MEAT QUOTAS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21257, 31 August 1934, Page 16

MEAT QUOTAS

NEW MARKETS NEEDED NEGOTIATIONS WITH BRITAIN MR D. JONES'S SURVEY [From Our Own Reporter.! WELLINGTON, August 30. A survey of the events which led top to the present negotiations between Great Britain and New Zealand over meat restrictions was given by Mr David Jones, chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board, in his address to the annual meeting of the board to-day. Mr Jones suggested that the Government should explore the possibilities of arranging for an exchange of New Zealand primary products with those foreign countries from vhich the Dominion at present bought large quantities of goods, but which took little from New Zealand in return. "The most important matter before Us at the present time is the suggested restriction on our meat exports to the United Kingdom," said Mr Jones. There is no country that •would be as seriously effected as New Zealand. We have a remarkably productive country, with a small population, and only consume 6 per cent, of I our lamb and 47 per cent, of our mut- [ ton —42 per cent, of our total meat. AusIjlralia consumes 79 per cent, of its Ibcef. mutton, and lamb, and the Argenf lirie 75 per cent, of its beef, mutton, Jfriid lamb. "From these .figures it. will be seen I I hat any reduction in quantity is much more serious to this Dominion than 1o other countries mentioned, because we have very few other exports beyond our primary products. Our meat trade has been of a steady, continuous growth, as the following figprove:—

"This steady, continuous increase ■wasi essential to Great Britain's food supply over many years, and should be taken into consideration in future discussions and allocations. ."Criticism is often levelled at the result of the Ottawa agreement, and it j-; well to review the, facts. When the conference met meat prices were deplorable, and unless the problem had been dealt with then, chaos and ruin must have followed. Britain's definite and declared policy was to ■increase commodity price levels as the first essential in world recovery. It was held that a duty would not be effective in achieving this object, as Britain was practically the only market, and almost the same quantities would pour in with, or without, a duty. In addition to this there were political difficulties in the way because of some members of the British Government being known to being antagonistic to taxing food. The Ottawa Agreement "The result of the Ottawa agreement, and, other agreements completing what was begun, was that approximately two million carcases of mutton and lamb is now annually prohibited from South America by Great Britain, and one million cwts of frozen and chilled beef, also two million cwts of bacon from the Continent. A very great and material gain has accrued to the Dominion because of this policy. The Fat Stock Commission in Britain recommended as the best solution a levy on all meat imported into Britain, in addition to a restriction, and apparently the British Government supports that proposal and has clearly indicated this in several cables. "This would be a complete reversal of the policy agreed to at Ottawa, viz., to raise the price level, because the result of, a levy would be not to raise the price level, but to give a better return to the British farmer. It \yould appear that the amount of the levy required from us would be greater than the value to the farmer of the whole of the beef exported from the Dominion and clearly demonstrates that a levy cannot be considered to be within the range of practical politicp, and could not be agreed to. A levy sufficient to meet the alleged need would of itself exclude a considerable portion of our lower priced meat (a clasp of meat that can scarcely be said to come into competition'with British meat) and must leave a not inconsiderable number of poorer people without meat at all.

The Pig Industry "At Ottawa the New Zealand delegation particularly stressed the importance of the pig industry to the Dojnitiion, and its certain rapid expansion in the near future. The develop.ment of the export of pig meat up to the period of the conference at Ottawa had been slow, and was in that year only 6200 tons. The great increase in imports of bacon into Britain from the Continent had flooded the market, and prices were down to an unpayable level; this low price over several years had checked our production. "The British Government refused to make any definite commitments about the quantity of frozen pork that could be exported from the Dominion until the pig commission that had been appointed by them in Britain had reported; but they gave the undertaking as set out in Mr Coates's letter (clause 7) as follows:

" 'With regard to bacon and other pig products, I am informed that your Government are now dealing with the reorganisation of this industry, and that •an effective policy of control of foreign imports will be adopted. This policy, as I understand it, will provide for some expansion of Home and Dominion supplies of pig-products. New Zealand is already an exporter off pork and bacon carcases, and will be granted a reasonable share of the expansion made possible by the reduction of foreign imports.' "After the pig commission reported in favour of heavy compulsory reductions in the importation of pig meat and the establishment of a bacon scheme for the British farmer, legislation gave effect to,this recommendation and, the reduction in foreign bacon has been about 2,000,000 cwt annually; This reduction in supplies and the

T1 in 601b Beef Muttcm Lamb Freight Season. Quarters. Carcases. Carcases. Carcases 5920-21 .. 357,383 2,599,233 4,074,295 5.906,493 ] 921 -22 .. 249,591 2,511,402 4,634,816 5,898,350 1922-23 .. 500,333 1.524.314 4.698,108 5.765,708 1923-24 . 322,829 1,939,324 4,769,583 5,705,608 1924-25 .. 458.549 2,224,263 4,750,164 6.438,056 1925-26 .. 215,594 .2,001,340 5.000,590 5,606,579 J 926-27 .. 184,331 2,094,354 5,381,121 5,956,708 1927-28 .. 394,821 2,005,333 5,947,197 6,998,086 1928-29 .. 151,115, 1,751,979 5,971,557 6,152,695 3929-30 .. 177,379 2,621,275 6,925,859 7,506,227 1930-31 .. 143,169 2,132,532 7,783,528 7,358,865 1931-32 .. 186,530 2,872,860 8.804,889 8,682,577 1932-33 .. 427,610 2,010,159 8,794,906 9,248,497 1933-34 to Aug. 15 .. 380,981 1,829,838 8,748,868 9,157,006

increased rate of exchange led to a substantial increase in the price of pork, and the New Zealand exporter has received this advantage. These factors, together with the low price of dairy produce, have combined to more than treble the export of frozen pork in the last two years. This season our export will be approximately 20,000 tons if no limit had been placed upon our export. Limits on Fork "In the recent negotiations with the British Government they set a definite limit upon the amount of frozen perk that can be exported' from the Dominion, and this the Government and the board have strongly resisted. Our contention is that baconer pigs are part of the British bacon scheme, and have been accepted as such from the beginning, and therefore should be excluded from the meat quota. No agreement has yet been arrived at. The conference to be held in London in September or October to lay down a policy for the future will be all important, and will be followed with keen 1 anxiety throughout the Dominion. I "In June the board decided to approach the Minister for Customs to see whether he thought it advisable to approach the President of America who has been given power to deal with the tariff and try and arrange some reciprocal tariff that might give us an entry into America again with meat. The Minister (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) suggested that it was advisable to first get our own customs tariff through Parliament, and then he would be in a better position to deal with foreign countries, including America. This course was adopted, and we shall again be approaching the Minister on this question at an early dale. The drought in America, with the reported enormous loss of stock in that country, opens up further possibilities that are being investigated. "The question of restriction brings before us again the importance of securing other outlets for the produce of the Dominion. In discussing new markets we must recognise the plain fact that the greatest barrier to trade to-day is inability to pay for the goods required. The Continent of Europe was at one time a very valuable market for a large quantity of our wool, dairy produce, and to a less extent meat. We feel the loss of this market to-day and the Dominion must consider a change in its methods of trading with foreign countries. We do a considerable trade with foreign countries in goods that Britain does not produce—our petrol imports alone last year were £l.l J 5.784. The Government should provide machinery .by which they can take the fullest advantage of exchanging goods for goods, and also using imports as a bargaining weapon to assist our export of meat and dairy produce."

MEAT BOARD AND RESEARCH HELP FOR SEVERAL INSTITUTIONS CO-OPERATION WITH DOMINION j GOVERNMENT [FaoM Our Own Repoetie.J WELLINGTON, August 30. Several bodies were helped in their research work this year by grants from the "funds of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board. In outlining what had been done Mr David Jones (chairman of the board) said at the annual meeting of delegates to-day that the board was specially interested in the Low Temperature Research Station at Cambridge. "With the abolition of the Empire Marketing Board at Home, the future of some of the Imperial research activities became the subject of enquiry by an Imperial committee. New Zealand's frozen meat industry is particularly interested in the Low Temperature Research Station at Cambridge. The board is co-operating with the New Zealand Government so as to ensure that the valuable research work being carried out at this station is continued. Under the arrangement made the board will contribute £ 1250 a year for two years, the position to be reviewed at the end of that period. "Beside the grants which have been made by the board to the entomological department of the Cawthron Institute, Nelson, the board co-operated with other primary producers' organis. ations this year in continuing financial aid to ensure that the research work being carried out in relation to pastoral interests at the institute should not be discontinued. "The board made a grant of £l5O to supplement the activities of the Department of Agriculture's plant research station at Palmerston North in combating the ravages of the white butterfly. This has enabled additional supplies of the insect parasite to be provided to keep down the butterfly, and. if possible prevent its spread into other parts of the Dominion. A further grant was made towards the investigations which are being carried out at Lincoln College on ewe and lamb mortality."

CHILLED BEEF TRADE IMPORTANCE OF CARE IN HANDLING [From Our Own Reporter.] WELLINGTON, August 30. The importance of the proper type of cattle and of careful handling before and during shipment of chilled beef was mentioned by Mr David Jones to-day in his address to the annual meeting of delegates to the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board. "Now that it has been proved that chilled beef can be successfully landed in the United Kingdom from New Zealand, it is necessary, in order to build up a steady and successful trade to ensure that shipments should arrive regularly and be properly spread," said Mr Jones. "Up to date 16,112 quarters have been shipped from this Dominion to the United Kingdom. "The quality of the cattle treated for this trade is a most important factor contributing to its successful development, and it is essential that shipments of chilled beef should be confined to cattle of the right type. ' The chilled beef trade is a much more delicate and complicated business than the frozen meat trade, and the treatment given to the cattle before slaughter at the freezing works and on board ship has a marked bearing on the successful turnout of the beef at the consuming end."

The importance to New Zealand of the meat trade will be explained tomorrow night by Mr David Jones, chairman of the New Zealand Meat Board, in the Workers' Educational Association rooms, Trades Hall, at 8 o'clock. The subject of the lecture is, "Refrigeration and the Meat Trade of the Dominion." This subject is of particular concern to citizens at the present time. Everyone■ interested is inKitod'to attend- . . . j. ■