PRICE OF CABBAGES

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 306, 21 September 1943, Page 4

PRICE OF CABBAGES

Statement By Tribunal

•■X retailer who sells spring cabbages at prices which give him more than the (ill 9-3rds. per cent, margin on cost allowed by the price order is breaking the a • even though the price he charg is no more than the. muxtmum o pel lb. set out in the price order. I hat max mum price is merely the uppeii Im which the retail price cannot an retailers are required by the puce oilier to sell at prices lower than that maximum if the cost, plus 66 2-3rds. per cent., works out at less than 4 4 d. per lb. This was stated yesterday by tin. l lice Tribunal in reply to a statement, by tlie Hutt Valley market St’O'yers pnbbshed m ‘•The Dominion” yesterday that housewives who may be inclined to blame the growers for the high prices of spring cabbages are entitled to know that the Government, and not the growers, is at tribunal 'emphasized that the . price order was designed to protect the interests of all parties concerned—growers, retailers and consumers. There was an obligation on all the parties, consumers included, to see that the terms of price orders were observed. "The price order provides for a maximum wholesale price of 27/- ad " f j'„ a , for a maximum retail price of 66 _-3rds. per cent. on costs into retailers shop or 4Jd. per 11)., whichever is the lower,” the tribunal’s statement continues. “There are times when, owing to a combination ot circumstances, the actual wholesale prices realized by growers are below, the maximum defined in tlie order. This has been the position recently, and it is known that retailers have been able to buy at rates substantially lower than the price order wholesale maximum. This advantage, the growers claim, has not been passed on to the consumers, as should have been the case had Hie terms of Hie price order been complied with. The allegation is that retailers have been charging the public the maximum price of -IJd. 'per lb. instead of the actual cost into store, phis 66 2-3rds. per cent. “This is clearly a breach of the law, and, quite apart from taking appropriate action in the light of such evidence as is available against specific retailers,, the tribunal is arranging to meet representatives of the retail trade to discuss generally the position, and the opportunity will then- be taken to stress that, on no account, will ‘departures from the terms of the price order be tolerated. The retailer is entitled to the fair rate of profit as defined, and any advantage which may accrue through the operation of wholesale prices at a level lower than that defined in the order must, without fail, be passed on to the consumer. “At times' it has been said that the tribunal has been too hard in bringing actions against retailers. But every case is reviewed on its merits. - Now the Hutt ITtlley market gardeners accuse the tribunal of slackness in fulfilling its obligations. It must be emphasized that where the evidence establishes the fact of gross circumvention of the price order, then the necessary legal action will bo taken through the courts.”