Political will scuttles grading

WELLINGTON - The axing of the meat industry's compulsory classification system for grading meat marks a win for political will over producer board officials.

Former Agriculture Minister Lockwood Smith said shortly before the last election that he would take out of legislation already drafted - after agreement with the Meat Board, Meat Industry Association and Federated Farmers - a provision for compulsory grading.

The board's chief executive at the time, Warwick Bishop, suggested Dr Smith's public concerns about grading followed an unfortunate incident in which one of his prized Belgian blue heifers was classified by a meat company as a mere manufacturing-grade cow.

Dr Smith had told farmers about the incident as an example of deficiencies in the system.

The board, now known as Meat NZ, says compulsory grading - seen as providing trustworthiness in international meat markets full of crooks - will be replaced with a voluntary classification system from October 1.

The board's long-running row with politicians over the issue began when Dr Smith told farmers shortly after taking over as Agriculture Minister that he wanted to remove the grading system - involving carcass descriptions of export meat with details about species, age, sex, weight and fat cover - because he believed it was only a convenience for foreign traders. - NZPA