MISUNDERSTANDING SEMANTICS COSTS
IN A MAJOR admission to Massey
University���s
Executive
MBA
students by the World Bank in New
York, New Zealand���s policy makers���
misunderstanding of ���Food Safety���,
may be adding thousands of dollars
to the individual cost of agricultural
production at the farm gate says Letitia
Isa, Massey University Executive MBA
student:
���I was stunned to learn what we
know as Food Security is defined by
the World Bank as Food Safety. It may
sound like semantics but it carries a
huge implication for our agricultural
producers and exporters. This simple
but fundamental misapprehension may
see New Zealand jumping ever higher
but illusionary hurdles. Instead of higher
standards boosting returns, they may
in fact be eroding them for almost no
financial gain.
���When the World Bank says Food
Safety, they are not talking stainless
steel, the National Animal Identification
and Tracing Scheme or the Emissions
Trading Scheme. What the World
Bank means is how New Zealand can
contribute to the feeding nine billion
people by 2050.
���That carries with it a powerful but
different policy message.���
The United Nation���s Food and
Agriculture Organisation says developed
countries need to increase output by 70
percent to do their bit.
���It might sound provocative, but we
need to seriously weigh the cost-benefits
of adopting polices that do not generate
tangible revenue at the farm gate, or
increase production. While European
supermarkets seem to be a de facto
political and policy benchmark, are ever
higher compliance costs worth it?
���It may sound counter intuitive, but
perhaps quantity does have a quality
all of its own. A simple metric maybe
if a policy adds a dollar of cost, does
it produce well over a dollar of added
revenue at the farm gate? Moreover, are
our other policy settings, particularly
around
Genetically
Modified
Organisms, retarding New Zealand���s
ability to do its fair global share?���
Isa concluded, ���Certainly, the way the
World Bank defines Food Safety needs
to become central to New Zealand policy
formation. If not, we risk unprecedented
global disorder that New Zealand could
not escape.���
TSS Earnslaw centenary celebrations
centenary celebrations
were officially launched
on October 14, during a
night of nostalgia, with
more than a hundred
past and present staff
members
gathered
on board the heritage
steamer to mark her
century of service.
The
steamship
celebrated her 100th
official birthday on
October 18, with a
re-enactment of her
maiden voyage from
Kingston to Queenstown
and people are gathering
from all over New Zealand, as well as
overseas, to join the celebrations. Speaking
at the staff function Real Journeys Director
Tony McQuilkin said staff who had worked
on the steamer over the years, along with
current employees, had played a vital role
in her history. Some of the former staff
attending worked on the TSS Earnslaw as
early as the 1940s.
Long serving Captain Maru Bradshaw
who skippered the TSS Earnslaw for 21
years said, ���She could be cantankerous at
times and sometimes sprang a few surprises
but she was always reliable and I am sure
she will be around for a lot more years to
come.���
VIP.S78
THE TSS EARNSLAW
January/February 2013 Professional Skipper 41
