The cheese which was made in Germany, by the firm Milchwerk Jager Gmbh & Co has been blamed for exporting sub-standard versions by mimicking Italian sounding brand names such as Fattorie Torresina, Lovilio and Monteverdi. Although the mozzarella was marked as made in Germany and did not receive any complaints of illness linked to the ‘blue’ mozzarella at that time, the farmers regard the incident has harmed the reputation of Italy as a quality food-maker.

Preliminary analyses at Turin’s Zooprofilattico (veterinary preventative medicine) Institute analyses showed it to be bacterial rather than toxic contamination. Besides bacteria, the blue colouring could also indicate elements of copper, nickel or lead in the milk or the aqueous solution used to preserve the cheese.

During the protest, Italy’s main farm lobby Coldiretti argued that the citizens had the right to know what they were buying and origin of those products. Similarly, Agriculture Minister of Italy Giancarlo Galan told that he would press for new legislation requiring milk producers to give more details about the provenance of their milk and related products.

Mozzarella is the most favourite variety of cheese in Italy, and about 60 percent of Italians consume 164mn kilograms (360mn pounds) per annum. With this German trade infringement, Italian cheese producers feel the original mozzarellas may lose their brand value among the consumers. Tuesday’s protest saw border police inspecting trucks bringing milk, meat and other products into Italy.

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The Trade Minister’s words were marked by clear ideas on which the country’s economic path would be paved in the coming years regardless of its size. He said NZ started its reform process 30 years ago with very high protectionist barriers but now was solidly centred on reciprocal trade liberalisation.

Groser shifted his focus from the FTA talks to WTO negotiations and expressed dismay over the inertia at the WTO. He said the WTO negotiating process was suffering from sclerosis, and criticized the WTO Director General’s use of the metaphor of having done 80 percent of the negotiation. He added that but last 20 percent or whatever number one chose to illustrate the remaining negotiating gap – was proving elusive.

He arrayed data on NZ trade policies including the collective effort in the early 1990s that it would not put all its eggs in the then GATT or now WTO basket. He pointed out since then, while emphasising multilateral trade policy, successive NZ Governments had aggressively and successively pursued a bi-partisan strategy of developing FTAs with economies which were either major trading partners or promised to be – i.e. the emerging economies.

“All projections suggest that in even twenty to thirty years’ time, the countries with the largest populations will have the largest economies. We will be living in a truly multi-polar world in which we are highly likely to have four economic super-powers with huge populations (China, India, the US and the hybrid model of the 27 Member EU) plus a range of very significant economies on a second tier including Japan, Korea, Indonesia and, of course the other of the so-called ‘BRICs’ – the formulation that includes not just China and India but also Brazil and Russia”, claimed Groser.

The gist of the address disclosed that NZ current FTAs including China, Thailand, Singapore and Chile and future FTAs or any other trade deals were and will be designed to follow an extreme application of what is called ‘first mover advantage’ strategy – getting in first, to avoid the possibility of being left to last.

NZ is the first developed country to have established a comprehensive FTA with China. Besides, NZ has negotiated a parallel FTA with Hong Kong – NZ is the only country in the world so far, other than China itself, to have such a relationship.

At a glance, the NZ-Russia FTA opens up business opportunities for not only the NZ dairy industry but also extend to other areas such as agro-tech, tourism and education. New Zealand’s exports to Russia are worth NZ$187mn ($127mn) last year, of which about two-thirds are dairy products. That’s just a fraction of the more than the $30bn of food Russia purchases annually.

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The members of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) advised Indian investors to be wary of scammers. The NIPC urged to either go through the Nigerian embassy in India or the commission itself for any trade or investment-related transactions to avoid any fraudulent deals.

The meet which was held in Ahmadabad, the former capital of Gujarat state chiefly discussed the issues related to fictitious firms and individuals from Nigeria that swindled many Indians through fake email business offers. Ibrahim Usman Gafai, representing High Commissioner of Nigeria in India suggested not to entertain any contracts being awarded by the Nigerian government through agents or individuals.

Gafai apprized that the veracity of any contract could be established through the government’s bi-weekly magazine, which contained the detailed procedure of awarding work contracts. He further added Indian traders could also verify the genuineness of any deal through the Nigerian embassy in India.

Several people in India have become victims to email frauds that baited them to cough up thousands of dollars to win jobs, lotteries and priceless property. Majority of the perpetrators of such frauds included nationals of Nigeria and from many other African nations.

Incidentally, Amul dairy company of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) became the main attraction to the Nigerian delegation during the visit to India. Amul became a household name in India after it revolutionized milk supplies by taking them to the door steps of most parts of India through its large distribution network.

Reuben Kifasi, director of the NIPC said that he wanted to replicate the successful co-operative model of Amul in his country. Similarly, Mustafa Bello, executive secretary of the NIPC stated that though it would not be possible to completely replicate the model but would have to take up in phases as his country was currently importing milk powder, and any stoppage might encourage smuggling.

However, Bello admitted that Nigeria would import milk from Amul during the transition from milk powder to milk in his country. The NIPC informed that it would send a team comprising of dairy professionals and farmers to Gujarat to study the Amul model.

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The last week’s announcement also underscores that it would no longer recognize the two existing certification authorities in New Zealand, Islamic Meat Management and the Federation of Islamic Associations. In response, the FIANZ argued Indonesian halal certification company setting up shop here did not have the resources to inspect meat plants and slaughterhouses.

Reza Khedmati, director of Al-Rasoul Halal Certification, said the company had been set up to offer New Zealand exporters an “internationally accepted halal certification” as a result of problems encountered with Islamic countries. The federation vice-president Javed Khan says “These people who are setting up their own certifying companies here have got no infrastructure to inspect the plants and all that … and still they are certifying.”

Khedmati claimed that it had been certifying for all the organizations throughout the world including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. The chief executive of the Iran-based Islamic Chamber Research and Information Centre, Abdolhossein Fakhari, while he was in New Zealand last month said Al-Rasoul Halal Certification had the backing of the centre, which was set up with the support of the governments of Islamic countries.

The Indonesian plan would restrict $100mn worth of New Zealand beef and $450mn of dairy products entering that country. The global halal market is valued at around $150bn with about 1.6bn consumers from 112 countries and Indonesia with 212mn is the largest consumer of halal products among Muslim nations.

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Apart from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are also seemed to have impressed by livestock farming opportunities in Thailand. The southern provinces, the Andaman region of Thailand have been chosen for the proposed mega livestock farms.

The climatic conditions and geographic placing of Thailand are claimed to be the most suited in Southern Asia for livestock production and paddy cultivation. However, the UAE’s interest in rice production would not be possible due to shortage in suitable lands.

The UAE already has ambitious plans to establish agricultural production centres in Sudan and Pakistan. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development aims to develop 70,000 acres of land for food production in Sudan alone.

Similarly, Saudi Arabia has also invested in overseas agricultural farms including Pakistan to ward off any potential food shortage threat like that which confronted the globe last year. The desert nations are showing keen interest in developing agricultural and livestock farms outside their region since engaging in similar activities in the region would require manifold expenditure, and also not sure of the results.

To cater to the burgeoning Middle East market, Thailand has made several plans for investing in the production of halal meat and dairy products in countries such as, Pakistan and Bangladesh. According to Thai government sources, Charoen Pokpand Foods, the largest agri-business firm of the country is preparing to develop mega livestock farms in Russia as part of its expansion plans to fulfil its export shortfalls.

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The US action comes after the EU re-introduced its export subsidy program in early this year. Many industry observers felt these moves would only trigger more protectionist measures from countries those are affected by this action. Though these declared subsidies are within the WTO limits there would be political pressure within the affected countries to retaliate and prompt them to reverse their decision.

Trade Minister Simon Crean and Agriculture Minister Tony Burke of Australia in a joint statement said that they would try to garner support from other countries to pressurize the US to reverse its decision at the Cairns Group Ministerial meeting in Bali in early next month. The Cairns Group is a coalition of 19 agricultural exporting nations which account for over 25 percent of the global agricultural exports that aims to liberalise trade in the respective sector.

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said dairy farmers the world over were under pressure, but the US move was a short-sighted response while the international dairy market had recently been showing signs of stabilising. New Zealand is the largest dairy merchandise export earner and second largest meat export earner with nearly 24 and 12 percent share respectively in total goods exported. The price advantage enjoyed by New Zealand dairy products will get diluted in the global market with the re-introduction of US handout to its dairy exports.

Nonetheless, the president of the Australian National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) David Crombie warned the US handout would only shore up domestic jobs in the short-term but undermines the possibilities of faster global economic recovery. Similarly, Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter echoed the sentiments of the NFF, contending that the US decision had the potential to damage a world dairy market which remained fragile.

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