Nice billboard

This picture of a Turners & Growers billboard in Wellington comes via Roger Kerr's blog:

The billboard is a small part of big battle to remove New Zealand’s last remaining export monopoly. Yes we still have them! :-(

The company Zespri has a monopoly on exporting New Zealand kiwifruit to all countries except Australia. Roger Kerr writes,

On the issue, Agriculture Minister David Carter has said the government will be guided by what most growers want – but what about the other growers? Blocking non-Zespri growers from exporting overseas because they are a minority is like banning all dairy producers who don’t supply Fonterra from exporting overseas. Fonterra is subject to competition as Zespri should be.

What does Zespri have to fear from competition? If it is doing as well as it can in export markets, it has nothing to fear, no one will be able to take market share away from it. If not, then it has much to fear, but that's the point of competition. New Zealand needs the most efficient exporters driving out export sectors. Competition is one way of making sure we have them. This is as true for kiwifruit as for milk or any other commodity. It a time this bit of blatant protectionism went the same way as the dinosaur.