Samuels Dover: Meat Board Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Samuels Dover: Meat Board Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:633;Page:4656] 
Hon DOVER SAMUELS (Minister of State) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Agriculture 
: I move  
That the Meat Board Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. This bill was introduced into the House on 22 March 2006. It had its first reading on 30 March 2006 and was referred to the Primary Production Committee on that day with the instruction that the committee present its final report on or before 27 July 2006. The committee reported the bill back to the House on 25 July 2006. 
The meat industry makes a significant contribution to the New Zealand economy in terms of its contributions to gross domestic product employment and export earnings. For the year ended June 2006 provisional statistics show that $4.5 billion worth of meat products were exported which accounted for around 14 percent of the total value of merchandise exported from New Zealand. The meat industry employs thousands of people on farms and in meat processing. By international standards our meat industry is highly productive and very efficient. New Zealand sheep beef and goat farmers through their levies make considerable investments in meat industry research and market development in our country. Our meat processors employ the most advanced technologies available and our exporters have developed niche markets right around the world. 
The Government introduced the bill to clarify a provision in the Meat Board Act 2004. The bill clarifies that a mechanism established by the Meat Board for the allocation of rights to quota markets may allocate access to quota to any person who is a registered meat exporter whether or not the person currently exports meat products. The bill will remove any perceived ambiguity in the original drafting of the legislation framework and eliminate a potential impediment to the continuation of the Meat Board’s current and longstanding practice in respect of the allocation of quota rights. That will bring to businesses certainty in this very important industry and will help to protect our access to those very valuable markets. 
The Government continues to put considerable emphasis on export market access for our primary sector products. The lack of progress in the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations demonstrates the considerable difficulties that export-dependent countries like New Zealand face. The meat export quotas were negotiated between New Zealand and the European Union and with the United States of America in the context of the Uruguay round of negotiations. Those negotiations were signed off in 1994. 
Getting the best benefits out of our markets must be protected for the benefit of all New Zealanders and this bill certainly will facilitate that. I wish the New Zealand meat industry well. 
I acknowledge at this particular time the contribution that was made by the Primary Production Committee and specifically by the chairman David Carter who conducted the bill through the select committee process. I say to my colleagues on the committee that I think we did a good job. We had a few differences of opinion but in the end we got there. 
I commend this bill to the House.