£45m. WORTH OF IMPORTS FREED

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30712, 30 March 1965, Page 9

£45m. WORTH OF IMPORTS FREED

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, March 29. Imported goods valued at £45 million have been exempted from import licensing control under the 1965-66 import licensing schedule which was released tonight.

This means about one-third of New Zealand’s import trade will be free from import control. The schedule will come into effect on July 1.

Details of the new schedule were announced by the Minister of Customs (Mr Shelton) at a press conference late today.

He said the additional items to be exempted approximately 90—included raw materials such as cotton textiles and fibres, equipment such as agricultural machinery, and finished goods such as pharmaceuticals.

"This is the mast liberal schedule ever, in terms of ability to import,” Mr Shelton said. With the addition of £45 million worth of goods exempted from import control, the combined value of

articles exempted stands between £9O million and £lOO million.

Two other major features of the new schedule are an extension of “A” licence limits and increased flexibility for importers in the use of their licences. NO ESTIMATE

Mr Shelton declined to comment on what he estimated the cost of New Zealand’s private imports would eventually be under the schedule —but it is expected to be in the same region as the current schedule total.

During the 1963-64 licensing year, £293.2 million worth of private imports were made. It is expected a similar figure will have been reached by the end of the current schedule. “A careful assessment of our export prospects and import requirements has been made for the 1965-66 period, and it has been decided further progress can be made towards the implementation of our declared policy in relation to import control. “It is always difficult to determine over a year in advance how much overseas exchange will be neededitem by item—to keep the flow of imports at a steady and adequate level within the limitations imposed by balance of payments situation. “But there has been no real shortage of goods at consumer level, and control of import expenditure has been adequate,” he said. LIST OF GOODS Commenting on the further exemptions from import licensing, Mr Shelton said the goods included dried fruit, raw coffee and raw cocoa beans, unground spices, artificial and jute fibres (excluding nylon), sausage casings, iodised salt, certain drugs, sewing threads, a wide range of textile piecegoods, heavy duty trucks and X-ray film.

He said the Government had also given special consideration to the recommendations of the agricultural development conference. As a result, agricultural tractors, cream separators and parts, parts for the repair of many classes of agricultural implements and some classes of agricultural implements and machinery such as harvester - threshers, cornpickets and pick-up hay balers had been exempted from import licensing. TO BE PERMANENT

Mr Shelton said the announced exemptions were to be permanent and were a continuation of Government policy to proceed steadily but carefully with the removal of import controls. “This Government has never withdrawn an exemption already in force, and has no intention of doing so,” he said. “We recognise there is

some risk of over-importing in the commodities now being exempted from import licensing, and this may arise from a variety of reasons. “This could throw some strain on our net overseas assets in the coming period—but to the extent that overimporting does occur, it is likely to be off-set by lower imports in another year,” said Mr Shelton. I.M.F. RIGHTS

The Minister said if necessary, the Government could exercise its drawing rights under the International Monetary Fund, and additional overseas funds were considerably more than would be required to meet any temporary additional expenditure. “If over-importing does occur, the sufferers will be the importers themselves, and we hope they will use this new freedom to import wisely and with restraint. "The Government’s prime concern is to limit the new exemptions to a value which is fully within its capabilities to maintain.

“Permanency of exemption is its objective, and although there are many other items perhaps equally deserving of exemption, the Government is not prepared to jeopardlise the position by decontrolling too great a value of imports at one time,” he said. CHANGED LIMIT

Mr Shelton said the “A” scheme was being retained with the same criteria for the issue of licences but with an upper limit of 133 1-3 per cent instead of last year’s 100 per cent. He said new items added to the “A” category included oil seeds, physicians’ and dentists’ Instruments, cod liver oil and certain sheet glass (other than window glass).

The Minister said in continuation of Government policy to permit importers the maximum flexibility in the use of their licences, a new scheme had been introduced which allowed the aggregation of licences for a wide range of items into one licence. Mr Shelton said this new scheme was available at the option of the licence holder for imports of any of the items which had been used to make up the aggregate. “VEXED” POSITION

The position of new importers was said by the Minister to be a “vexed one” which had been of great concern to the Government. “The fact that about onethird of our import trade k now exempt from licence will allow the needs of new importers to be met in this field in free competition with normal and regular importers,” he said.

“Furthermore, arrangements are also being made to admit new importers under the ‘A’ licence category. “The question of whether it is possible to make further limited provision for new importers is still under consideration—but this is as far as we have been able to go in the present circumstances,” he said.