Beef exports may get lift

Meat New Zealand chairman John Acland says there may be further opportunities for beef exports in the wake of a World Trade Organisation decision that South Korea has discriminated against imported beef.

The United States initiated proceedings against the Koreans in February 1999 and was followed by Australia later that year.

The New Zealand Government, with support from Meat NZ, backed the complaint as a third party.

Mr Acland said that as long as South Korea removed the restrictions promptly, New Zealand would gain further opportunities for its beef in a market that had recovered rapidly from the Asian crisis.

The WTO found that not only was South Korea's ban on selling imported and local beef in the same stores unjustifiable but the country's domestic support for its beef industry in 1997 and 1998 exceeded permitted levels.

"Korea is New Zealand's fourth-largest beef market after the US, Japan and Taiwan," Mr Acland said.

While New Zealand beef exports to South Korea fell to $29 million last year from $59 million in 1996, they are likely to exceed $45 million this year.