More Licences To Help Firms Stay In Business

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28530, 8 March 1958, Page 14

More Licences To Help Firms Stay In Business

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, March 7.

The Government has decided to give consideration to the granting of special licences to established importers of goods rated as “A” in the current schedule, or of goods for which the schedule provides a basic allocation. Applications for such licences may now be made. This was announced tonight by the Minister of Customs (Mr Boord). The Government had been considering requests that special licences should be granted in cases where importing businesses were affected to the point of extinction under the existing import licensing schedule, he said.

[Category “A” consists mainly of essential raw materials and foodstuffs and, under the present system, licences are granted for the full extent of the requirements. Items in category “A” include iron, steel and metals, metal wire and baling wire, crude petroleum and motor spirits, raw rubber in sheets, raw coffee, tea in bulk, currants, dates, prunes and raisins, and yarns of cotton, silk, and silk.]

“Because the country’s financial position has made strict measures of control over expenditure on imports necessary, it is obvious that most importing businesses will be affected. We simply cannot avoid this,” said Mr • Boord,

“but we will try to ease the blow in as many cases as the state of our overseas funds will permit. It will, of course, be obvious that any relief afforded cannot be on such a scale that it might exhaust those funds.

“With these things in mind, the Government has decided that consideration will be given to granting special licences to established importers of goods rated as ‘A’ in the current schedule or of goods for which the schedule provides a basic allocation.

“Where importers of such goods either had no importing history in 1956, or, because of abnormal circumstances, had extraordinarily low level of imports in 1956 compared with previous years and with 1957, and can show that, as a result, the licences to which they are entitled under the schedule are not sufficient to keep their businesses going, applications for special licences may now be made.

“All such applications, which should be in the hands of the Comptroller of Customs, Wellington, not later than March 24, will be considered on their merits, and importers should ensure that they are supported by a full statement of all the circumstances relating to the business concerned.”

Mr Boord said special licences would not be granted for goods rated “D” in the schedule, that is,

goods for which no provision of funds has been made, nor to importing businesses, formed in 1958 or which, if formed earlier, were, before January 1, 1958, not engaged in importing.

Mr Boord said these new arrangements inevitably caused the expenditure of more overseas funds than had been allocated for private imports, and because no substantial improvement in overseas earnings could be counted on, it was the Government’s duty to continue to ensure that the demands on funds were kept within bounds. “For this reason alone,” said Mr Boord, “I cannot support any suggestion that an independent appeal authority should be established and permitted to grant licences, a procedure which would override the powers and responsibilities conferred on the Minister by law and thus nullify the efforts of the Government to control expenditure of our overseas funds.”