According to today's Jerusalem Post, two days before a scheduled court trial on New Zealand's ban on kosher slaughtering, the parties have reached a settlement that allows kosher slaughter of poultry to resume. The government has also agreed to negotiate on kosher slaughtering of sheep. As a practical matter, kosher beef and most kosher mutton is imported from Australia anyway. The ban was put in place because of concern that kosher slaughtering takes place without the animals first being stunned. (See prior posting.) A temporary stay during pending litigation was entered in August. (See prior posting.)
According to today's New Zealand Herald, the government's change of heart came after it was disclosed in a High Court opinion released Friday that Agriculture Minister David Carter had a conflict of interest and improperly considered trade issues when originally imposing the ban. The opinion also indicated that Carter was unaware that kosher chicken could not be imported and that importing kosher lamb was very expensive. Carter owns shares in two companies that export meat to Muslim countries. New Zealand requires stunning of halal slaughtered animals, a practice to which some Muslims object. Officials of Silver Fern Farms, one of the companies in which Carter holds shares, told Carter that their trade with Muslim countries would be adversely affected if the country allowed kosher slaughter to proceed without stunning, but required it for halal meat.
