By Pilippa Stevenson
agricultural editor
Dairy goat farmers have appealed to Prime Minister Jenny Shipley after a parliamentary select committee ignored their request for export protection.
The tiny but profitable sector, which is forecast to earn more than $30 million this year, has been caught in the dairy industry deregulation juggernaut because the
Dairy Board also controls the export of goats' milk products.
Yesterday, the select committee reporting on the Dairy Industry Restructuring Bill dismissed a call by the 82-member Dairy Goat Co-op to continue regulating exports to its main market, Taiwan.
The committee said markets could only be protected under the legislation if the importing countries imposed trade restrictions, including quota, on products. Taiwan did not.
The co-operative said in a letter to Mrs Shipley yesterday: "There will only be negative impact if you choose to ignore our special case in the pursuit of ideological purity."
Chief executive Dave Stanley told the Business Herald that, ahead of Government policy, the industry had moved from commodities to value-added products.
"We've been doing that strategy for the last decade and it's now just starting to come to fruition. We've put out five new products in 18 months and taken our turnover from $1 million to $22 million in 10 years.
"We've done everything the Government is thinking it would be a good idea for New Zealand to do, and without the help of the Government."
Without protection, cash-rich Taiwanese could buy farms here and set up their own factories. Three attempts had already been made.
"New Zealanders would get jobs but they wouldn't own farms and control the industry destiny," said Mr Stanley.
"We love working with [the Taiwanese] but we'd like them as our customers, not our employers."
