In accordance with section 27 of the Meat Board Act 2004, the New Zealand Meat Board (“Board”) has partially-reviewed its existing quota allocation mechanisms for the EU Sheepmeat and Goatmeat Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ).

The partial review was undertaken to prepare for the exit of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) Customs Union and Single Market, which will immediately result in the splitting of New Zealand’s current TRQ access to the EU between the EU and the UK. This will occur at the expiry of the transition period as defined in article 126 of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (19 October 2019) (“UK Exit”). Currently the transition period is set to expire on 31 December 2020, but this notice is drafted to take into account the possibility of the transition period being extended.

The UK and the EU would split existing EU TRQs between them based on historic trade patterns. The Board does not accept the legitimacy of the EU and UK’s approach. Nonetheless, while New Zealand goes through the process of challenging this, the Board would in the interim implement the partially-amended quota allocation mechanisms for the EU Sheepmeat and Goatmeat TRQ.

Having considered feedback on the partial-review proposals, the Board has agreed the following amendments will be made to the allocation mechanisms for the EU Sheepmeat and Goatmeat TRQ in the event of a UK Exit:

• Establish a definition for: “eligible quota holder”
• Establish a definition for “Transitional Arrangement for Market Adjustment (TAMA)”
• Establish the TAMA mechanism as follows:
  “For the years the TAMA is in operation, the Board will retain up to 5,000 tonnes of quota from the General Quota Allocation pool to distribute as follows:
  1. The Board will calculate the average annual exports of each Quota Holder to the EU under the TRQ in the 2016, 2017, and 2018 Quota Years.
  2. To differentiate between product exported to the EU and the UK, the Board will use intended destination as declared on COOs.
  3. Where a Quota Holder’s General Quota Allocation is less than its average annual exports to the EU as determined under (a) and (b) above, the Board will provide that Quota Holder with additional quota access from the TAMA fund. That Quota Holder becomes an ‘Eligible Quota Holder’ for the purposes of this Section Four A.
  4. Subject to (e) below the amount of additional access will be the difference between the Eligible Quota Holder’s annual exports to the EU as determined under (a) and (b) above, and the Quota Holder’s General Quota Allocation for the relevant Quota Year.
  5. Should the total of all Eligible Quota Holder’s entitlements under the TAMA fund be greater than the size of the TAMA fund in a given Quota Year, allocations from the TAMA fund will be pro-rated between Eligible Quota Holders, on the basis of their entitlement under (d) above, to keep within the size of the fund.
  6. Where the TAMA fund is greater than the amount needed to provide for all Eligible Quota Holders under (d) above, the Board will redistribute the remainder among all Quota Holders that are not Eligible Quota Holders. Redistribution of surplus TAMA fund will be pro-rated on the basis of General Quota Allowance allocations for the relevant Quota Year
     The Board reserves the right to suspend the TAMA mechanism where the Board considers that the TAMA fund no longer meets the Board’s objects, as defined in section 7 of the Meat Board Act 2004.

The above amendment will take effect upon the UK Exit, and in this case a manual containing the amended mechanism will be made available on the Board’s website: http://www.nzmeatboard.org.

Dated at Wellington this 16th day of November 2020.

D. HARRISON, General Manager – Quota and Information, New Zealand Meat Board.