FISH EXPORTS TO AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 28008, 30 June 1956, Page 8

FISH EXPORTS TO AUSTRALIA

Effect Of New Cuts Assessed REDUCTION PUT AT 25 PER CENT. (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) CANBERRA, June 29. The new Australian import cuts will affect New Zealand exports of fresh and frozen fish to Australia. The cuts, announced yesterday by the Acting-Minister for Trade.' Mr William McMahon, included a 25 per cent, reduction on this trade, in which New Zealand has a big share. In 1954-55, New Zealand exports to Australia of fresh and frozen fish totalled 4,868,7611 b worth £428.711 in Australian currency. In the cuts announced in October last year, these imports were reduced by 12A per cent. In the 11 months (to the end of May) of the 1955-56 financial year. New Zealand exports of fresh and frozen fish totalled 4,927,3221 b, worth £377.999. The question of any cut in exports of New Zealand paper to Australia is now being decided by the Import Budget Committee of lhe Department of Trade. Newsprint is included in the administrative category in which all items are treated individually. The committee is expected to decide on cuts for a number ol administrative category goods. “We Were certainly not expecting these cuts.” said Mr M. L. Newman, president of the New Zealand Wholesale Fish Merchants’ Association, in Christchurch last evening. “After the arrangements made between the Prime Minister (Mr Holland), and the Australian Prime Minister <Mr Menzies), when Mr Holland was in Australia recently, we expected to get all the fish we wanted into Australia.” he said. “Those arrangements were supposed to be over and above the existing trade agreements. Australia was to export so many million pounds’ worth of produce to New Zealand, and we were to export the same amount to Australia. , ~ . , “The amount of this trade allocated to fish was expected to cover all New Zealand’s requirements.’ said Mr Newman. “These cuts always mean chaos in the fish industry, because they come just when the New Zealand catch is at its height, when we cannot possibly store the fish ,we land, and cannot sell it locally.