Enza protest as rivals queue up

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON agricultural editor

Competition is heating-up for the former monopoly apple exporter Enza, with nearly 30 would-be marketers making 112 applications to sell fruit overseas.

The apple and pear export permits committee, the first body independent of Enza to assess applications, released a report on Friday indicating a growing keenness to market outside the new-look producer board structure.

It brought immediate protest from Enzafruit International that the volumes would compromise its global position.

The Independent Pipfruit Growers Association also responded, suggesting that Enza was lining the committee up to be a scapegoat should there be a second year of disastrous returns for growers.

An association spokesman, Van Howard, said: "The new system needs at least one full export season to bed down before the impact of changes can be assessed.

"Enza should get on with the job of marketing our fruit and leave the new processes to the bodies which have been established to administer them."

The committee said it had so far approved 23 export permits for 1.2 million cartons, just under half the volume requested in the applications. About 730,000 cartons were organically grown or similar. Last year Enza approved about 600,000 cartons for independent export.

The approved exports are headed for the Asia/Pacific region (99,300 cartons), the US and Canada (274,302), Britain (565,000) and Europe (349,000).

The committee's secretary, Nicola White, said decisions on the remaining 89 applications would be made within six weeks.

The executive chairman of Enzafruit, John McCliskie, said exporting would be well under way by that time and the committee, which must only approve applications complementary to Enza, needed to give the company more information sooner.

Enzafruit had heard from one client, British supermarket Tesco, that two of the applications were to supply it with 300,000 cartons, he said.

"Instead of selling them up to one million cartons we are immediately down to around 600,000.

"The information provided by the committee so far is by no means sufficient to allow us to plan our own marketing for the new season," said Mr McCliskie.

"There is widespread concern being expressed in the industry that the committee has gone beyond its regulatory limits in terms of granting permits and that grower returns are in danger of being eroded if Enzafruit's market position is compromised."

The four member, self-funding committee was set up last November under the Apple and Pear Industry Restructuring Act which arose from the previous Government's producer board reform.

Applicants provide the committee with a significant amount of commercially sensitive information and that had to be balanced with Enza's need for information, Ms White said.

The committee is chaired by Richard Janes, chairman of Wools of New Zealand and a member of the former apple export consents committee.

The other members are a Tradenz board member, Graham Robertson; a fruit and vegetable exporter, David Palmer; and a Hastings orchardist, Jim Scotland.