9 February 2007

1 minute read

Oceania

Fonterra's trade strategy general manager Fiona Cooper Clarke says it is hard to assess what the damage will be, as the details have not yet been received. But she estimates that if it goes ahead, New Zealand could lose tens of millions of dollars.

Clarke says Canadian dairy farmers are already protected by some of the highest tariffs internationally and enjoy a market price many times the average of the rest of the world.

The World Trade Organisation has to approve the limit but New Zealand and other countries oppose it.

Meanwhile the government says Canada's plans are driven by politics.

Trade Minister Phil Goff says Canada's minority government is expected to call a snap election and says the two vital states are the dairy farming regions of Quebec and Ontario.

Source: tvnz.co.nz