Damien O’Connor: NZ united on global trade
When it comes to international trade, politicians from all sides of the aisle are united, says Labour's trade spokesman Damien O'Connor.
Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor says the move to ban live exports by sea puts New Zealand in step with like-minded partners on the importance of animal welfare.
Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor is unrepentant about the ban on live exports by sea, hailing it as putting New Zealand in step wth like-minded partners on the importance of animal welfare.
He says Australia has moved to phase-out the live export of sheep, and animal welfare standards are bedded into our FTAs with the UK and the EU.
"Recent talk of restarting live exports by sea simply ignores the reality that our consumers overseas take issues of sustainability, climate and animal welfare seriously, which is why they're reflected in our recent FTAs," he says.
O'Connor says in a market where consumers are becoming more and more discerning about ethical and environmental credentials, his government has moved to ensure that NZ's reputation for ethical trade is not at risk.
Global trade has been thrown into another bout of uncertainty following the overnight ruling by US Supreme Court, striking down President Donald Trump's decision to impose additional tariffs on trading partners.
Controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill have been lifted.
Fonterra farmer shareholders and unit holders are in line for another payment in April.
Farmers are being encouraged to take a closer look at the refrigerants running inside their on-farm systems, as international and domestic pressure continues to build on high global warming potential (GWP) 400-series refrigerants.
As expected, Fonterra has lifted its 2025-26 forecast farmgate milk price mid-point to $9.50/kgMS.
Bovonic says a return on investment study has found its automated mastitis detection technology, QuadSense, is delivering financial, labour, and animal-health benefits on New Zealand dairy farms worth an estimated $29,547 per season.

OPINION: Here w go: the election date is set for November 7 and the politicians are out of the gate…
OPINION: ECan data was released a few days ago showing Canterbury farmers have made “giant strides on environmental performance”.