One of the hard news highlights of the 2015 IFAJ Congress was hearing from the man who was responsible for holding up the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement to get New Zealand’s dairy industry more access to other markets.
“The fundamental reason why New Zealand agriculture is so strong is we don’t have a choice, it’s export or die for us,” said Tim Groser, New Zealand Minister of Trade.
He calls New Zealand a “virtual water exporter” because the country is fortunate enough to have an abundance of water. “Water is central to the issue and we do not lack water,” he said. “We are gifted with water – we think we use only 3-5% of the water we have.”
In his address to the IFAJ Congress, Groser provided a long history of international trade negotiations, starting with the GATT Uraguay round where he was chief negotiator for New Zealand. He is considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on international trade. New Zealand Minister of Trade Tim Groser