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change, “which threatens to become the defining issue for oureconomy in the next century”, have resulted in much work bythe New Zealand government, Anderton said.In partnership with industry and local government, work is underwayon a Sustainable Water Programme, a Sustainable LandManagement strategy and an Afforestation Programme to treatNew Zealand’s most erosion-prone areas and maximise carbonsinks. Work is also underway to reduce agricultural emissions.Agricultural protectionism needs to be constantly guardedagainst. This manifests not only in the form of tariffs and quotasbut also as non-tariff trade barriers such as sanitary and phyto-sanitary(SPS) regulations, which impose constraints on theflow of goods under the guise ofprotecting countries from pestsand diseases or the recent ‘foodmiles’ argument leveraged bycertain lobby groups, Andertonsaid.William Davidson 125”Where the meat trade isconcerned you have to start ata global level,” Minister of Trade,the Honourable Phil Goff tolddelegatesMeat trade at global level“Where the meat trade is concernedyou have to start at aglobal level,” Minister of TradePhil Goff remarked in his presentation.The WTO’s Doha negotiation,which is creakingtowards conclusion, remains ourbest opportunity for achievingbroadly-based multi-lateral marketaccess gains. “And, it is theonly place we have any chanceof negotiating deep cuts in farmsubsidies.”At the same time, country-tocountryand regional ‘bi-lateral’negotiations are also ongoingbut take time – these currentlyinclude the Gulf CooperationCouncil, a market worth $0.25billion to New Zealand and freetrade agreements (FTA) withChina and ASEAN. New Zealandalso faces “special challenges”when it comes to thelarger OECD economies such asthe European Union, the UnitedStates, Japan and Korea.EU more complexThe European Union has just becomemore complex as the presentationfrom former EuropeanAgriculture Commissioner FranzFischler showed. Our regional tradingpartner now sports 27 memberFranz Fischlerstates with a population of 480 million,including 14 million farmers.Imports of New Zealand meat will still be required to fill thegaps in European production. In the years to 2013, Europeanbeef production is forecast to continue its fall by six percentbelow consumption and European sheep meat production isexpected to continue its decline.Fischler also predicted that as more crops will be needed forthe emerging ‘green’ bioethanol fuel market, competition forlivestock feed will see prices rise and that is expected to impacton meat prices.July 200743