NZ stops issuing beef, lamb export certificates to China
Paperwork glitch leaves frozen product sitting on Chinese wharves.
New Zealand has stopped issuing export certificates for beef and lamb bound for China pending resolution of a paperwork glitch that has left frozen product sitting on Chinese wharves.
Ministry for Primary Industries deputy director-general Andrew Coleman told reporters at Parliament he could not say how much meat was caught by the hold-up, which has been blamed on a misunderstanding over paperwork.
He would not be more specific, saying Chinese officials were only now returning to work after the weekend and New Zealand officials would be meeting them today.
"Certificates will not be issued at the request of Chinese authorities," Mr Coleman says.
China has become a biggest buyer of New Zealand lamb this year. Initial reports say the hold up may have been because of the change in the authorising body for New Zealand meat transferring to MPI on March 1 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
But Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says product had flowed freely after that date and delays had only cropped up in the past couple of weeks.
MPI officials had learned of the problem on Monday last week and informed Mr Guy on Tuesday, he said.
Subsequently, he got calls from meat companies "and I realised it was a bigger issue than what my officials had been telling me".
He says it was not unusual for glitches to occur across all of New Zealand's export markets from time to time, though no other countries had signalled current concerns with export documentation.
Other than sheep meat and beef, New Zealand products were flowing into China as normal. Resolving the issue may take some days.
Meat Industry Association spokesman Dan Coup says New Zealand meat companies first learned of the hold-up on Chinese wharves when customers were not able to uplift their consignments.
"The industry remains very anxious about this."
Individual meat companies deferred to the MIA for comment.
(BusinessDesk)
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NZ stops issuing beef, lamb export certificates to China
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