Retailers object to speed of import licence exit

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 6

Retailers object to speed of import licence exit

PA Wellington The New Zealand Retailers’ Federation will strongly oppose any slowing of impetus towards the phase-out of import licensing and its replacement by adequate tariff-based assistance to manufacturers, says its president, Mr lan Halsted.

He was commenting on recent press comments by the Manufacturers’ Federation that the July 1 date for phase-out should be deferred.

The cost of import licensing to the New Zealand consumer had been estimated at around two billion

dollars a year, and as a device to develop growth in the economy was a failure, Mr Halsted said.

The real issue facing New Zealand was the restoration of growth to the economy which, over the last five years, had not exceeded 2 per cent per annum in real terms. It was only through growth that employment opportunities would arise. It was this issue that should be of concern to all New Zealanders.

By effectively subsidising manufacturers through import licensing, growth opportunities had been curtailed and had also added

an impost to New Zealand export industries which had then to be directly subsidised to remain competitive.

Mr Halsted said that his federation had been involved in discussions last year in an attempt to reach agreement on phase-out of import licensing. In these discussions the federation bad consistently said that any phase-out agreement must be certain, consistent, and apply equally to all manufacturers. If this were not so, some manufacturing sectors would retain an advantage over others which would continue the distor-

tions in assistance already given. A precedent for this type of approach had already been used under C .eA and had worked well, he said.

In last year’s discussion a large measure of agreement had been reached and any attempt by manufacturers to exert political pressure to delay the July I deadline for implementation of a new import licensing phaseout agreement would be opposed strongly. It was important, he said, that this goal was not lost sight of, otherwise it could disappear into the mists of election policies.