Dec 5, 2017  -  New Zealand based health and safety technology start up Safe365 has confirmed entry into the Canadian market on the back of a strong initial 12 months in New Zealand since launch. Canadian businesses of all sizes and industries will be able to access Safe365’s ground breaking web application that assesses, diagnoses and supports continuous improvement in health and safety capability from 5 December 2017. For Safe365, it means entry into the lucrative North American market and the capacity to scale product uptake rapidly.

Safe365’s Country Director – Canada, Michael Matthews said “as an experienced health and safety professional, having reviewed a large number of solutions in the market internationally, when I came across Safe365 I just wanted to get involved and make it available to Canadian businesses.” Mr Matthews is a well-known figure in the Canadian health and safety sector having performed executive roles in the energy sector, Coca-Cola and founded the HSE Job Hunter group on LinkedIN with over 130,000 members. “It was great being down-under with the Safe365 team in New Zealand recently and seeing first hand the impact the product is having with their clients there. I’m really excited to be able to bring the product to Canada and support improvements in our health and safety performance as a country” says Matthews.

Safe365’s kiwi co-founders Nathan Hight and Mark Kidd are very pleased their solution will add value beyond New Zealand’s shores. “We have users in 8 countries now using the NZ edition of Safe365, however this is our first targeted offshore market with a product specifically aligned to meet the needs of the Canadian market” says Kidd. “This is a really significant step forward in the journey we are on with Safe365 to take a world class solution to the global market that saves lives and improves business” says Hight.

Safe365’s early stage success has been built on the back of its innovative diagnostic platform that allows businesses to purchase the product online, use it “out of the box” and within 60 minutes have clarity on the status of the businesses health and safety capability. The product then provides nearly 300 specific solutions to support continuous improvement through a simple, easy and intuitive interface. “These philosophies and features are very strong differentiators from other tech based health and safety solutions currently in market” says Hight.

Customers purchase a Safe365 subscription for the business ($999 annually or $99 monthly) which enables them to access the software through their web browser on any internet enabled device. With minimal barriers to entry, the product is proving extremely popular with businesses wanting to do the right thing when it comes to workforce health and safety.

Safe365’s customers range from small contracting businesses and farming operations through to some of New Zealand’s largest entities and government departments. The product enables businesses to share their health and safety capability at the click of a button reflecting the modern work environment where multiple entities are responsible for worker health and safety.

“Over 500 businesses in New Zealand have benefited from the power of Safe365 in our first year being live, so we are thrilled that we are able to extend this significantly through our partnership with Mr Matthews in Canada” says Kidd.

| A safe365 release  ||  December 5, 2017   |||

Dec 5, 2017  -  High profile businessman and social entrepreneur, Tenby Powell, who chaired the government appointed Small Business Development Group for five years, is leading a call for the new Government to establish an Institute for Small Business.

The idea for a step-up from government in support of small business is resonating in New Zealand and farther afield says Powell who also represents New Zealand on the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “New Zealand needs to do much more to support our small business ecosystem. Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) account for 97 percent of all enterprises and are the engines of growth and innovation in the APEC region. For these companies to make an even bigger impact on the economy we need a dedicated Government entity focused on better understanding and supporting small business owners,” says Powell.

Early next year, coinciding with the first ABAC meeting for 2018 to be held in Auckland, he is gathering 100 top thinkers, business owners and entrepreneurs together to plan a road-map to future value creation for SMEs. Discussion at what’s being called The SME LEAP (Leading Enterprise Acceleration & Productivity) will include how an Institute of Small Businesss could work in New Zealand. High profile keynote speakers from other APEC nations will also share deep-seated knowledge citing examples from other APEC economies.

Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) employ over half the workforce across APEC economies and contribute significantly to economic growth, with GDP contributions ranging from 20 to 50 percent in the majority of APEC economies; New Zealand is circa 28 percent. However, according to Powell they only account for less than 35 percent of the direct exports, “New Zealand SMEs are particularly affected by this.”

Powell believes New Zealand is perfectly positioned to lift our SME performance and capture the value that will come from the recently signed Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership; the agreement signed by eleven APEC leaders, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, in Da Nang last month.

“New Zealand’s physical Internet infrastructure is world class, following the rollout of the Ultra-Fast Broadband network and the continuation of the Rural Broadband Initiative. This positions us amongst the best network infrastructures in the developed world, and it’s an important enabler for small business to compete in overseas markets under the CP-TPP.”

Powell says the ABAC SME & Entrepreneurial Working Group which he co-chairs is a work stream with a high profile within APEC. “It is more socioeconomic than just economic per se. It acts as a superset for the subsets of cross-border liberalization, market access and the removal of non-tariff barriers for SMEs, financing for business expansion and capability development, integrating green SMEs into the global value chain, leveraging the digital economy, and greater support for women-in-business.”Powell believes establishing a Government Institute is the sort of big thinking required to ensure the Government better understands and delivers support to small business owners.

“An entity focused on delivering value to small business would be charged with developing well researched policy advice aimed at enhancing the ecosystem and environment in they operate, facilitating education for owner-managers, making access to the digital platforms more accessible, and working with banks to develop ways to fund SMEs without mortgaging the family home.”

Support for the idea has come from far and wide, including from business leaders from the Maori, Asian, Indian and New Zealand European economies.

Billy Te Kahika, Cultural Ambassador for Kingitanga says, “This is exactly what Maori small business owners have needed for some time. While larger Maori business can develop relationships with big overseas players, like Chinese funding partners, it’s the SME business owner who needs greater support and recognition. A well led government Institute has the ability to empower this support.”

Oceania Silk Road Network’s, William Zhao and Jerry He, agree. Mr He, who served on the Small Business Development Group with Powell says, “Chinese business owners who have made New Zealand their home are committed to the country’s development and see many opportunities under the new multi-lateral free trade agreement, the CP-TPP, signed in Da Nang.”

Founder and CEO of Indian radio network Tarana, Robert Khan who also served on the Small Business Development Group, is another avid supporter. “The Indian community will fully support any initiative that enables SME business owners to grow domestically and as exporters. It is as though an idea and its time has come together and we welcome discussion on the establishment of a Government Institute for SMEs.”

High profile Chinese business woman, Diane Wang, founder and CEO of DHgate, is speaking at the Summit. Wang, who represents ABAC China will travel to Auckland ahead of ABAC 1 and deliver a keynote address that Powell says will “resonate with any small business owner and particularly with women who are disadvantaged in terms of access to finance and global supply networks.”

Other speakers include incoming ABAC Chair, David Toua, who will coordinate the 21 nation ABAC agenda for 2018, and leading Malaysian business woman, Dato Rohana Mahmoud, Chair and Founder of RM Capital Partners.

Powell says, “Malaysia is an example of targeted resources in action to support small business through a government entity called the SME Corporation. The SME Corp is a central coordinating agency under the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry that formulates policies and strategies, and coordinates the implementation of SME development programmes across all related Ministries and Agencies. A similar entity, in the form of a government Institution, would work in New Zealand.”

| A Hunter Powell release  ||  December 5, 2017   |||

Dec 4,  2017  - Uncertainty over Brexit means New Zealand needs to urgently focus on developing brands and differentiating our agricultural exports.  Senior lecturer in Agribusiness Management, Dr Nic Lees, said New Zealand produces some of the best fruit, wine, meat, seafood and dairy products in the world but around 70 per cent reaches the consumer with no identification that is sourced from here.

“Sudden changes such as Brexit remind us that relying on undifferentiated commodity exports leaves us vulnerable to sudden changes in government policies,” Dr Lees said.

“When consumers demand a branded product, it is difficult for governments to shut it out of the market.”

Forty-four years ago, Britain joined the European Common Market. At the time Britain took approximately 90 per cent of our butter, 75 per cent of our cheese and about 80 per cent of our lamb exports. Britain had to adopt the European “common agricultural policy” which imposed tariffs and quotas on non-European agricultural imports

This meant New Zealand was effectively shut out of our largest agricultural export market. At the time, most of these products were being exported as commodities, frozen lamb carcasses and blocks of cheese. The only branded product was Anchor butter.

For the next thirty years the New Zealand economy suffered as we searched for new markets and attempted to develop alternative industries. China has replaced Britain as our largest market. However, 70-80 per cent of our food exports are still sold as commodity products.

“We need to develop differentiated and branded products that consumers demand,” he said.

“We can learn a lesson from Anchor butter, as it is a brand that is still strong in the British market.”

However, he said, New Zealand has never been good at marketing our food products.

“Despite our reliance on food exports, Lincoln University provides the only specialist food marketing degree in New Zealand. The Bachelor of Agribusiness and Food Marketing was developed due to a call from industry for graduates who understand the specialised nature of producing and marketing our food products.

“It is an integrated degree covering agribusiness management, food science, supply chain management and food marketing. This provides students with a unique set of skills specifically focused on preparing them for marketing the unique features of New Zealand food products.”

He said Zespri kiwifruit and New Zealand wine have led the way in developing strong brands that consumers demand.

“Unfortunately, most other industries still focus primarily on commodity trading.”

The development of synthetic alternatives to meat and milk also calls for stronger branding.

“Developing a culture of marketing and meeting consumer demands for natural health foods provides New Zealand with a way to capture more value from our exports.

“To do this we need graduates going into the industry with an understanding of the whole value chain and who are passionate about positioning New Zealand food as a premium product branded and targeted at specific consumers.,” Dr Lees said.

| A Lincoln University release   ||  December 4, 2017    ||||

Dec 4, 2017  -New Zealand’s two-way trade with APEC reached $102 billion for the year ended September 2017, Stats NZ said today.  The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum brings together 21 Pacific Rim member economies, including Australia, China, and the United States – three of our main trading partners.

"Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing economic region in the world," international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. "Over the last decade, New Zealand's two-way trade with APEC has grown $31 billion, and a $2.6 billion deficit is now a $4 billion surplus."

APEC is the Asia-Pacific's main economic forum where a number of trade agreements are reached. Talks are currently underway at APEC on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Eleven of the 21 APEC countries are in the trade talks.

In the September 2017 year, New Zealand had a $4 billion surplus with APEC – we exported $53 billion worth of goods and services to APEC, and imported $49 billion. Most of our surplus with APEC countries is due to our $3 billion surplus with China. This is mainly due to New Zealand's exports of dairy products to China, and spending by visitors from China in New Zealand.

Dairy products our largest export to APEC nations

Dairy products are our largest export to the combined APEC nations. New Zealand exported $9 billion worth of milk powder, butter, and cheese to these countries in the September 2017 year, $2 billion short of the $11 billion high exported in the September 2014 year.

China is New Zealand’s largest export market for milk powder, butter, and cheese, totalling 28 percent – nearly $4 billion in the September 2017 year. Our next-largest export market for these products is Algeria, which makes up 5 percent. APEC countries (China, Australia, and Malaysia) account for three of our top five dairy export markets.

Vehicles lead the way in imports

New Zealand’s main imports from APEC are vehicles, machinery, and equipment. New Zealand imports a large amount of cars and trucks from Japan, Thailand, the US, and South Korea, all of which are APEC nations.

New Zealand imported $2 billion worth of electrical machinery and equipment from China in the September 2017 year, and nearly $4 billion worth of mechanical machinery and equipment from China, the US, and Japan combined.

Travel spending contributes to trade surplus

Travel also contributes significantly to our trade surplus with the APEC nations. Visitors and students from APEC nations provided $9 billion to the New Zealand economy in the September 2017 year through exports of travel services, mainly by visitors from Australia, China, and the US.

Spending by New Zealanders visiting APEC nations (imports of travel services) totalled $4 billion in the September 2017 year, with personal travel accounting for $3 billion of this. The majority of New Zealanders’ personal travel spending was in Australia, followed by the US. Visitors from the US added $1 billion to the New Zealand economy in the September 2017 year, while New Zealand visitors added $531 million to the US economy.

For more information about these statistics:

Visit Goods and services trade by country: Year ended September 2017See CSV files for download

| A StatsNZ release  ||  December 4, 2017   |||

Dec 4, 2017  -  Scott Technology is confident it can survive the growing prospect of a US-led trade war with manufacturing around the world spreading its risk, says chair Stuart McLauchlan.  The Dunedin-based maker of robotic and automation systems derives about 94 percent of its revenue from exports and has been a happy buyer of businesses to expand its operations over the years. McLauchlan reminded shareholders at today's annual meeting in Dunedin that he was hopeful US President Donald Trump's new administration would continue the work of its predecessors in liberalising trade flows.

"Unfortunately, we have now witnessed a withdrawal by the United States from this leadership position allowing China to now take this lead," McLauchlan said today. "Overhanging this are the dark clouds of a trade war initiated by the United States threatening to invoke tariffs against their trading partners."

Still, he was optimistic Scott's geographic diversity with manufacturing operations in North America, China and Europe would be enough to counter a trade war.

New Zealand's position as an open economy that trades with the world has been cited by policymakers as leaving the nation vulnerable to trade protectionism. At the recent East Asia Leaders Summit, US president Trump forcefully expressed a preference for bilateral deals as part of his 'America First' stance, having already withdrawn from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership and taking a hard-line in the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations currently underway.

Despite the cooling appetite for global trade, Scott's McLauchlan told shareholders the company's automation systems were poised to capture a growing appetite among firms to replace their ageing workforces with robotic and digital processes, and it had a "very full" order book across all sectors its services.

"The enquiries being received by Scott for our automation solutions is at an all-time high," he said.

Managing director Chris Hopkins told the AGM the company is "over-capitalised" and needs to grow, which will be through organic expansion and acquisitions.

Scott has about $26 million of surplus cash from its investment by cornerstone shareholder JBS, and Hopkins said his team has looked at more than 30 potential acquisitions but doesn't expect to complete any in the near term.

The shares were unchanged to $3.70 and have climbed 72 percent so far this year.

| Source: Sharechat  |  November 30,  2017   |||

Dec 1, 2017  - The tribunal in the arbitration with Danone on claims arising out of Fonterra’s WPC80 precautionary recall in August 2013 has issued its award. The tribunal has determined that Fonterra must pay a total of NZD $183 million (€105 million) in recall costs suffered by Danone. In reacting to the announcement, Fonterra’s CEO, Theo Spierings, said “We are disappointed that the arbitration tribunal did not fully recognise the terms of our supply agreement with Danone, including the agreed limitations of liability, which was the basis on which we had agreed to do business.” Fonterra has assessed the potential financial implications of the decision and made a prudent decision to revise its forecast earnings per share range for the 2017/18 financial year to 35 to 45 cents, down from 45 to 55 cents. The decision has no impact on the forecast Farmgate Milk Price. The arbitration followed events in August 2013 when Fonterra issued a precautionary recall advice to some customers who had been supplied with its WPC80 ingredient and products containing WPC80. It was later confirmed that there had been no food safety risk to the public. Both Fonterra and the New Zealand Government conducted extensive reviews into the events. A follow-up review by the Independent Inquiry commissioned by the Fonterra Board of Directors confirmed that the Co-operative’s management acted in the best interests of its consumers and the Co-operative at all times. “The decision to invoke a precautionary recall was based on technical information obtained from a third party, which later turned out to be incorrect. “While there was never any risk to the public, we have learned from this experience and as a result have made improvements to our escalation, product traceability and recall processes, and incident management systems. “We operate in a fast-changing and complex industry, and will always prioritise Food Safety and Quality in our commitment to be the world’s most trusted source of dairy nutrition. “Fonterra is in a strong financial position and is able to meet the recall costs,” said Mr Spierings. The Co-operative was reviewing the tribunal’s findings closely, but recognised that there was likely to be limited options for challenging the decision of an international arbitration.

| A Fonterra Communications release  ||  December 01, 2017   |||

Dec 1, 2017  -  New Zealand's terms of trade rose 0.7 percent in the September 2017 quarter to reach an all-time high, Stats NZ said today. The latest increase was due to import prices falling more than export prices.  Terms of trade is a measure of the purchasing power of New Zealand’s exports abroad and an indicator of the state of the overall economy. The 0.7 percent rise in the September quarter means New Zealand can buy 0.7 percent more imports for the same amount of exports.

"The terms of trade increased over the last year, driven by high meat and dairy prices, especially butter, to reach the highest level since the series began in March 1957," international statistics senior manager Daria Kwon said. "The previous high for the terms of trade was the June 1973 quarter."

The new high in the terms of trade echoes the impact seen in the early 1970s, when prices also rose for dairy and meat, as well as wool. However, the early 1970s’ boom for export prices was short-lived. New Zealand’s terms of trade fell after key export market Great Britain joined the European Economic Community, and the first big oil crisis pushed up fuel prices sharply in late 1973.

| A StatisticsNZ release  ||  December 1, 2017   |||

Dec 1, 2017  -  Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (for itself and on behalf of Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund) has requested an immediate trading halt to be applied to their respective securities on: 1. the ASX;2. NZX Main Board/Debt Market; and3. the Fonterra Shareholders Market. This request has been made to give Fonterra time to consider the outcome of its arbitration with Danone regarding Fonterra’s 2013 whey protein concentrate precautionary recall. Fonterra has been advised that it will receive the arbitration tribunal’s decision today. The decision document is expected to be both lengthy and complex and neither party has been given advance notice of the tribunal’s findings. Fonterra will not be in a position to immediately assess any financial implications and advise the market. Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings said the Co-operative expected to make a market announcement in relation to the Danone arbitration decision as soon as possible after the decision is received. “Fonterra remains in a strong financial position and any damages award will not affect our ability to operate. We will share further details with the market, our farmers and staff as soon as practical,” he said.

| A Fonterra Communications release  ||  December 1, 2017   |||

Nov 30, 2017  -  Engineering New Zealand Chief Executive Susan Freeman-Greene says everything her organisation has done to raise the bar for engineers has been in the shadow of this tragedy.  “Today our first thoughts are for those who lost loved ones in the CTV building. We are very aware of the families’ ongoing grief.  “We know that the public wants better ways of holding engineers accountable. We’ve changed our rules so that a member can’t resign to avoid a complaint, and we’ve overhauled our complaints process.

“Last year we introduced a new Code of Ethical Conduct that sets new expectations for engineers.

“Engineers now have an obligation to report potential adverse consequences for people’s health and safety. This means that they must take action if they see something of concern.

“For example, if they see potential design flaws in a building under construction, or poor construction practices that threaten health and safety.

“And if an engineer suspects another engineer has significantly breached the Code, they must report this.

“On 1 October, Engineering New Zealand introduced a new membership pathway for our 20,000 members. All members must now pledge every year to uphold the Code of Ethical Conduct and commit to ongoing professional development.

“We have strengthened the Chartered Professional Engineer assessment process for structural engineers to include more specific and targeted assessment.

“But we would like to see changes to the way engineers are regulated. Engineering New Zealand supports the task-based licencing of engineers for safety-critical work. This means restricting safety-critical design to engineers specifically licensed to do this work.

“As well as structural engineering, we’d like to see this kind of regulation extend to any safety-critical work; for example, fire, geotechnical and food-process engineering.

|  Background: Complaints relating to the CTV building tragedy

We received complaints about David Harding from MBIE’s Chief Engineer and a group of victims’ families.

Our Disciplinary Committee found that Mr Harding had breached our Code of Ethics.

Towards the end of this process, he resigned.

Because he was no longer a member, the Disciplinary Committee had no power to make any orders against him, but we made the decision against him public.

We received complaints about Alan Reay from MBIE’s Chief Engineer and a group of victims’ families.

Dr Reay resigned as a member in February 2014, while the complaints process was underway.

The timing of his resignation meant we no longer had jurisdiction over Dr Reay. So the complaints process was stopped.

In March 2015, the Government sought a judicial review of our decision to stop the complaints process. The judicial review is ongoing and a date for the substantive hearing hasn’t been set. In the meantime, we have changed our rules so that a member can’t resign to avoid a complaints process.

 | An Engineering New Zealand release  ||  November 30,  2017   |||

Nov 30, 2017  -  The ITF has participated in the WIMDOI (women in male dominated occupations and industries) conference in Australia, setting out the tools and strategies needed to build stronger campaigns and organise women working in such transport workplaces. The biannual conference has been going for 22 years and this year’s, from 21-23 November in Brisbane, was the biggest.

More than 130 women from Australia and New Zealand took part – including firefighters, paramedics, electricians and plumbers, alongside workers from the maritime, road, rail, forestry, construction, meat and manufacturing industries.

Train driver and RTBU (Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union) member Renee Thomasson said: “Because of gender constructs in male dominated industries and the pressure on women to blend in with men, in my workplace there are still major barriers between women accepting other women and solidarity amongst women.

“So my experience at WIMDOI has been extremely empowering. It was inspiring to see women supporting each other and it has equipped me with skills and information to take back to my workplace to share with other women.”

See participants’ message of support to Nemin Al-Sharif.

Participants discussed campaign experiences and topics including training and skills development, gender injustice, pensions and economics. They shared union gender strategies, and strategies to build women’s confidence and influence in overwhelmingly male unions and workplaces. They also discussed the We Won’t Wait campaign and equal access to toilets.

ITF women transport workers’ co-ordinator Jodi Evans commented that this event gave many women a unique opportunity to share their experiences and find solutions to common problems. Importantly, it reinforced that they were not alone in their struggles and that the ITF union family is building a programme to support women working in male dominated occupations and challenge gender-based occupational segregation.

WIMDOI is organised by a committee of seven women, which includes Mich-Elle Myers, (ITF Asia Pacific women’s representative and Maritime Union of Australia national officer) and ITF union the RTBU.

| WIMDOI release  ||  November 30, 2017   |||