U.K. Statement On Cheese Awaited

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31865, 18 December 1968, Page 20

U.K. Statement On Cheese Awaited

(N.2 P.A. Staff Correspondent) LONDON, December 17. Dairy market authorities in London are awaiting a statement from’the British Minister of Agriculture (Mr Cledwyn Hughes) on efforts to control the flow of cheddar and cheddartype cheese on to the United Kingdom market.

Mr Hughes is expected to tell the House of Commons this afternoon that he is persisting with efforts to have a “voluntary” restraint scheme accepted by overseas suppliers, but that in the meantime local farming organisations have applied for the imposition of anti-dumping duties on some imported Cheddars. *

Should the applications be successful, cheese exports from Australia, the Irish Republic, Denmark, Holland, and France, would be hit by the new duty. The view of market authorities seems to be that the prospects of increased sales of New Zealand cheddar would improve immediately the duty was imposed. A widely-held opinion, however,

lis that cheddar and cheddaritype stocks are now so high that the chances of price increases for New Zealand supplies are not high. ! There is some speculation that the application has been [made partly in an effort to jplace further pressure on the Irish Government to accept the proposal for placing a voluntary limitation on its cheddar exports to Britain. ■ Australia has been holding i*s supplies to the market land on December 6 had only ! tons in ships bound for 1 British ports, compared with 1398 tons a year earlier. On

the same date New Zealand had 12,792 tons on its way to Britain, compared with 17,053 tons a year earlier. Stocks of cheddar and cheddar-type cheeses are reported to be about 20,000 tons higher than a year earlier.