Hereora Dave: Meat Board Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Hereora Dave: Meat Board Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
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DAVE HEREORA (Labour) 
: 
 I take this opportunity to take a short call in support of the Meat Board Amendment Bill. I also support the comments of the previous speaker the Hon David Carter and I take this opportunity also to knowledge him as chair of the Primary Production Committee. As a member of that committee I can say that he managed the process quite well. I also acknowledge another member of the committee Colin King. His personal involvement in this industry was most helpful particularly to me in trying to understand the quota system. 
For me the bill clarifies one of the provisions within the Meat Board Act 2004 regarding the allocation of access to meat export quota markets. New section 24(5) inserted by clause 3 clarifies that a mechanism established by the New Zealand Meat Board for the allocation of rights to quota markets may allocate “access to quota markets to any person who is a registered exporter whether or not the person currently exports meat products.” On that note I can tell members that we heard from submitters in support of and against that proposal. I found it really interesting to hear of the impact of that situation on the local economy and the price on the international market. I felt having heard that explanation that it was a rewarding opportunity within the industry for those players to participate on that basis. 
The bill also upholds the original objectives of the Meat Board Act by removing any perceived ambiguity in the original drafting of the legislative framework. Although some submitters to the committee welcomed the amendment bill others opposed it because they considered that the Meat Board’s current allocation mechanism did not capture the best possible returns available from meat export quota markets. Some submitters took that as an opportunity to seek changes to the original intent of the Meat Board Act with regard to quota allocation. In particular they argued that quota should be allocated only to processors who export all or a major part of their production because only exporters can capture the best possible ongoing returns available from quota markets. They also considered that that would reduce or remove the distortions they believed existed in the New Zealand market for slaughter stock. 
However in contrast submissions in support of the bill noted that making quota available to all registered meat exporters whether or not they export meat products would ensure that the financial benefits associated with access to quota markets would continue to be available to the wider New Zealand meat industry. They also submitted that when passing the Meat Board Act in 2004 Parliament clearly intended that all of the different parts of the meat industry should benefit from quota. For example the definition of “meat industry” in the current Act includes livestock farmers meat processors and meat exporters. The presumption is that exporters who are not processors should benefit from the quota markets. 
It is also important to note that the Meat Board Act 2004 clearly states that the Crown owns the rights to secure the economic benefits deriving from quota markets and that those benefits are assigned to the meat industry. The Primary Production Committee’s report on the amendment bill concludes that meat processors should be able to access those benefits whether or not they export and that exporters should be able to benefit whether or not they are processors. The bill will clarify the Meat Board’s ability to have an allocation mechanism that allocates quota rights to all meat processors. Such a mechanism should help to ensure that quota benefits can be accessed by specialist exporters who are able to develop niche markets but who do not process meat themselves through buying quota allocations from processors who are allocated quota but who do not export. I value the opportunity to raise those points as a member of the committee as I mentioned earlier. I thank the House for that opportunity. Kia ora.