NZPork has previously warned that local producers were struggling against a flood of lower-welfare imports. Photo / 123rf
By Monique Steele of RNZ
Farmers are renewing calls for the Government to enforce the same animal welfare standards that local pig farmers face on imported pork.
A group of farmers, pork producers and advocates wrote to the Prime Minister and government ministers this week, calling for a “level playing field” among locally-produced and imported product.
The pork industry has wanted this for years now, with industry group NZPork warning that local producers were struggling against a flood of lower-welfare imports.
More than 63% of pork consumed in Aotearoa was imported, coming from countries such as the United States, Spain, Germany and Canada.
In some of these countries, farmers still use sow stalls (cages for pregnant pigs), which New Zealand banned, and had smaller space requirements or longer periods allowed for sows in farrowing crates (that have just given birth to protect the piglets).
It came after the Government’s controversial move last year to allow pig farmers a decade’s grace period before enforcing stricter welfare regulations.
Waikato dairy farmer Walt Cavendish was about to transition his 65-hectare Matamata farm into a free-range pork system.
He signed the letter addressed to the government and said farmers, consumers and pigs deserved high welfare standards.
“We made quite a clear decision as a country that animal welfare matters, and we seem to have gone down the road of insisting on that for our farmers, but not insisting that for our imports.
“For these farming families, they’re trying to compete with product that would just not be allowed to be farmed here.”
Cavendish said New Zealand could legally enforce what was called a public morals exemption on importers.
“The biggest argument that’s put is the trade implications.
“They’re just so nervous about it... Everyone keeps using the trade argument.”
The moral exemption in trade policy allowed countries to bypass usual trade rules due to animal welfare, health or ethical standards of concern, but protectionism was not tolerated.
Cavendish said it would be unlikely that those exporting nations would take retaliatory action in response to ending imports, considering the New Zealand market’s small scale.
“It’s just an argument to try and stop this going further, and that’s why I’m quite firm that the public morals exemption is our best way forward.
“And realistically, with such a low amount of the export from these countries, they’re hardly going to worry about it.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s office confirmed the letter had been received.
Trade and Investment Minister, Todd McClay, said New Zealand was a global leader in farmed animal welfare standards, which underpinned our trade reputation.
But he said New Zealand was making efforts to prevent other countries from applying rules that could negatively affect our own exports.
“If New Zealand introduced requirements based on our methods of production, this could potentially undermine our efforts to prevent other countries from applying unjustified measures that could impact negatively on our agricultural exports,” he said in a statement.
“Last year, animal product exports worth $42 billion reached plates around the globe, making up more than half of our total goods exports.”
McClay said New Zealand worked with other countries to improve animal welfare standards through membership in the World Organisation for Animal Health and through bilateral collaboration.
“It is important to recognise that different countries have different production systems.
“Approaches to caring for animals are adapted to local conditions, and applying the same standard can sometimes result in different welfare outcomes.”
Cavendish believed people’s fears that pork prices would go up even further if we ditched imports were a “false narrative”, as the national pig herd would likely increase to meet demand.
But he acknowledged it was a significant concern for cash-strapped consumers, though many of them were passionate about animal welfare.
“One of the big things I get from people that comment to me is their fear of the price going up, because they can’t even now afford a lot of the meat products on the shelf.
“Because ultimately, you would be able to produce more, so the cost of production would go down.”
Food and Agriculture Organisation’s latest statistics show New Zealand imported more than 47,000 tonnes of pork in 2023.
The “Fair for Farmers” campaign was launched at the Northland Fieldays in Dargaville yesterday, which runs into Saturday.
- RNZ