POTATOES FOR EXPORT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 48, 26 February 1926, Page 9

POTATOES FOR EXPORT.

MARKET IN AUSTRALIA. REGULATIONS TOO STRINGENT. .Discussing the potato market, Mr. Frank Perkins, a leading Pukekohe merchant, informed a "Star" correspondent that he believed there as an'acute shortage of potatoes in Australia due to the very dry season, and as there was a fairly big quantity of potatoes in Pukekohe available for export, he expressed the opinion that they could be placed on the Australian market. The potatoes, he said, were free from disease, and were almost sure to pass the Government grader at Auckland, but the trouble was to obtain a permit from the Australian authorities to allow them to land in the country. In the interests of patato growers generally, he had communicated with the Board of Trade asking if the Government of New Zealand could give assistance in any direction to have the surplus potatoes exported to the other side of the Tasman. "As far "as I can gather,"' he asserted, "the goods have to be accompanied by a certificate that the district in which they are grown has not had powdery scab for 12 months; another certificate that the goods have been inspected and found free of about eight diseases, and then finally that no serious signs of any disease are evident. On top of this a grader's certificate is required specifying the grade. These certificates are required to' comply with the Commonwealth Government regulations up to June last. Since then, however, another bunch of regulations were issued in Australia governing the length and dimensions of all patatoes sold in the Commonwealth, amongst which it is stated that the country of origin in full must be printed on each sack and all sacks used must be new, while the name and address of the grower must also be printed on the bags. A pretty tall order this."

Mr. Perkins concluded by saying that with a view of endeavouring to comply with his suggestion the Director-General of Agriculture, Mr. C. J. Reakes, had advised him that '"mycologists" would visit Pukekohe, to-day (Friday) and inspect the potato crops of the district to ascertain if the patotoes were suitable for the Australian market.