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Hot Topic EARNINGS
Hot Topic EARNINGS
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New Zealand needs to lift its game in China - Groser


Trade Minister points to recent problems. PLUS: The baby formula "gold rush."
 

NBR staff
Sun, 16 Jun 2013

Recent problems in our export trade with China showed New Zealand needs to lift its game, Trade Minister Tim Groser said on TVNZ’s Q+A programme this morning.

“Ministers have got a taskforce looking at all the risks across the whole supply chain,” Mr Groser said. “There are things we can do, things we can’t do. And the things that we
can do, we’re going to do them better.”

The rapid growth of baby formula exports had prompted the Ministry of Primary Industries to require exporters to register their brands as well as their businesses.

“This has exploded out of nowhere, this gold rush mentality,’ Mr Groser said. “They’re not unsafe food, because any product that’s manufactured for domestic sale here or for
export… they still have to meet the same stringent food safety requirements. But there is a lack of control.”

The Minister said latest news stories about NZ on this issue have been ‘extremely positive’. But agencies react to the scare stories and “try and correct the ship a little bit”.

“I think we’re in reasonable shape, but there is a broader challenge out there, and I think we’ve got to lift our game.”

New Zealand needs a “whole government approach”, because the problem was wider than just food safety.

“There’s the perception issue, there’s issues around certification, there’s issues around the grey trade going from Hong Kong through to China, there’s issues of false labelling. I
mean, we can’t obviously police this within China, but we can and will work more closely with the Chinese authorities.”

“And, look, when you have exports triple in five years, you’ve got to ask yourselves, “Are we running fast enough to keep up with these developments?’ I think the answer is no. We’ve got some more work to do here.”

Mr Groser said front line officials in all agencies needed to be Mandarin speakers. “I believe if you can’t speak somebody’s language, you can’t really communicate with them
properly.”

Watch the full interview here.

NBR staff
Sun, 16 Jun 2013
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New Zealand needs to lift its game in China - Groser
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