THE DOMINIONS DEFENDED

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 21034, 9 December 1933, Page 15

THE DOMINIONS DEFENDED

O EMPIRE DAIRY PRODUCE TRADE BRITISH POLICY ATTACKED (UHITBD NiJtSS ASSOCIATION—BT ELIC'IMC T* LEQRAPH —COPYRIGHT.) (Received December 8, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, December 7. The "Evening Standard," editorially condemning the Government s propaganda against Dominion meat exports, says the "new deal in June, 1934, of which Mr W. E. Elliot, Minister for Agriculture, speaks, will be disadvantageous to the Dominions. Criticising the trade treaties witu Argentina and Denmark the paper says: "Although Denmark is still sending us more butter than any country in the world public attention is sedulously being directed to the 'threat' to British dairymen from the Dominions." The writer says that Australia and New Zealand are greater purchasers from Great Britain than is Denmark, in spite of discrepancies in population, yet Mr Elliot ignores these facts when attacking Dominion exporters, who, with the British producer, must pay for the folly of the foreign trade agreements The "Manchester Guardian" says' "In the Minister's present mood the agitation to reduce dairy imports will doubtless be successful and the Dominions will be persuaded to agree. Nevertheless, there is something wrong with local manufacturers if they are unable to produce butter and cheese on competitive levels with Australia, Nevv Zealand, and Denmark. Australia and New Zealand especially have heavy transport costs, and there is no sweated labour there."

POSITION UNDER REVIEW IN BRITAIN RESTRICTIONS HELD TO HAVE FAILED LONDON, December 7. The political correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" learns that the Cabinet is reviewing the agricultural position and the effects of the Ottawa agreements regarding imports of live stock. It is contended that the restrictive measures have failed to achieve ihe end desired and that in regard to milk products the Dominions, especially New Zealand and Australia, are taking a stand on the Ottawa agreements. BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON MARKETS LONDON E Xl' E(' T A TIO N S IMPROVEMENT IN PRICES UNLIKELY LONDON, December 7. Butter traders generally welcome the decision of Australia and Nevv Zealand to withholding a percentage of exports. This, they believe, will have a beneficial efl'ect on the market. It is not expected to cause any material improvement in prices at present, but it is likely to prevent a further fall. Further, smaller arrivals will probably mean a considerable reduction in the stocks in cold stores.

AUSTRALIAN EXPORT PLAN REDUCED SHIPMENTS NEW ZEALAND CO-OPERATION MELBOURNE, December o. From December 18, 20 per cent, of the butter graded for export from Australia to England will be withheld from shipment until further notice. The Australian Dairy Produce Export Control Board made an announcement to-day to this clT.ect when it received a cablegram from New Zealand stating that the Dominion agreed to reduce its shipments by 20 per cent. BOARD'S DECISION EXPLAINED NOT A QUOTA SYSTEM SPREADING EXPORT OVER THE YEAR A definite statement that the decision o£ tl}c New Zealand Dairy Produce Export Control Beard to iall in with the Australian Control Boards suggestion and hold back 20 per eem. of the Dominion's dairy produce from the export market until the end of March did not constitute a quota wars made yesterday by the head of one of Canterbury's largest dairy comPd He C explained that, in actual fact, it had been the custom of the Doard uo hold back a percentage of the butai produced at this season of the year foi the last two years in order to ease the market by smoothing the cxpoit over the whole of the season. That this is a fact is shown announcement made by the New Zealand Board on Thursday, when it stated that at the end o£ December it would have 21,C00 tens of butter in ! store, representing 2G per cent, oi the .manufacture to date. This merino that the total production to date has been in the neighbourhood of 85,000 tons, which is approximately twice the amount actually exported in the Aug-ust-December period last year. l-ftsc year the export for the year ended June 30, 1933, totalled 118,604 tons indicating that a large proportion of the production in the flush season lrom October to December must have been held back for later shipment.

Levelling: the Market.

This proportion was held back until the New Zealand autumn in order to help the United Kingdom market, and it is unlikely that the present decision to hold back 20 per cent, un-

til after next March will make much difference to the producer, though it is possible that it will have a decidedly beneficial effect in levelling up the market in England. It is clear, however, that there is no suggestion of a quota about the control board's decision, and that it is merely an attempt to assist the market by exporting more equal monthly quantities, thus avoiding as far as possible a flooded market. 'the following table, showing the quantities of butter exported to the United Kingdom and the Irish Free State for the years ended June 30, 1932, and 1933, indicates the extent to which this smoothing of the export quantities lias already been carried out by the control board, as nearly threequarters of the total production is usually completed by the end of December:—

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1931-32. 1932-3 Tons. Tons. July 7,805 7,4-35 August 5.762 5.08G September . 4.910 7.729 October 4.424 3.0S8 Novcinbcr (j.oiiO 11.290 Decembcr . 32,801 15,381 January . 12,777 12.6C5 February . 10,371 9,.539 March . 12,937 13,867 April 9,31.5 11,012 May . 8,692 8,661 Juno 7,073 12,341