Mr Apple threatens to take Australia to the WTO

The Australian Government's credibility as an advocate of free trade depends on how it now handles transtasman access for New Zealand fruit, an applegrower says.

"Unless the Australian Government commits by mid 2005 to New Zealand apples to be sold there, the world will know it is unfit to be a member of the Cairns group seeking to lower agricultural protection," said a director of Mr Apple, New Zealand's biggest grower.

"If the Australian Government fails to allow our apples in on reasonable terms, we will have no choice but to go straight to the World Trade Organisation," said Grant Sinclair.

Mr Apple's orchards produced 1.48 million cartons of apples in 2004, 7.6 per cent ahead of the 2003 total.

But average returns dropped from $22 a carton in 2003 to $18 a carton in 2004, cutting earnings by $6 million, and reducing its June year surplus after tax to $1.75 million, down $6.9 million on 2003.

The company is owned by Scales Corp, a public but unlisted firm controlled by Timaru accountant Allan Hubbard.

The industry heavyweight is New Zealand's biggest grower, packer and exporter of apples and is widely expected to be a major beneficiary of any opening in the Australian market.

Trade Minister Jim Sutton said in October that he preferred to work on the apple access issue with senior Australian ministers who had kept a "prudent silence" during the recent election campaign there.

He played down the possibility of taking Australia to the WTO, whose appellate body ruled late last year in a case involving Japan and the US that the chances of mature apples carrying fireblight were negligible. New Zealand and Australia were third parties to the decision.

Regulator Biosecurity Australia provisionally declared in February that Kiwi apples should be imported under strict quarantine conditions.

Sinclair said since then submissions had been made on the draft policy, but he understood there would soon be a new version of the February paper - without some of the errors it contained - and then another 90 days for submissions "and then hopefully a final decision in 2005".

"Government must not tolerate any deviation from the WTO rules as regards biosecurity policy," Sinclair said.

- NZPA