Wool Board unravelling to complete reform plan

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON

The Wool Board is ready to seek its own disestablishment at the annual meeting in Napier on October 30.

Chairman Bruce Munro said the meeting would be given full details of the actions the board planned to bring the McKinsey reform programme to a conclusion.

Its statement of strategic intent, with extensive detail on the reforms, would be posted on the board's website (www.woolboard.co.nz) by the middle of the month.

Three key elements to deregulation included:

* The majority of the Wool Board's assets will be transferred to an investment company, with tradeable shares issued to all wool growers in the business of sheep farming and owning a minimum of 250 sheep at June 30, 2001.

* Financing of future industry-good programmes will be raised under the Commodity Levies Act by a new, small incorporated society.

* The Government would be asked to repeal the Wool Board Act.

Mr Munro said the existing legislation made no provision for woolgrowers to vote on programmes financed by levies, or the amount invested in these programmes.

"The Commodity Levies Act may not be perfect for a sector such as the wool industry, but it does place control directly in the hands of levy payers."

Mr Munro said the new levy-raising and administration arrangements were consistent with the McKinsey recommendation to form a farmer-owned company.

"Transferring the assets of the board - both its cash reserves and shares in businesses such as Ovita and Wool Interiors - to a new company owned by wool growers, meets the expectation of growers that they retain direct ownership."

Ovita is a joint-venture biotechnology company being set up by the Wool Board, Meat New Zealand and AgResearch.

Wool Interiors is a joint-venture commercial company set up between two board arms, the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand and the promotional company Wools of New Zealand, to combine resources in the area of carpets and rugs, the main use for New Zealand strong wools.

The holding company's shares would be tradeable.

Farmers wanting to cash up their stake in the industry would be able to do so, Mr Munro said.

The board's annual report was sent to farmers last week, along with 10 remits to be considered at the annual meeting.

Mr Munro said it was disappointing that some remits contradicted the reform process "supported so overwhelmingly in a poll last year".

"Attempts to re-litigate the process at the 11th hour or to challenge the board's mandate to complete the process are unhelpful. If ever there was a time for