Lifting Of Seed Export Control Not Favoured

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30667, 5 February 1965, Page 6

Lifting Of Seed Export Control Not Favoured

An exploratory proposal seeking to abolish quantitative export controls for agricultural seeds is not favoured at the present time by the Dominion agriculture produce section council of Federated Farmers.

At its meeting in Christchurch the council said it would appreciate further details of a scheme for the building up of an export seed trade. The council had before it a letter from the Department of Agriculture asking for its views to a suggestion made by the New Zealand Grain Seed and Produce Merchants’ Federation that New Zealand’s overseas trade in agricultural seeds might well be substantially expanded if merchants were able to sell seeds forward with the confidence that export permits would not be declined when sales matured, because of local shortages. The grain merchants thought that substantial trading advantages could be gained if overseas merchants were encouraged to contract with New Zealand growers to grow seeds especially for export. This trading could extend to seeds not at present commonly grown in the Dominion and for which there was no general demand here. The scheme, thought the merchants, might lead to the development of New Zealand as a world seed-growing centre. Mr W. V. Hadfield, assistant director of the Farm Advisory Division of the Department of Agriculture, said tha proposal

put by the merchants was purely exploratory. Federated Farmers were not committed in any way whatsoever by the departmental investigation of the possibilities of the proposal, he said. The proposal had to be looked into fairly closely. It would not do for producers to make overtures to export when later it could turn out there were insufficient supplies and so be necessary to import seeds which might not be up to the standard of the locally-produced item, said Mr Hadfield.

Mr F. M. Henderson said he feared that merchants would endeavour to fulfill overseas orders at the expense of local farmers. The proposal should be strenuously opposed except for the case of growing seeds specially for overseas contracts. Mr Henderson said the season before last about 70 tons of choumoellier seed was exported yet no sooner was it on the boats than merchants were seeking to import the seed to meet local demand. Mr G. A. Nutt, chairman of the council, said there were two distinct matters in the proposal so far as he could see. One dealt with direct contract growing for overseas. This, he thought, was desirable. As to the general application of the proposal for abolishing quantitative export controls he considered that Federated Farmers would like the department to provide specific details. “I beg the council to treat this matter like dynamite,” said Mr Henderson.