EU Quotas Expanded for New Zealand
August 19, 2005
August 19, 2005 -- Meat & Wool New Zealand Chairman Jeff Grant and Meat Industry Association Chairman Bill Falconer have welcomed the government's confirmation today that New Zealand's sheepmeat quota to the European Union (EU) will be expanded.
Minister for Trade Negotiations Jim Sutton announced that the EU will allocate a further 1,154 tons of sheepmeat quota to New Zealand.
The quota expansion is a result of the EU's enlargement in May 2004 to include 10 new European countries and is in recognition of New Zealand's historic trade in sheepmeat with the newly acceded EU members.
A number of the new EU members, Malta and Cyprus in particular, had imported sheepmeat from New Zealand prior to joining the EU. However, since EU enlargement, this trade has been displaced as sheepmeat exports to Malta, Cyprus and the other acceding countries are now subject to the tariff quotas imposed by the EU for sheepmeat and goatmeat (currently 226,700 tons).
"We are pleased that the negotiations have concluded," said Grant. "The agreement to expand New Zealand's sheepmeat quota to the EU is an appropriate recognition of New Zealand's historic sheepmeat trade with the new EU members and ensures that New Zealand exporters are not in a less favorable position than they were prior to the EU's enlargement."
Reprinted from The Scoop, New Zealand
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