Rabobank: New Zealand likely to tighten red meat regulations
The prediction has been made by Rabobank’s Animal Proteins and Sustainability analyst Blake Holgate, who believes the increased regulations will be put in place over the next 12 to 18 months in order to address environmental issues.
He added that there would be challenges with the regulation changes such as further investments into the ethical and sustainable aspects of New Zealand’s red meat production systems, as well as meeting global trends and market requirements.
“The New Zealand red meat sector has an opportunity to leverage the increased investment that will be required by pending regulatory changes in the areas of environmental sustainability,” said Holgate.
“The most efficient means of capitalising on this opportunity will be to ensure there is as much alignment as possible between the needs of consumers, local community and investments made by the sector.”
In order for this to be a success, Holgate added that “open and transparent” communication between regulators, the industry and farmers are required.
“It will be important for the sector to be able to demonstrate and communicate how investments have resulted in higher levels of ethical and sustainable production,” Holgate added. “From a market perspective, those niche parts of the markets that are already willing to pay a premium for ethical and sustainable red meat production, can be sought out and targeted now.”
The New Zealand meat sector has increased its efforts to combat environmental issues across the farming sector. Industry body Beef and Lamb New Zealand launched an environmental strategy in May with a long-term vision of moving towards carbon neutrality by 2050.
