Wellington, May 2 / NZPA
Today's World Trade Organisation decision upholding New Zealand and Australia's objections to United States tariffs on lamb imports will test the free-trade credentials of American President George W Bush, farmers say. "New Zealand farmers will be looking to the Bush administration to implement the findings of the WTO appellate body as speedily as possible," said Federated Farmers' chief executive Tony St Clair. And AAP reported Australia's National Farmers' Federation president Ian Donges said the decision was a win for all Australian sheep producers. "It is a test, it is a really genuine test for the Bush administration as far as where they want to go with agricultural trade," Mr Donges told reporters. "This will send all the wrong signals if the US administration want to play this to the end and play this as hard as they possibly can."
In Geneva, the WTO appeals panel upheld an earlier decision that a three-year US plan imposing quotas and tariffs as high as 40 per cent on over-quota Australian and New Zealand lamb imports was inconsistent with US obligations under world trade rules. The barriers have cost Australia's lamb industry at least $A30 million ($NZ37.5 million), and New Zealand's $20 million, and industry observers said their removal had the potential to significantly boost exports to the US in four or five years. But the United States could take up to 161 days to implement changes or it could institute further delaying tactics on the programme which is due to expire anyway on July 1, 2002.
Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton said he was always confident the ruling would favour New Zealand and Australia. "But you can never be sure when you go to court what's going to happen," he said. Meat Board chairman and Southland farmer Jeff Grant said New Zealand would save about $16 million as a result of the tariffs being lifted. "If they stopped tomorrow and took off what was on the tariffs it would probably be about $16 million that wouldn't have to be paid," Mr Grant told NZPA. "The $20-odd million that has probably been paid to date, unfortunately the WTO can't make a ruling on (paying that back)." Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile called on the US to act as soon as possible to remove the tariffs. "Australia expects the US administration to take action to comply with these WTO rulings as quickly as possible," Mr Vaile said in a statement.
In Wellington, Green Party MP Ian Ewen-Street said today that while some farmers would welcome the WTO decision, they needed to be aware that free-trade agreements were a two-edged sword. "The WTO removes the fundamental right of nations to say no to imports which may not be in the best interests of the particular country, or which are simply not wanted," he said in a statement. "The boot could be on the other foot if New Zealand farmers were suddenly seriously undercut by a flood of cheap imports, such as Canadian pork."
He predicted New Zealanders would see an increasing number of problems with binding free-trade deals. "Canada wants to export trout to New Zealand, which anglers argue could seriously damage New Zealand's fishery," he said. "If we say no, they are likely to take us to the WTO to force us to accept their imports".:
