Tuesday, 20 January 2026 10:52

FTA woes

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: Another example of the dairy sector getting shortchanged in free trade deals?

At Open Country Dairy's new butter plant opening last month, company chair Laurie Margrain had a swipe at the Government.

He told suppliers and industry leaders at the plant opening that the EU free trade deal has a bucket quota.

"And our $50 million investment has been locked out of that for the next few years because the quota's been based upon what we sold to Europe in the previous three years. So, we didn't have a butter plant.

"Now we've got a butter plant, a $50 million butter plant, and we can't sell to Europe."


 Read More:


More like this

Labour Supports NZ/India FTA

National's decision to ‘dribble’ information about the NZ/India to Labour contributed to the delay in it deciding to supported the FTA.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Too Lenient

OPINION: Reckless action by Greenpeace in 2024 forced Fonterra to shut down a drying plant for four hours, costing the co-op…

Fossil Fuel Crusade

OPINION: The global crusade against fossil fuel is gaining momentum in some regions.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter