MARKETING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 226, 20 June 1936, Page 10

MARKETING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

Commission to be Set Up

INQUIRY INTO ALL PHASES OF BUSINESS

By Telegraph—Press Association.

Christchurch, June 19.

Tlie. Minister of Industries and Commerce, Hon. D. G. Sullivan, stated to-day that a commission is to be appointed immediately to conduct a thorough inquiry into nil phases of marketing of fruit and vegetables in Now Zealand. For some years past. lie said, those engaged in tlie marketing of fruit and vegetables in tlie Dominion had been asking successive Governments for a thorough inquiry into their problems, and recently he had promised a deputation from tlie Fruit Retailers’ Federation that lie would give effect to the 1930 recommendation of the Industries and Commerce Committee of the House that such an inquiry should take place. Tlie inquiry would be conducted by a commission of three persons, consisting of a magistrate, a representative of the Department of Industries and Commerce and a representative of the Horticultural Division of the Department of Agriculture. A provisional order of reference for the inquiry had been drawn up. This included investigation into the channels of disposal of New Zealand-grown fruit, the classes sold locally, method of picking, grading or standardisation, handling and transport to markets, cool storage facilities, sales methods, growers’ organisations, the extent of sales of New Zealand fruit for canning, the utilisation of surplus fruit, etc. It was also proposed to conduct, an investigation into New, Zealand-grown vbgctalbles on similar lines and i-lie marketing in New Zealand of imported fruit. The investigation would be extended to include tlie citrus-growing industry in New Zealand, the raspberry and hop industries in Nelson, also the businesses of auctioneers, retailers and wholesale fruit merchants. In connection with the retailing side of the business one of the matters concerning which information was to be sought was the nationality of the proprietors of fruit shops, whether they are British, European, or Asiatic.