By FOX Andrea
A MEAT BOARD director says international tolerance for New Zealand's "holier than thou" free-trade preaching is running out.
John McCarthy said yesterday that the free-trade concept promoted by political and farming leaders was a lemon.
Free trade would never happen and if it did, could backfire badly on New Zealand red-meat producers.
Most New Zealand sheep and beef was exported to Europe and the United States under "preferred nation" status agreements. If this protection disappeared with free trade, New Zealand could not compete with overseas meat producers such as South America, whose costs could be more than 50 per cent less than New Zealand's.
Mr McCarthy, who has recently returned from five weeks in Europe, the US and Asia, has made his views known to the Meat Board, which emphasised yesterday that they were not the board's views.
"Free trade or globalisation is a myth. It has never happened, but now more than ever, it is never going to. We are witnessing the growth of regionalism as evidenced by the EU, Nafta, Apec," he said.
"The EU with its enlargement over the next 10 years will produce more food than it can consume. Increasingly the policies of the EU and the US will focus on providing trade assistance to developing nations.
"We have good historical relationships in both these markets and our farming enterprises are dependent upon the retention of that goodwill. It is up to us to develop strategies to that end."
Mr McCarthy, a Meat Board director for 18 months, said New Zealand's "lambasting" style, which was once regarded with tolerance as part of an interesting experiment, was now irritating the Europeans, who were battling with the complexities of the European Union.
He had been particularly dismayed at the style of special roving agricultural ambassador Malcolm Bailey who had been "lambasting everyone who disagreed with the principles of the now shaky World Trade Organisation round in various publications".
"I am not convinced this method of holier-than-thou diplomacy is in fact in our best interest.
"There is growing concern worldwide about aspects of the free-trade philosophy and this was demonstrated clearly by the level of protest at Seattle."
Mr McCarthy said New Zealand should increase its efforts to maintain and develop new communication channels with trading partners.
He suggested joint efforts in nutritional and consumer research, a willingness to admit shared problems, and a drive to find common solutions. The WTO shakiness was exacerbated by the US and Europe circling each other "like a couple of pitbulls" over issues such as multifunctionality and genetic engineering.
The multifunctionality argument, used by some countries in defence of their continued protectionist policies, says agriculture creates more than food, such as environmental protection, and rural employment.
Mr Bailey said this week that New Zealand argued vigorously against the defence. But Mr McCarthy said it also could be argued that New Zealand had much to gain by adopting the principle. "Surely the multifunctional role of agriculture is equally important in rurally focused countries such as New Zealand, especially with the 'nature dimension' as it affects tourism potential, as it is in picture postcard Europe?":
