for further market development,” said Sir John Ormond. “It is the machinery. It presupposes successful negotiations on entry to markets, and satisfactory production and processing, as all selling does, and it rests on successful promotion of the product to the trade and consumers in the countries concerned. We have very good understanding with the trade in promotion work and we plan to develop it I further.”