11. SUE BRADFORD (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Fisheries
Is he satisfied that the fishing industry is taking all opportunities available under New Zealand’s trade agreement with China?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister for Economic Development) Link to this
No, it is not taking all opportunities yet, self-evidently. But the Seafood Industry Council has supported the development of the free-trade agreement and welcomes the opportunity to increase exports to Chinese consumers.
Can the Minister confirm that Talley’s Fisheries ships chilled, gutted fish to China for thawing, processing, and rechilling, only to ship it back to New Zealand for sale; and is that how the fishing industry contributes to the Prime Minister’s goal of carbon neutrality?
New Zealand fishing companies have been exporting to China for years, and a proportion of that product is inevitably processed further and onsold to Japan, North America, and Europe. That has been going on for some time in China and in any other continent in the world. Our fishing industries are international.
R Doug WoolertonCan the Minister confirm that New Zealand exporters of frozen fish products have to wait until 2012 or 2013 to benefit from tariff reductions under the China free-trade agreement, and that the Chinese exporters of the same product to New Zealand have not faced any tariffs for decades?
I can confirm the latter, although there is virtually no seafood imported from China, whereas China is about 10 percent of New Zealand’s export market—from memory, it is worth a little over a quarter of a billion dollars.
Is the Minister concerned that the practice of shipping fish from New Zealand for processing in China—where wages are lower and workers do not have the same rights to organise as we have here in New Zealand—will only increase under the preferential trade deal; and with Talley’s Fisheries’ proposed new processing plant on the West Coast now being uncertain, how many workers’ jobs are on the line?
I think the member may be a little confused. To the best of my knowledge, re-exported fish would not attract any tariff as it entered China in the first instance, but would in the country of destination, whichever country that might be. The overwhelming proportion of seafood consumed in New Zealand is processed in New Zealand. The fish that may be re-exported back to New Zealand is typically produced in a large-scale processing plant that supplies seafood to markets all around the world, including New Zealand as one of the smaller destinations.
Peter BrownGiven those answers, can the Minister assure the House that the free-trade agreement with China will not lead to any more foreign charter vessels being operated by our fishing companies than at present; and, if there are to be more, can he confirm that the ships will be in sound order and that the wages and conditions will be compatible with New Zealand wages and conditions?
It is a matter of fact that in the squid fishery, which is where nearly all of the foreign vessels operate, the majority of those vessels come from Korea and Taiwan, as I recall the situation. I am not aware of a large Chinese presence in New Zealand, and I am not aware of any changes to that presence as a result of the free-trade agreement.
If shipping fish from New Zealand to China for processing, then shipping the fish back here to our supermarkets for retail sale is an example of his Government’s global trade agenda in action, then surely it is time to admit that the resulting carbon “fin print” of these fish, the race to the bottom on wages, and the threat to jobs here in New Zealand make the whole situation a disaster, not just for our country but for the planet?
Let me offer a different tack. I am the member of Parliament for Dunedin North. Cadbury’s and Gregg’s are both in my electorate. Both of those companies are food companies; they both import, then re-export products. That is the nature of trade.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Can the Minister confirm the current situation is that fish exports to China bear tariffs, and that fish exports to China that are re-exported back do not; and that under the free-trade agreement fish exports to China will eventually not bear tariffs, which is an improvement that is more likely to see fully processed fish be exported to China?