BREXIT REP
FOR NZ INC
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NEWS
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Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the
Meat Industry Association have appointed
Jeff Grant to support the red meat
sector’s response to Brexit. Grant, who
will be based in London, will work closely
with B+LNZ’s Europe representative,
the New Zealand Government and commercial
interests to help strengthen the
red meat sector’s ties with the United
Kingdom and safeguard New Zealand’s
exports to the key market. Beef + Lamb
New Zealand chairman Andrew Morrison
says Grant is highly experienced
and has been involved in the red meat
sector for more than 25 years, bringing
with him expertise and strategic skills
that will be crucial over the next two
years in dealing with the implications
of Brexit. “As a sheep, beef and deer
farmer himself with properties at Balfour
and Otama Valley in Southland, Jeff
understands the importance of trade to
the sector.” Meat Industry Association
chairman John Loughlin says Brexit is
one of the biggest challenges to face
the sector in recent years. “It is crucial
New Zealand is no worse off as a result
of the change. Jeff will play a crucial
role in the overall NZ Inc effort to build
and maintain our relationships in the UK,
secure our national interests and dispel
the misconceptions about our sector
and exports.” Grant, an MP for two
terms and Senior Whip from 1990 to
1993, has been involved with Landcorp,
Wrightson, Beef + Lamb, AgResearch,
OSPRI, Milford Sound Tourism, SBS
Bank, NZ Young Farmers and Predator
Free 2050. B+LNZ and MIA, with financial
support from AGMARDT, will jointly
fund the additional resource.
SCAREMONGERING
OVER BOOZE
RESEARCH ON
SUSTAINABILITY
The Soil
& Health
Association
welcomes an
Environment
Court decision
declining
Federated
Farmers’ attempt
to challenge
regulation of
genetically
modified
organisms under
the RMA
Minister for
Small Business
Stuart Nash has
congratulated
Fonterra for its
change of policy
around payment
terms for small
and medium
suppliers
Rob Hewett and
Fiona Hancox
have been reelected
to the
Silver Fern Farms’
Co-operative
Limited’s board of
directors
Mangatawa
Papamoa Blocks
Incorporation
– which owns
successful
kiwifruit and
avocado orchards
in the Bay of
Plenty in a
diverse portfolio
– has signed
a commercial
lease agreement
with global
logistics company
Mainfreight over
land in Tauranga
subdivision
Truman Lane.
New Zealand’s largest kiwifruit grower
Seeka has sold out of Zespri Group after
opposing constitutional changes at the
monopoly export body that tie shareholdings
to trays of fruit produced. The
changes, approved by more than 75%
of shareholders last month, resolved
that shareholders against the moves
could offer their shares back to Zespri.
Seeka says it didn’t support the changes,
and will use the $6m gained from the
sale of its 740,000 shares, to repay debt
and for working capital. On March 14,
Zespri shareholders voted on a series of
resolutions that will impose a cap on the
number of shares they can hold relative
to trays of kiwifruit produced. It will also
phase out dividends for non-producing
shareholders over seven years. Existing
growers who stop producing after
the vote would cease getting dividends
after three years. The vote comes after
shareholders in 2015 approved plans to
strengthen grower control amid concerns
about an increasing misalignment
between producers and shareholders.
The changes required an amendment to
the Kiwifruit Export Regulations last year.
In 2017, Seeka produced 25.5 million
gross packed trays of kiwifruit in New
Zealand, down from 32 million trays a
year earlier.
A Kiwi industry group is accusing
British researchers of using common
shock-horror tactics to scare people
from alcohol, saying 80% of New
Zealanders already drink moderately
and responsibly. The New Zealand
Alcohol Beverages Council says the
recent study into the impacts of
over-consumption of alcohol in the
latest edition of the British Lancet has
been designed to shock people from
drinking alcohol, executive director
Nick Leggett says. “The study found
an increase in all-cause mortality for
those who drank 10+ glasses a week,
compared with those who drink 1-10
glasses a week. But it did not make a
comparison between those who drink
moderately and abstainers, because
the unhelpful and uncomfortable
truth is that those who drink moderately
enjoy better life expectancy
than non-drinkers. Buried deep in the
report appears to be a concession on
this point.” Leggett says the alcohol
industry will always push for moderate
drinking habits in this country. “New
Zealanders who follow public health
guidelines around healthy weekly
consumption of alcohol should not be
concerned by this study,” he says.
“That’s two standard drinks per day
for women, with no more than 10
standard drinks in a week, and three
standard drinks for men, with no more
than 15 in a week.”
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