Exporters warn on port checks

The meat industry and Federated Farmers warned a parliamentary committee yesterday that new border security rules would have a huge impact on their multi billion-dollar exports.

They said profit margins, already narrow, would be further eroded by more red tape and delays in the export chain which seemed inevitable if the Border Control Bill was passed in its present form.

The bill contains transport security measures in line with international requirements, particularly those of the United States, which are being implemented in response to the September 11 attacks.

Among the requirements are more detailed information about freight and new checks and guarantees on the contents of containers.

The Meat Industry Association told the administration committee the bill was extremely significant to the processing and export industry.

"While not challenging the basic premise that underpins the bill, the industry has major concerns over likely compliance implications."

The association said the industry exported 750,000 tonnes of meat annually in 50,000 seaborne containers. It expected to earn more than $5 billion this year from export sales.

Its main concern was that the new checks proposed in the bill would lengthen the time needed for containers - particularly those carrying chilled meat - to be loaded at New Zealand ports.

It warned containers could be held up for eight days, double the present time, which would cost an estimated $2.5 million in port fees and clog the wharves.

That would also affect the shelf life of products and make it more difficult to compete.

The association said the export industry already operated under stringent regulations and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry container seals and guarantees should be sufficient.

It asked the committee to include in the bill requirements for close co-operation between government agencies, such as MAF and Customs, so that new rules had the minimum possible impact.

The association said it was "very concerned about what currently seems poor communication, a paucity of information sharing and a lack of co-ordination of operating procedures and standards".

Federated Farmers had a similar message for the committee, urging it to recognise the extent to which systems provided assurance requirements.

It said imposing duplicate or over-zealous requirements "will cause unnecessary cost and disruption and impact negatively on the competitiveness of New Zealand's exports."

- NZPA