Friends again at tariff ceremony

By KEVIN TAYLOR

A ceremony to celebrate the lifting of United States tariffs on New Zealand and Australian lamb was a light-hearted affair last night.

David Young, agriculture attache at the US embassy, was presented with a tender rack of lamb by Meat New Zealand chief executive Neil Taylor.

The US confirmed in September that it was lifting tariffs on NZ and Australian lamb imposed by the Clinton Administration in 1999. The tariffs came off yesterday.

Mr Young said it was a "good day" and the US was happy that agreement had been reached among the three countries.

He said they wanted to look to the future now, and he welcomed the "exciting news" of success at the World Trade Organisation talks in Doha, Qatar.

It was the WTO that ruled in May that the US had violated international trade rules by imposing the tariffs.

For two years New Zealand and Australia faced off against the US through the WTO - and won.

New Zealand exports 15,000 tonnes of lamb a year to the US, worth about $180 million.

It is our second most valuable sheepmeat market, after Europe.

Mr Taylor said the fight had been a long journey but it was a contest held in a "pretty good atmosphere".

Meat Industry Association executive director Brian Lynch said meat companies could now resume the steady lamb export growth that occurred in the mid-90s.

He was not expecting a sudden export surge, as the industry did not want to incur the wrath of the US again.

The New Zealand sheep flock was also smaller, but he said the lifting of tariffs was one of the best ways to start a new season. Growth in the mid-90s had been around 2000-3000 tonnes a year, he said.

Supply constraints might prevent that level resuming but during the time tariffs were in place NZ meat companies had consolidated their presence in the US market and prices had risen 25 per cent.

In September, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said the Bush Administration would provide an extra $US43 million ($102 million) to lamb farmers to help compensate them for the increased competition.

That is in addition to the $US100 million former President Bill Clinton committed to American lamb producers when he initiated the action in 1999.