Reforming New Zealand Agriculture: The WTO Way or Farmer Control?
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Published
Jan 15, 2021
Bruce M. Curtis
Abstract
The article contrasts a neoliberal agenda for agriculture championed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and interests within New Zealand, with those of farmer-run institutions, most notably the producer boards. The resources the WTO brings to bear ensure that any struggle it has with producer boards in New Zealand is likely to be one-sided. However this is not to say that the WTO is irresistible. Globalisation and the putative liberalisation of international trade remains a process that is networked, negotiated and implemented in different geographic scales. Consequently there remain possibilities for agriculture and for farmers other than the corporate ‘rule of law’ favoured by the WTO.
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How to Cite
M. Curtis, B. . (2021) “Reforming New Zealand Agriculture: The WTO Way or Farmer Control? ”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food. Paris, France, 9, pp. 29–42. doi: 10.48416/ijsaf.v9i.343.
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References
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Callon, M. and J Law. 1989. “On the Construction of Sociotechnical Networks: Content and Context Revisited.” Knowledge and Society 8:57–83.
Cloke, P. 1989. “State Deregulation and New Zealand’s Agricultural Sector.” Sociologia Ruralis 29:34–48.
___ 1996. “Looking through European Eyes? A Re-evaluation of Agricultural Deregulation in New Zealand.” Sociologia Ruralis 36:307–330.
Commission of Inquiry into the Meat Industry. 1959. Wellington: Government Printer.
Crocombe, G. T. 1991. “Innovation between Farm and the Marketplace.” In Agricultural Innovation: How to Make a Difference Now, edited by C. Clayton and J. E. Askwith. Wellington: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Curtis, B. 1998. “Innovation in Work and Industrial Relations: The Experience of Fortex” in Labour Employment and Work in New Zealand: Proceedings of the Seventh Conference, edited by P. S. Morrison. Wellington: Institute of Geography, Victoria University of Wellington.
___ 1999a. “Constructing Markets: Governance in the Meat and Dairy industries of New Zealand.” Rural Society 9:491–503.
___ 1999b. “Markets as Politics: The Case of the Meat Export Industry of New Zealand.” Pp 177–188 in Restructuring Global and Regional Agricultures: Transformations in Australasian Agri-food Economies and Spaces, edited by D. Burch, J. Goss and G. Lawrence. Aldershot: Ashgate.
___ 1999c. “Rationalisation, Deregulation and the Role of the Meat Board.” Primary Industry Management 2:12–14.
Dairy Board. 1999a. “Chairman Steps Down from Board.” At.
___ 1999b. “WTO Report ‘Critically Important – Dairy Board Chairman.” At.
Dennis, C. 1995. “Government Can Do Whatever It Wants’: Moral Regulation in Ralph Klein’s Alberta.” The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 32:365–384.
Douglas, R. 1993. Unfinished Business. Auckland: Random House.
Duncan, I. and A. Bollard. 1992. Corporatisation and Privatisation: Lessons from New Zealand. Auckland: Oxford University Press.
Easton, B. 1994a. “Economic and Other Ideas Behind the New Zealand Reforms.” Oxford Review of Economic Policy 10:78–95.
___ 1994b. “How Did the Health Reforms Blitzkrieg Fail?” Political Science 46:215–233.
___ 1999. The Whimpering of the State: Policy After MMP. Auckland University Press.
Fleming, G. A.1999. “Agricultural Support Policies in a Small Open Economy: New Zealand in the 1920s.” The Economic History Review 52:334–356.
Fligstein, N. 1996. “Markets as Politics: A Political-Cultural Approach to Market Institutions.” American Sociological Review 61:656–673.
Font, M. A. 1990. “Export Agriculture and Development Path: Independent Farming in Comparative Perspective.” Journal of Historical Sociology 3:329–361.
Friedmann, H. 1978. “Simple Commodity Production and Wage Labour in the American Plains.” The Journal of Peasant Studies 6:71–99.
Garway Investments. 1988. The Current and Future Position of the New Zealand Export Meat Industry. Wellington: Garway Investments.
Gregory, J. 1999. “Social Capital Theory and Administrative Reform: Maintaining Ethical Probity in Public Service.” Public Administration Review 59:63–86.
Hill, R. J. M. 1974. The Quest for Control: The New Zealand Dairy Industry and the Guaranteed Price: 1921–1936. Masters’ thesis. Department of History, University of Auckland.
Hirsch, P., S. Michael and R. Friedman.1990., “Clean Models vs. Dirty Hands: Why Economics is Different from Sociology.” In Structures of Capital: The Social Organisation of the Economy, edited by S. Zukin and P. DiMaggio. Cambridge University Press.
Hussey, D. 1992. Agricultural Marketing Regulation: Reality versus Doctrine. Wellington: New Zealand Business Roundtable.
Jacobsen, V., G. M. Scobie and A. Duncan. 1995. Statutory Intervention in Agricultural Marketing: A New Zealand Perspective. Technical Paper Number 283. Washington: World Bank.
Katzenstein, P. J. 1985. Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe. Cornell University Press.
Kelsey, J. 1995. Economic Fundamentalism: The New Zealand Experiment – A World Model for Structural Adjustment? London: Pluto Press.
Lee, R. and J. Wills, eds. 1997. Geographies of Economies. London: Arnold.
Mabbett, D. 1995. Trade, Employment and Welfare: A Comparative Study of Trade and Labour Market Policies in Sweden and New Zealand, 1880–1980. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Meat New Zealand. 1998. Plan for Change: Strategic and Change Plan for the New Zealand Meat Board. Wellington: New Zealand Meat Board.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. 1999. New Legislation for Apple and Pear Board. At.
McKenna, M. 1999. “The Economic Viability of Deregulation in New Zealand’s Pipfruit Industry.” Primary Industry Management. 2:4–9.
McMichael, P. 1998. “Global Food Politics.” Monthly Review 50:97–112.
___ 1999. “Virtual Capitalism and Agri-food Restructuring.” Pp. 3–22 in Restructuring Global and Regional Agricultures: Transformations in Australasian Agri-food Economies and Spaces, edited by D. Burch, J. Goss and G. Lawrence. Aldershot:
Ashgate.
McRae, D. M. 1998. “Trade and the Environment: The Development of WTO Law.” Otago Law Review 9:221–238.
Moran, W., G. Blunden and A. Bradly. 1996. “Empowering Family Farms Through Cooperatives and Producer Marketing Boards.” Economic Geography 17:22–42.
Morris, C. 1993. Explaining the Egmont Amalgamation: Community in Taranaki and Anthropology. Masters’ thesis. Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland.
New Zealand Herald. 1999. “NZ Puts Its Case on Lamb.” 14 January:C1.
New Zealand Parliament. 1923. Meat Export Control Act. Wellington: Government Printer.
___ 1990. Commodity Levies Act. Wellington: Government Printer.
___ 1996. Dairy Board Amendment Act. Wellington: Government Printer.
___ Apple and Pear Industry Restructuring Act. Wellington: Government Printer.
Nottage, R. 1997. “New Zealand’s Foreign and Trade Policy: Past and Present.” New Zealand International Review 22:18–21.
Perry, N. 1992. “Upside Down or Downside Up?: Sectoral Interests, Structural Change, and Public Policy.” In Controlling Interests: Business, the State and Society in New Zealand, edited by J. Deeks and N. Perry. Auckland University Press.
Pusey, M. 1993. “Reclaiming the Middle Ground: From New Right Economic Rationalism.” In Economic Rationalism: Dead End or Way Forward? edited by S. King and P. Lloyd. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Roche, M. M. 1992. Global Food Regimes: New Zealand’s Place in the International Frozen Meat Trade: 1883–1935. Conference of Historical Geographers. University of British Columbia: Vancouver, 15–22 August.
Rudd, C. and B. Roper, eds. 1997. The Political Economy of New Zealand. Auckland: Oxford University Press.
Sanderson, S. E. 1986. “The Emergence of the ‘World Steer’: Internationalization and Foreign Domination in Latin American Cattle Production.” In Food, the State, and International Political Economy, edited by F. L. Tullis and W. L. Hollist. London: University of Nebraska Press.
Sandrey, R. and R. Reynolds. 1990. Farming Without Subsidies: New Zealand’s Recent Experience. Wellington: GP Books.
Schneider, M. 1998. ‘‘‘Economic Rationalism’, Economic Rationalists and Economists.” Quadrant. October:48–55.
Schon, D.. A. and M. Rein. 1994. Frame Reflection: Towards the Resolution of Intractable Policy Controversies. New York: Basic Books.
Scrimgeour, F. G. and E. C. Pasour. 1996. “A Public Choice Perspective on Agricultural Policy Reform: Implications of the New Zealand Experience.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78:257–268.
Scrimgeour, F. G. and W. Thurman. 1997. An Economic Analysis of Agricultural Marketing Structures in New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Treasury.
Small, D. 1996. The Cost of Free Trade: Aotearoa/New Zealand at Risk. Christchurch: Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa.
Smith, L. 1997. A Milestone for New Zealand Trade. At.
___ 1999. SPS: Keynote Address. At.
Steel, R. 1995. Single Desk Selling in the Export of Apples and Pears from New Zealand: A Review of the Arrangements used by the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board. School of Management: Cranfield University.
Stevenson, S. 2000. “Corporates Wage Battle For Slice of Apple Pie.” New Zealand Herald. 22 July:E1.
Stinchombe, A. L. 1961. “Agricultural Enterprise and Rural Class Relations.” American Journal of Sociology 67:165–176.
The Dominion. 1999. “US upset at being on rack over lamb trade.” 29 June:1.
Thomson, R. 1999. “Producer Board Power Backfires on Farmers.” Primary Industry Management 2:10–11.
Watkins, K. 1996. “Free Trade and Farm Fallacies: From the Uruguay Round to the World Food Summit.” The Ecologist 26:244–255.
Watts, M. 1994. “Life Under Contract: Contract Farming, Agrarian Restructuring, and Flexible Accumulation.” Pp. 21–77 Living Under Contract: Contract Farming and Agrarian Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa, edited by P. Little and M. Watts. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Weir, R. 1992. New Zealand Meat Producers Board and New Zealand Wool Board Electoral and Accountability Report. Wellington: Meat Producers’ Board and Wool Board.
Wheat, S. 2000. “Trading Places.” Geographical 72:88–93.
World Trade Organisation. 1998. Transparency and the Rule of Law. At.
___ 1999a. STR: Why Regulate State Trading?. At.
___ 1999b. The regulation of State Trading Under the WTO System. At.
___ 1999c. What Are the Functions, Aims, Structure, History, Accomplishments of the WTO? At.
___ 1999d. WTO Dispute Settlement. At.
Callon, M. 1998. “An essay on framing and overflowing: economic externalities revisited by sociology.” In The Laws of the Market, edited by M. Callon. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Callon, M. and J Law. 1989. “On the Construction of Sociotechnical Networks: Content and Context Revisited.” Knowledge and Society 8:57–83.
Cloke, P. 1989. “State Deregulation and New Zealand’s Agricultural Sector.” Sociologia Ruralis 29:34–48.
___ 1996. “Looking through European Eyes? A Re-evaluation of Agricultural Deregulation in New Zealand.” Sociologia Ruralis 36:307–330.
Commission of Inquiry into the Meat Industry. 1959. Wellington: Government Printer.
Crocombe, G. T. 1991. “Innovation between Farm and the Marketplace.” In Agricultural Innovation: How to Make a Difference Now, edited by C. Clayton and J. E. Askwith. Wellington: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Curtis, B. 1998. “Innovation in Work and Industrial Relations: The Experience of Fortex” in Labour Employment and Work in New Zealand: Proceedings of the Seventh Conference, edited by P. S. Morrison. Wellington: Institute of Geography, Victoria University of Wellington.
___ 1999a. “Constructing Markets: Governance in the Meat and Dairy industries of New Zealand.” Rural Society 9:491–503.
___ 1999b. “Markets as Politics: The Case of the Meat Export Industry of New Zealand.” Pp 177–188 in Restructuring Global and Regional Agricultures: Transformations in Australasian Agri-food Economies and Spaces, edited by D. Burch, J. Goss and G. Lawrence. Aldershot: Ashgate.
___ 1999c. “Rationalisation, Deregulation and the Role of the Meat Board.” Primary Industry Management 2:12–14.
Dairy Board. 1999a. “Chairman Steps Down from Board.” At
___ 1999b. “WTO Report ‘Critically Important – Dairy Board Chairman.” At
Dennis, C. 1995. “Government Can Do Whatever It Wants’: Moral Regulation in Ralph Klein’s Alberta.” The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 32:365–384.
Douglas, R. 1993. Unfinished Business. Auckland: Random House.
Duncan, I. and A. Bollard. 1992. Corporatisation and Privatisation: Lessons from New Zealand. Auckland: Oxford University Press.
Easton, B. 1994a. “Economic and Other Ideas Behind the New Zealand Reforms.” Oxford Review of Economic Policy 10:78–95.
___ 1994b. “How Did the Health Reforms Blitzkrieg Fail?” Political Science 46:215–233.
___ 1999. The Whimpering of the State: Policy After MMP. Auckland University Press.
Fleming, G. A.1999. “Agricultural Support Policies in a Small Open Economy: New Zealand in the 1920s.” The Economic History Review 52:334–356.
Fligstein, N. 1996. “Markets as Politics: A Political-Cultural Approach to Market Institutions.” American Sociological Review 61:656–673.
Font, M. A. 1990. “Export Agriculture and Development Path: Independent Farming in Comparative Perspective.” Journal of Historical Sociology 3:329–361.
Friedmann, H. 1978. “Simple Commodity Production and Wage Labour in the American Plains.” The Journal of Peasant Studies 6:71–99.
Garway Investments. 1988. The Current and Future Position of the New Zealand Export Meat Industry. Wellington: Garway Investments.
Gregory, J. 1999. “Social Capital Theory and Administrative Reform: Maintaining Ethical Probity in Public Service.” Public Administration Review 59:63–86.
Hill, R. J. M. 1974. The Quest for Control: The New Zealand Dairy Industry and the Guaranteed Price: 1921–1936. Masters’ thesis. Department of History, University of Auckland.
Hirsch, P., S. Michael and R. Friedman.1990., “Clean Models vs. Dirty Hands: Why Economics is Different from Sociology.” In Structures of Capital: The Social Organisation of the Economy, edited by S. Zukin and P. DiMaggio. Cambridge University Press.
Hussey, D. 1992. Agricultural Marketing Regulation: Reality versus Doctrine. Wellington: New Zealand Business Roundtable.
Jacobsen, V., G. M. Scobie and A. Duncan. 1995. Statutory Intervention in Agricultural Marketing: A New Zealand Perspective. Technical Paper Number 283. Washington: World Bank.
Katzenstein, P. J. 1985. Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe. Cornell University Press.
Kelsey, J. 1995. Economic Fundamentalism: The New Zealand Experiment – A World Model for Structural Adjustment? London: Pluto Press.
Lee, R. and J. Wills, eds. 1997. Geographies of Economies. London: Arnold.
Mabbett, D. 1995. Trade, Employment and Welfare: A Comparative Study of Trade and Labour Market Policies in Sweden and New Zealand, 1880–1980. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Meat New Zealand. 1998. Plan for Change: Strategic and Change Plan for the New Zealand Meat Board. Wellington: New Zealand Meat Board.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. 1999. New Legislation for Apple and Pear Board. At
McKenna, M. 1999. “The Economic Viability of Deregulation in New Zealand’s Pipfruit Industry.” Primary Industry Management. 2:4–9.
McMichael, P. 1998. “Global Food Politics.” Monthly Review 50:97–112.
___ 1999. “Virtual Capitalism and Agri-food Restructuring.” Pp. 3–22 in Restructuring Global and Regional Agricultures: Transformations in Australasian Agri-food Economies and Spaces, edited by D. Burch, J. Goss and G. Lawrence. Aldershot:
Ashgate.
McRae, D. M. 1998. “Trade and the Environment: The Development of WTO Law.” Otago Law Review 9:221–238.
Moran, W., G. Blunden and A. Bradly. 1996. “Empowering Family Farms Through Cooperatives and Producer Marketing Boards.” Economic Geography 17:22–42.
Morris, C. 1993. Explaining the Egmont Amalgamation: Community in Taranaki and Anthropology. Masters’ thesis. Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland.
New Zealand Herald. 1999. “NZ Puts Its Case on Lamb.” 14 January:C1.
New Zealand Parliament. 1923. Meat Export Control Act. Wellington: Government Printer.
___ 1990. Commodity Levies Act. Wellington: Government Printer.
___ 1996. Dairy Board Amendment Act. Wellington: Government Printer.
___ Apple and Pear Industry Restructuring Act. Wellington: Government Printer.
Nottage, R. 1997. “New Zealand’s Foreign and Trade Policy: Past and Present.” New Zealand International Review 22:18–21.
Perry, N. 1992. “Upside Down or Downside Up?: Sectoral Interests, Structural Change, and Public Policy.” In Controlling Interests: Business, the State and Society in New Zealand, edited by J. Deeks and N. Perry. Auckland University Press.
Pusey, M. 1993. “Reclaiming the Middle Ground: From New Right Economic Rationalism.” In Economic Rationalism: Dead End or Way Forward? edited by S. King and P. Lloyd. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Roche, M. M. 1992. Global Food Regimes: New Zealand’s Place in the International Frozen Meat Trade: 1883–1935. Conference of Historical Geographers. University of British Columbia: Vancouver, 15–22 August.
Rudd, C. and B. Roper, eds. 1997. The Political Economy of New Zealand. Auckland: Oxford University Press.
Sanderson, S. E. 1986. “The Emergence of the ‘World Steer’: Internationalization and Foreign Domination in Latin American Cattle Production.” In Food, the State, and International Political Economy, edited by F. L. Tullis and W. L. Hollist. London: University of Nebraska Press.
Sandrey, R. and R. Reynolds. 1990. Farming Without Subsidies: New Zealand’s Recent Experience. Wellington: GP Books.
Schneider, M. 1998. ‘‘‘Economic Rationalism’, Economic Rationalists and Economists.” Quadrant. October:48–55.
Schon, D.. A. and M. Rein. 1994. Frame Reflection: Towards the Resolution of Intractable Policy Controversies. New York: Basic Books.
Scrimgeour, F. G. and E. C. Pasour. 1996. “A Public Choice Perspective on Agricultural Policy Reform: Implications of the New Zealand Experience.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78:257–268.
Scrimgeour, F. G. and W. Thurman. 1997. An Economic Analysis of Agricultural Marketing Structures in New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Treasury.
Small, D. 1996. The Cost of Free Trade: Aotearoa/New Zealand at Risk. Christchurch: Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa.
Smith, L. 1997. A Milestone for New Zealand Trade. At
___ 1999. SPS: Keynote Address. At
Steel, R. 1995. Single Desk Selling in the Export of Apples and Pears from New Zealand: A Review of the Arrangements used by the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board. School of Management: Cranfield University.
Stevenson, S. 2000. “Corporates Wage Battle For Slice of Apple Pie.” New Zealand Herald. 22 July:E1.
Stinchombe, A. L. 1961. “Agricultural Enterprise and Rural Class Relations.” American Journal of Sociology 67:165–176.
The Dominion. 1999. “US upset at being on rack over lamb trade.” 29 June:1.
Thomson, R. 1999. “Producer Board Power Backfires on Farmers.” Primary Industry Management 2:10–11.
Watkins, K. 1996. “Free Trade and Farm Fallacies: From the Uruguay Round to the World Food Summit.” The Ecologist 26:244–255.
Watts, M. 1994. “Life Under Contract: Contract Farming, Agrarian Restructuring, and Flexible Accumulation.” Pp. 21–77 Living Under Contract: Contract Farming and Agrarian Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa, edited by P. Little and M. Watts. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Weir, R. 1992. New Zealand Meat Producers Board and New Zealand Wool Board Electoral and Accountability Report. Wellington: Meat Producers’ Board and Wool Board.
Wheat, S. 2000. “Trading Places.” Geographical 72:88–93.
World Trade Organisation. 1998. Transparency and the Rule of Law. At
___ 1999a. STR: Why Regulate State Trading?. At
___ 1999b. The regulation of State Trading Under the WTO System. At
___ 1999c. What Are the Functions, Aims, Structure, History, Accomplishments of the WTO? At
___ 1999d. WTO Dispute Settlement. At
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