Wool industry leaders behind the new Wool Partners Co-operative scheme are reluctantly responding to what they claim is a smear campaign by critics of the co-op.

Wool Partners International, which is backing the co-operative, says critics of the proposal are spreading rumours to confuse investors and protect their turf.

Wool Partners chief executive Iain Abercrombie says claims his company will take farmers co-op investments to settle private debts are nonsense.

Nick Nicholson, of the New Zealand Council of Wool Exporters, has been a vocal critic of the co-operative.

He says WPC is creating problems rather than fixing them.

“The wool industry is very largely united, and has been for many, many years.

"The only disunity comes about when people like the Wool Board, and Meat & Wool New Zealand, and now organisations like this that grow out of those sorts of companies, they’re the ones creating this war with the rest of the industry. Everyone else gets on very well with each other.

Mr Nicholson says exporters don’t want a cheap product any more than processors, and organisations like his aren’t working against each other.

"My guys don’t like dealing in cheap wool. They’re working with very thin margins, if you’re dealing in cheap wool, you’re not making much money – you’re better off working at the top end.

"All this rubbish about exporters wanting to sell cheap and all this – it’s a myth – the last thing you want to do is deal with a cheap product.”

Strong wool growers have until December 17 to sign up to the co-operative.