China milking free-trade talks to protect interests of farmers
NEW ZEALAND - Improving access for New Zealand dairy exports remains a sticking point in the free trade agreement talks with China, although Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao isn't so worried about it, says Prime Minister Helen Clark.
22 January 2007
1 minute read
However, Helen Clark was upbeat about New Zealand remaining on track to sign an FTA with China by April next year.
Just how sticky a point dairy will prove as negotiators try to meet that deadline remains to be seen.
In the 12 months to November last year, New Zealand exports of milk powder, butter and cheese to China were worth $395 million, or 21 per cent of the total exports sent there, making dairy by far the biggest category. That compared with just $86 million, or 15 per cent, in the same period in 1997.
In 2005, New Zealand alone was responsible for about half of global dairy exports to China, according to Rabobank.
So how the talks on dairy pan out is of no small consequence to us.
China is said to have a general concern about opening up agricultural trade in a way that could hurt its farmers, particularly in dairy.
Source: The New Zealand Herald
