Farmer fury
OPINION: The new Labour Government in the UK is facing the wrath of farmers. Last week thousands of farmers and their supporters converged in London protesting changes to inheritance tax for farmers announced in the Budget.
Comprehensive, inclusive and high quality and providing fantastic opportunities for our exporters.
That’s how Trade and Export Growth Minister, Damien O’Connor is describing the announcement today that NZ and the UK have agreed ‘in principle’ to an historic Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This means that the FTA deal has been done, with just the final text to be worked through by officials in the coming months.
O’Connor says he’s proud of what NZ has achieved in the negotiations with 97% of tariffs being eliminated on our products entering the UK.
“There will be a transition period for our butter, cheese, beef and sheep meat producers during which time they will enjoy significant tariff-free transitional quotas. This provides great opportunity to grow our trade through these periods. For instance, 7,000 tonnes of butter, and 24,000 tonnes of cheese can flow to the UK market tariff-free at commencement. That will grow to 15,000 for butter, and 48,000 for cheese by Year 5, after which point trade will be free,” he says.
O’Connor says 12,000 tonnes of beef at commencement will grow to 60,000 in Year 15, after which point beef trade will be free and 149,000 tonnes of sheepmeat at commencement will grow to 164,000 in Year 15. There are also new arrangements for other products such as apple and honey.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as one of NZ best deals ever and says it’s secured at a crucial time in the Covid recovery. She says it will serve our economy and exporters well.
The deal comes just a week after O’Connor met with the UK’s Trade Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan in Italy.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
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