Don't water-down Kiwi Made, says clothing firm

A New Zealand-owned clothing company believes the Buy New Zealand Made and Buy Kiwi Made campaigns will be undermined and devalued if moves to water them down go ahead.

Norsewear New Zealand CEO Robert Linterman said both the Buy New Zealand Made and Buy Kiwi Made campaigns should stay true to their brands and mean what the slogans say.

Mr Linterman said the campaigns should be guiding people to genuine local products.

"A consumer that buys a product branded New Zealand Made or Kiwi Made is going to feel rightly aggrieved if the label inside actually says 'Made In China'."

Including non-New Zealand made items ran the very real risk of undermining the credibility of the two brands, he said.

There has been debate over whether the campaign, championed by the Green Party, should cover only New Zealand manufactured products or also include the products of New Zealand companies that were manufactured overseas.

The Government has allocated some $11 million over three years in the budget for the campaign.

Yesterday Prime Minister Helen Clark said the campaign should include iconic New Zealand companies like Icebreaker and Fisher & Paykel although there were rules of origin issues around exactly what was New Zealand made.

The issue was more complicated than it appeared on the surface, she said.

Mr Linterman said there was a big point of difference for consumers.

"We believe people want to buy quality goods made in New Zealand with New Zealand-sourced raw materials. The Buy New Zealand Made message should not be undermined by using it on goods made off-shore."

Yesterday Green MP Sue Bradford, the Government's spokeswoman on the Buy Kiwi Made campaign, said negotiations between the Greens and Labour had not finished.

"We intend to stick with what we negotiated with Labour after the last election and the key focus of this programme has to be about supporting companies that manufacture onshore," Ms Bradford said.

- NZPA