First ever biofuel kiwifruit charter completed
Fresh Carriers Co. Ltd (FCC) and Zespri have completed the first ever kiwifruit charter powered by a low-emissions fuel.
Dairy companies Association of NZ chairman, Malcolm Bailey has launched a scathing attack on the European Union’s proposed free trade agreement.
He says the present deal is better than the so-called new offer and the offer is a slap in the face to New Zealand dairy farmers.
He says the reported EU offer, comprised of miniscule quota volumes and high in-quota tariffs, could never credibly form part of a free trade agreement between the economies.
“This falls short of even paying lip-serve to free trade. It is unashamed protectionism from the world’s largest dairy exporter,” he told Dairy News.
“The starting cheese quota of 1500 tonnes is less than a rounding error, at just 0.02% of the EU’s nearly nine million tonne cheese market. The butter offer of 600 tonnes is similarly low at just 0.03% of the domestic market, and each tonne will attract a tariff of Euro 586 per tonne, significantly constraining its usability,” he says.
A point of contention right from the start in the FTA negotiations has been the geographical indicators where NZ has been using names for its cheese, which the EU is in effect claiming as its intellectual property.
Bailey points out that NZ has been using these names such as gruyere, feta and parmesan for over 100 years and now there is an argument. Bailey says NZ should not give way on this issue.
“Adding insult to injury, EU dairy producers enjoy among the highest levels of trade distorting subsidies in the world – a practice that significantly disadvantages New Zealand exporters on the world market. This trade agreement is an opportunity for the EU to take real global leadership and send a positive signal for food trade. It’s time for action to match words,” he says.
Bailey says Covid-19 has seen many countries turn towards protectionism in a bid to save their economies. But he says history tells us that the best way for countries to recover from an economic crisis is to trade their way out, not put up the shutters.
An Auckland man who illegally killed and sold pigs and a chicken has been fined $8,000.
Ahead of the World Butchers' Challenge, the captains of 14 nations’ teams squared off in Paris over the weekend.
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) says it welcomes recently announced consultation on Pharmac’s funding of ostradiol patches used by women going through perimenopause and menopause.
Fonterra has named Elizabeth (Liz) Coutts the chair of Mainland Group, the proposed divestment entity of the co-operative’s consumer business.
Farmer-owned co-operative Ravensdown is winding down the operations of its agritech subsidiary C-Dax following a long decline in sales.
The recent East Coast Farming Expo, held over two days at Wairoa, offered an insight into the current state of agriculture on the east of the North Island, at a time when the locals are remembering the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle.
OPINION: Two Australian cheesemakers have rescued the iconic Tasmanian cheese company King Island Dairy.
OPINION: World famous liqueur maker Baileys is the latest to dabble with plant-based products.