NZ criticizes EC butter import suspension

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark criticized Monday the European Union's decision to suspend imports of New Zealand butter.

Clark said in media interview that Europe is overreacting and the suspension is unnecessary.

On July 11 the European Court of Justice issued its decision on a case concerning New Zealand's dairy trade with Europe that had been brought against the EU by a German dairy trader.

The trader, Egenberger GmbH, had initially brought proceedings in a Frankfurt court to challenge the EU regulation that governs the New Zealand butter quota. One of the challenges was against the requirement that import licenses are to be issued only in the United Kingdom.

The Frankfurt court referred several questions to the European Court of Justice concerning the dairy regulation's consistency with Community law.

New Zealand has a preferential quota to export butter to Europe, where it sells about 77,000 tons, worth 264 million NZ dollars ( 163 million U.S. dollars) a year.

New Zealand Trade Minister Phil Goff will hold a phone conference with the EU's Commissioner of Agriculture Monday in a bid to reverse the suspension, and Philip Turner from Fonterra, world No.1 dairy products exporter, is traveling to Europe to try to sort the issue out.

Source: Xinhua