By Kim Yoo-chul
Will the growing popularity of New Zealand beef help revive a stalled free trade pact with Korea?
From June 2009 to May last year, New Zealand and Korea had been involved in negotiations four times over a free trade agreement (FTA), however, the talks have failed to yield any significant results.
New Zealand, which mainly exports beef and dairy products to Korea, was seemingly more than eager for the pact as it would help its dairy industry grow, officials said.
Promotional body Beef and Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is claiming it hopes to play a role as a private diplomat to help revive the stalled trade negotiations by capturing Korean taste buds.
B+LNZ is a farmer-owned industry organization representing New Zealand’s sheep and cattle farmers.
``Our intention during 2012 in the Korean market is to continue to build on the efforts made in recent years to differentiate ‘NZ Nature-bred Beef’ from other products available, here,’’ said John Hundleby, B+LNZ Market Manager, Korea, in a recent interview with The Korea Times.
The Korean market is the second-largest export destination in terms of the total volume for New Zealand beef after the United States.
Between October last year to September this year 40,981 tons of beef were exported to Korea, accounting for 10.65 percent of New Zealand’s total beef exports.
``The Korean beef market during 2011 has been buffeted by factors such as foot-and-mouth disease and fluctuating exchange rates. But our expectation is that the market will be more stable throughout the next year,’’ said Hundleby.
B+LNZ has been supplying its products to local hotels, fancy restaurants and catering companies.
He explained the retail presence, including online shopping malls, of New Zealand grass-fed beef remains small, however, the sector remains of vital importance for the New Zealand beef industry.
B+LNZ is planning to launch more marketing-driven campaigns next year to increase its product awareness to taste-sensitive Korean consumers.
The manager was delighted by the superb feedback on the taste and quality of New Zealand beef. ``New Zealand occupies an important market niche in South Korea, however, it is not as well known as leading suppliers, therefore opportunities to sample New Zealand grass-fed beef to Korean trade visitors was very helpful.’’
New Zealand has been known to pay some $200 million in tariffs when exporting representative items such as butter and beef.
South Korea asks for an 89 percent tariff on New Zealand butter, a 40 percent tariff on its beef and 8 percent on cosmetics, data from the trade ministry said.
An FTA with Korea, if realized, would help New Zealand’s products gain price competitiveness, enabling them to better compete with U.S. and Korean beef in the market here.
Korea was the sixth-biggest importer and seventh-biggest exporter with regard to New Zealand in 2009.