MUTTON AND LAMB

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22662, 17 March 1939, Page 12

MUTTON AND LAMB

BRITAIN’S IMPORT POLICY “DISASTROUS FOR NEW ZEALAND” It is unfortunate, to say the least, that Great Britain has found it necessary to put a quota on our exports of mutton and lamb to the United Kingdom, said the chairman (Mr T. A. Stephens) at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association last evening. “A reduction of our lamb and mutton by 3 per cent, will mean that on last year’s figure we shall be unable to export some 5000 tons of mutton. I do not think it would interfere with our export of lamb. As for the purpose of the quota, mutton and lamb are coijnted together, and we would ship the most valuable. I do not think the reduction in imports will have the desired result, and that is the opinion of a large section of the farmers at Home. “Farming in England has for a long time been in a bad way and the Government has been obliged to assist it in many ways,” he said. “Last year, for instance, subsidies amounting to £.13,000,000 were given. I think that if a policy of reduction of imports resulted in increasing the cost of living the British Government would resort to assisting the mutton producer by means of a subsidy which might possibly be collected by a levy on imports. Such a policy would be disastrous for this Dominion. “I may say that meat makes up 27 per cent, of our exports, while in the case of Australia only 6 per cent, is involved. I think that this matter warrants very serious consideration,” said Mr Stephens.