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New Zealand dairy leaders in last ditch plea for TPP access

Xinhua, July 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

New Zealand dairy industry leaders have travelled to the final round of the 12-nation Trans- Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks in Hawaii amid fears that the talks will fail to secure access agreements for the country's biggest export commodity.

The chairmen of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) and DairyNZ issued a joint statement Wednesday urging TPP governments not to miss a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve dairy trade in the region.

DCANZ chairman Malcolm Bailey and DairyNZ chairman John Luxton said they had to highlight the need for an equally ambitious outcome for dairy as those on the table for other goods.

The dairy industry was concerned at suggestions that some countries were pushing for New Zealand to accept a substandard outcome for dairy market access.

Dairy accounted for about 30 percent of New Zealand's merchandise trade exports and was an essential contributor to New Zealand's rural communities, they said in the statement.

"Consequently the New Zealand dairy industry cannot see a TPP deal stacking up for New Zealand without a good deal on dairy," they said.

Bailey compared the TPP with New Zealand's free trade agreement with China, which was signed in 2008.

"From a dairy perspective China has already come forward and entered agreements that result in complete tariff elimination with New Zealand and Australia. It would be very strange if TPP were to be less liberal than those agreements," he said.

"Parts of the U.S. industry are making much of the need to maintain protections against New Zealand dairy exports. Given the U.S. is the largest dairy exporter in the TPP region we can't understand why they are not fighting instead for the opportunity that liberalization holds for them."

Luxton said the dairy industry was important to New Zealand's economic wellbeing.

"We are not asking for a handout, our farmers are not subsidized, we do not protect our market. We just want a level playing field," he said. Endi