“Unanimous” is now explicit

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32819, 20 January 1972, Page 10

“Unanimous” is now explicit

Too much fuss is being made about the changed wording of the British agreement with the Common Market countries on special arrangements for New Zealand butter imports. The Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Marshall) apparently feels that he has been let down by the British negotiators after believing that he had secured an important point in the Luxemburg talks. But the so-called British concession makes no change in what is likely to happen when New Zealand’s butter sales are considered by an enlarged E.E.C. in 1975. For one thing, the undertaking that the New Zealand position after 1977 will be reviewed in 1975 remains unaltered. This review, and the terms of the review, are vita) to New Zealand. The points which will be taken into account have not been changed. They concern world supply and demand for butter, progress towards a world agreement on dairy products, and the extent of progress made by New Zealand in diversifying its economy and its exports. These considerations, and the fact that New Zealand is assured of the 1975 review, are what matter most. How the review will turn out for New Zealand will depend not on whether the protocol on British entry specifies a unanimous decision by the E.E.C. members but very largely on the foreseeable market for butter after 1977. The review will undoubtedly be rated an “ important question ” within the E.E.C. and this, in any event, requires a unanimous decision. It is of no advantage that Britain would be able to veto what it considered to be an unsatisfactory decision: for that would mean no decision at all and. therefore, no continuing arrangement for New Zealand. The wording of the agreement to be signed by Britain on Saturday was the subject of close scrutiny by negotiators from both sides up till early this week. The “ concession ” made by Britain was more apparent than real; it merely makes explicit a condition of the 1975 review which was always well understood in London and in Wellington.