Import Controls Under Trade Pact

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31366, 11 May 1967, Page 14

Import Controls Under Trade Pact

Under the New Zealand-Australia Free Trade Agreement, New Zealand could retain import controls, providing the restriction of imports from Australia was no greater than the restriction on those from any other source, and if it was imposed for balance of payments reasons, said the chairman of the Tariff and Development Board (Mr J. P. D. Johnsen) yesterday.

He was replying to questions at a luncheon given to members of the board by the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association. The whole concept of the agreement, said Mr Johnsen, was freedom of trade within the area. In reply to another ques-

tion, Mr Johnsen said that in the event of any move to change classifications, to sidestep the agreement, he thought the matter would be taken up by Government. The Deputy Chairman of the board (Mr K. B. O’Brien) said that a lot of the board’s time was spent chasing information about local industry, and manufacturers who could complain most bitterly. One had written eight pages objecting to filling in a six-page questionnaire. Mr O’Brien said that such questionnaires were usually done in consideration with officers of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation.

“These questions are not asked idly, said Mr O’Brien. “Some of our reports could have been done a jolly sight more quickly if the information had been supplied in the way it had been asked for at the start.”

The board members were welcomed by the president of the association (Mr C. W. Mace) who said that if something got out of hand the Australians could apply for an emergency tariff.