Let’s deal in facts in the debate on free trade
On the eve of the visit of Agriculture and Trade Minister Damien O’Connor to the UK for free trade agreement negotiations, the UK’s National Farmers’ Union upped the rhetoric on the impact that cutting tariffs on agricultural produce from NZ, Australia and the USA would have on local farmers.
Federated Farmers of New Zealand President Andrew Hoggard responded with this rebuttal, sent to the UK newspaper The Mail:
‘‘Free’’ - it means without cost or payment. In the context of a free trade agreement, this would obviously mean that tariffs would not apply. That indeed was the recommendation that the UK Agricultural and Trade Commission suggested as a basis for UK agricultural trade going forward for countries that have similar standards.
I note with disappointment that following this unequivocal recommendation, made by a group including representatives of all four UK National Farmers’ Unions, my English counterpart Minette Batters is now engaged in scaremongering (The Mail, 16 May) that a free trade deal with New Zealand would somehow lead to a flood of lower standard produce from NZ into the UK.
Her opinion piece gives the impression that a tariff-free operating environment is contrary to pasture-based livestock production, family farming, high standards of animal welfare, low antibiotic use and reducing agricultural emissions. This is far from the reality of New Zealand’s tariff and subsidy free agriculture sector.
The vast majority of New Zealand farms are family owned, and they are not some soulless feedlot as is implied. When it comes to comparing the rolling hills in New Zealand to those of North Yorkshire – where supposedly my ancestors once came from - I think our hills have plenty of soul to them. The hill on my own farm is a twentyhectare belt of biodiverse native trees which support an array of birdlife.
We are proud of our pasturebased farming systems and the qualities that these provide in our products - sunny yellow butter and high quality grass-fed red meat.
We share the UK’s values in relation to animal care. In its submission on the NZ-UK Free trade agreement, the RSPCA opened with these words ‘‘New
Zealand is the only country with whom the UK is negotiating an FTA where there is broad equivalence on animal welfare standards. In some areas New Zealand’s farm standards are above the UK’s.’’ The World Society of Protection of Animals ranks NZ higher than the UK in terms of its regulatory welfare measures for animals used in farming. So, NZ farmers don’t get to take some sort of short cut on animal welfare to be able to out-compete UK farmers.
Claims about antibiotic usage are also unfounded. New Zealand consistently ranks third, just behind Norway and Sweden, in terms of minimising antibiotic use in production animals. Despite impressive percentage reductions in usage, the UK’s rate of antibiotic use in animal agriculture remains above New Zealand’s.
On climate change, New Zealand has one of the lowest carbon
footprints across much of its agricultural production, and that’s taking into account the transportation to the market.
New Zealand farmers face just as much - and quite possibly more - regulation than UK farmers, all without requiring the need for the taxpayer to provide assistance payments.
The open, rules-based and unsubsidised nature of farming in New Zealand has benefited not only New Zealand farmers and global consumers, but also the atmosphere. The lack of subsidies in New Zealand has led to farmers cutting out any waste in production systems and operating incredibly efficiently. This commitment to efficiency has not only been good for the New Zealand economy but also good for the atmosphere, being a major reason behind the world leadingly low emissions footprint of New Zealand red meat and milk.
We hold strongly to the principles of trade liberalisation, which are encapsulated in implementing actions of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and we ask to have the same opportunities for duty-free trade that the UK has accorded to EU producers for nearly five decades.
As the grandson of a member of New Zealand’s World War 2 women’s land army, who worked to keep farms producing for exclusive export supply to the UK while our young men including my grandfathers were on the other side of the world with you, the active resistance to putting us on a level playing field for trade is something I can’t understand. This is especially the case given our continuous efforts to farm to ever-better standards and my understanding of the values we hold in common with British farmers.