POSITION IN BRITAIN

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28541, 21 March 1958, Page 10

POSITION IN BRITAIN

“Issues Not So Simple”

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, March 20.

London commentators suggest that New Zealand may be wise to reflect cautiously that the application for anti-dumping duties on foreign butter may not be granted by the Board of Trade. There is also a feeling that should it be decided to send a Minister to London at the present time, his terms of reference should be wide, says the New Zealand Press Association’s special correspondent.

The Board of Trade has indicated unofficially that it will be “scrupulously fair” in weighing up the evidence. But the issues are not sb simple and will have to be threshed out against a background of domestic and international policies. It might be that these are so complex that, rather than impose duties, the British Government might decide to approach the various foreign governments concerned and in so many words warn them off. In that case New Zealand’s objectives would have been met indirectly.

There is no doubt that the cost of living lies heavily on the British Government, and if New Zealand’s application means anything it means an increase in the price of the butter being bought. At this particular moment, when the British Government metaphorically flinches at mention of the word "by-election," any proof that it is deliberately increasing prices could be seized on politically. While there is a fund of goodwill for New Zealand—and there has been much evidence of this in articles in the British press—opposition to duties has been lodged with the Board of Trade by British organisations, says the correspondent. Anti-dumping could become a domestic political issue in Britain and any visiting New Zealand Minister with a limited objective might find himself in an uncomfortable position.