Germans say sorry for report

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON agricultural editor

A top German farming figure is to apologise to New Zealand's meat industry over the scrapie disease row.

Gerd Sonnleitner, the president of the German Farmers' Union who is touring New Zealand, is expected to offer the apology at a press conference in Wellington today.

The statement is likely to go a long way towards mending the sharp diplomatic dispute between New Zealand and Germany triggered by a brochure sent to millions of homes in Germany that wrongly claimed New Zealand sheep had the fatal disease scrapie.

The apology is among several measures thrashed out in an agreement by Meat New Zealand's European general manager, Tim Ritchie, and senior management of Germany's Central Marketing Agency (CMA), which distributed the brochure.

Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton welcomed the settlement.


"I am hopeful the agreed measures will limit the damage done to New Zealand's reputation and credibility in the market."

The German Embassy in Wellington yesterday offered expressions of regret over the incident.

Though the CMA was not a Government organisation, the German Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture had asked it to correct the error.

New Zealand's 40,000-tonne sheepmeat trade with Germany is worth around $220 million a year.

Meat NZ has reserved its right to seek redress should the brochure affect the rising sales trend.

Spokeswoman Sue Miller said the redress could include the CMA paying for an advertising campaign. The CMA would also retract the claims in the German media.


Meat NZ's costs from the episode are to be covered by the CMA, which will also correct the half million copies of the brochure yet to be mailed.

But Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre chairman Chris Lester said a simpler solution would have been to deliver a brochure to German households with a New Zealand lamb recipe and the scrapie-free status story on it.