Word: zealanders
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...Wilson has yet to offer his colleagues-or, for that matter, British voters-a convincing reason for his turnabout. One of his chief objections to the Luxembourg agreement is that New Zealand's dairy products were not given a fair break. That view is not shared by the New Zealand government...
Final Snag. Even at the last minute, those pessimists had very nearly been right. Despite the recent Paris accord between French President Georges Pompidou and British Prime Minister Edward Heath about the desirability of Britain's admission, the negotiations hit one final snag. The issue was New Zealand, whose English-descended dairy farmers depend heavily on United Kingdom markets for their economic survival. The New Zealanders urgently wanted guarantees that after the mother country joined the Common Market and passed behind its protectionist agricultural tariffs, their cheese and butter exports would continue to their best customer...
Rippon pressed for assurances that New Zealand would be able to export 75% of its dairy products to the EEC. The French objected that the Community's European spirit would be violated by granting special privileges to farmers more than half the globe away...
Common Market diplomats were also annoyed at the intrusion of New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister John Marshall, who had jetted in from Wellington and periodically slipped up Kirchberg's backstairs to huddle with the British negotiators. At one point, Schumann stormed that Rippon's demands were "no basis for discussion," and he spoke of his "most profound sadness" at the turn of events...
Butter and Cheese. Conceivably, the negotiations could have broken down right there. Speculation is that Schumann telephoned Pompidou for instructions and from Paris came the word to work out a compromise. The result was a deal that New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Keith Holyoake immediately accepted. His country will be allowed to export 80% of its present butter sales of 170,000 tons annually to the Common Market for five years, after which the concession will come up for review. Britain can then lobby for an extension. But New Zealand's cheese sales will be phased out during...