New Zealand suspends meat exports to China

The New Zealand government has stopped issuing export certificates for meat exported to China, after shipments were rejected by the Chinese Customs authorities, according to reports Monday.

It is the latest move by the government after shipments of New Zealand lamb and beef were rejected by the Chinese Customs officials this month because of the name change of the New Zealand regulating authority on the documents.

The confusion was over the name change of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which merged with two other agencies into the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said New Zealand officials had worked around the clock to provide additional technical information to Chinese authorities over the weekend.

"This information will be given to AQSIQ, the Chinese organization responsible for border clearances. This will enable them to pass it on to port authorities, a process which may take some days," he said in a statement on Monday.

New Zealand officials were also talking with their counterparts in China Monday to see what further information or support was needed, said Guy.

Meanwhile, people within the meat industry had confirmed the government had stopped issuing the export documentation and had indicated it would not resume doing so until the issue with China had been resolved.

The move "effectively shuts down the lucrative trade for now and has left meat companies in New Zealand picking up the bill for storing their product at ports," reported Radio New Zealand.

Guy noted that overall trade to China was still flowing well and this issue appeared confined to some shipments of meat.

Most product was frozen and was being properly stored, while priority for clearance was being given to chilled meat, he said.

"New Zealand is a trading nation and from time to time these kind of technical delays will occur. This is a temporary issue, but we're confident it can be resolved," said Guy.