LONDON FIRMS' POSITION

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21746, 31 March 1936, Page 12

LONDON FIRMS' POSITION

EFFECTS OF GUARANTEED PRICES

AGENTS IN NEW ZEALAND [THE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, March 30. New Zealand agents of butter importing firms in London are wondering whether the Government's guaranteed prices scheme will mean their elimination from the dairy business from the beginning of next season. Nothing definite is known regarding this aspect of Government control, and in the meantime firms and agencies are "standing by." Under the guaranteed prices scheme, the ownership of all dairy produce will pass to the Government before the produce leaves New Zealand. The Government will then be responsible for the marketing organisation. It is of vital interest to importing firms to know whether the present distributive system will be maintained or what part of it will be discarded with the Government in the field in New Zealand.

The likelihood of the work being taken from the agencies at this end cannot be overlooked. If the Government arranges certain allocations for each importer, obviously there will be no need for the firms to seek business, except, perhaps, f.o.b. deals. Up to a point, established firms may welcome Being relieved of unnecessary expense and being assured of a continuity of supply. The Government may find many obstacles to the policy of extending control from the point of arrival in England onwards. The importing firms have been in business for years, and they are not likely to submit to extreme dictation. Presumably the Government knows the views of the distributive trade. Probably the importers will have to decide whether the circumstances will warrant their retaining connexions in New Zealand. During the control experiment in 1926-27, several agencies and representatives were retained, although there was little or no work for them in the Dominion.