Cheesemakers may need new cheese names under FTA
The owner of an award-winning cheese producer says the Government’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) has proven disappointing for the sector.
OPINION: Since the announcement of the trade agreement between NZ and the EU there has been considerable outcry.
Some farming leaders in the dairy and sheep & beef sectors argue that NZ should not have signed the deal, but soldiered on to get a better one. Fair comment perhaps, but remember there are other primary sector people - notably those in the horticulture sector - who are smiling at the outcome.
To the critics, maybe it's time to take a look at the history books and understand why the EU, or EEC as it was originally known, was created. Put simply, it was to provide food sovereignty or food securityin the economic union.
This was based on the problems that surfaced at the end of WWII when ordindary people - not those in concentration camps - starved to death. The figure of 45,000 in the Netherlands is one that comes to mind.
There was also an element in the EEC charter of creating political stability in Europe and using trade as a conduit for this.
So, as we have learned, sport and politics are inseparable and so is trade and politics - to suppose otherwise is naïve. Hence in the end, it was the politicians who made the final call to accept the EU's offer.
This NZ/EU FTA is a reflection of history. What we saw in the negotiations was a position taken by the EU that differed little in theory from when we first began negotiating with it back in 1973. While NZ is seen as a friend, it is not a blood relation and, as they say, 'charity begins at home'.
The EU has always prioritised its own electorally important farmers over countries like ours, who would like the largest possible slice of their affluent market.
Sure, the deal is not perfect and no one thought it would be as good as the UK FTA. But we do have a deal and an enshrined political relationship with one of the powerhouse economic regions in the world.
When Britain joined the EU, we had to find alternative markets and were very succesful in doing so. It is arguably much harder today with Covid and a very uncertain and somewhat frightening geopolitical situation. But people have to eat and we produce some of the best food in the world in a sustainable way, so there is hope.
The time has come to accept what we have got and move on as we have always done.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Two major red meat sector projects are getting up to a combined $1.7 million in funding from the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
OPINION: The distress that the politicians and bureaucrats are causing to the people of Wairoa and the wider Tairāwhiti is unforgivable.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.