KEY POINTS:
Major British retailer Tesco will soon label all produce airfreighted to Britain to inform environment-conscious customers of the energy costs of getting such products to market.
Concern has been raised that this may be linked to the food-miles concept, a flawed methodology that could have the potential to
harm New Zealand's multimillion-dollar export trade to Britain.
In practice, the Tesco labelling will have a limited impact on New Zealand producers because 99.75 per cent of produce exported from New Zealand to Britain goes by ship, the most environmentally sound method by which it can be sent there.
Freight that can be shipped adds little more in energy consumption than the energy cost of taking the goods home from the supermarket by car. However, a much wider-ranging and ambitious undertaking by Tesco and other British retailers has been foreshadowed - to label goods according to their total energy costs and carbon emissions.
Unlike food-miles, which measure only transport costs, this new plan may actually help sell New Zealand produce. The labels would reveal to British consumers that New Zealand food producers use some of the most energy-effective practices in the world.
Tesco's aim is to develop a carbon-footprint labelling measure for all products it sells. These new "green" labels are intended to allow customers to compare and shop for the most energy-efficient items.
The carbon-footprint initiative is different from food-miles. Proponents of food-miles claim that the further food travels to market the less sustainable or energy efficient it is, and therefore the closer to its market that food is produced the better it is for the planet. The food-miles concept is fundamentally flawed because it does not accurately reflect the total energy used in production and processing, only the energy used for transport. As such it is not a useful or valid tool for assessing environmental impact.
Not surprisingly, New Zealand food imported to Britain was an easy target for the food-miles lobby. However, research by Lincoln University and others highlights how much less energy New Zealand producers use than their European counterparts to produce food. Their research discredits the food-miles concept.
The Lincoln University study analyses total energy used and CO2 emissions produced, taking into account production, processing and transport.
It shows that these were four times higher for lamb produced in Britain than for that produced in New Zealand, twice as high for dairy products and significantly higher for apples and onions.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other politicians, Tesco and other retailers, and experts have acknowledged that food-miles is not a meaningful or an effective measure of sustainable food production.
A more rigorous and academically sound method of assessing the actual cost to the planet in terms of energy is needed if initiatives like the carbon-footprint label are to have any real meaning or value.
Acknowledging the failings of food-miles, Tesco provided £5 million ($14.5 million) to Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute to develop a sound and robust method for accurately reflecting the carbon footprint of everything they sell.
Tesco is a major force in the British retail market, taking £1 in every £8 spent on the high street. This move to increase the amount of information available to shoppers buying food is a clear reflection of how important environmental factors are becoming to British consumers. New Zealand producers are already demonstrably more efficient than many of their European Union counterparts. The Tesco study has the potential to inform consumers of this.
Nevertheless, New Zealand producers are still threatened by the malicious use of food-miles by protectionists and lobbyists seeking to shelter British producers from competition.
Our Government and industry groups are working together to monitor the market and protect the interests of New Zealand exporters.
Two years ago we formed the Food Miles Group under the stewardship of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It has 25 representatives from government agencies, industry and individual exporters, and meets regularly to share information about food-mile developments and to discuss approaches dealing with food miles.
To date we have not been made aware of New Zealand's food and beverage exporters having been affected significantly by the food-miles issue. In fact, some New Zealand products have been identified as more environmentally sustainable - such as Grove Mill wine which has achieved a profile in Britain for its carbon-neutral accreditation.
It is important that we acknowledge and act upon growing public awareness about, and concern for environmental sustainability.
New Zealand rates well in comparison to others on its efficient and sustainable production of food and beverages. We earn our reputation for being a clean and green country but we cannot be complacent about it. We must keep to and improve our high standards of environmental sustainability.
* Phil Goff is New Zealand's Minister of Trade.