Will India ink a free trade agreement with NZ?
Beef+Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has welcomed the New Zealand Government's announcement that comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations have formally commenced with India.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) says recent criticism from the UK’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regarding New Zealand’s animal welfare standards are unfounded.
Last week, in an opinion piece in The Telegraph defending the UK Government’s controversial inheritance tax on farms, Steve Reed claimed the United Kingdom-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) signed in 2022 allowed for the import of meat products which were “produced to welfare and environmental standards so low they would be illegal in the UK”.
The claim has been roundly refuted by B+LNZ’s UK-based regional manager, Alex Gowen, who says the industry good body is taking the criticism seriously, reaching out directly to the UK Government, farmer organisations, and the UK media to address the claims.
In addressing the issue, he says, B+LNZ is also enlisting support from the New Zealand Government.
“It is simply not good enough,” says Gowen.
“We are calling for UK politicians to focus on facts, not misinformation that undermines generations of trust between British and New Zealand farmers,” he says.
“We value collaboration over division,” he adds. “If we were to compete, let it be on the rugby field, not through political grandstanding.”
B+LNZ chair Kate Acland has also written to Reed, saying that the statement he made was categorically false and undermined the reputation of New Zealand farmers.
She points out that animal welfare and sustainability were pivotal during the FTA negotiations, adding that the inclusion of a standalone chapter on animal welfare within the FTA was the first of its kind.
She notes that while farming systems may differ from those in the UK, this did not equate to lower animal welfare standards.
“Our robust regulatory framework, bolstered by comprehensive assurance schemes, ensures exceptional animal welfare by allowing livestock to live as naturally as possible,” she writes.
She has invited Reed to New Zealand to observe the country’s farming systems first-hand.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
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