EXPORT MEAT

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 52, 29 August 1935, Page 24

EXPORT MEAT

THE BRITISH MARKET

QUOTA OH EEGTJLATION

FEW ALTERNATIVES

POSITION REVIEWED

"My impression of the British mar-1 ket is that it cannot take an unlimited quantity of meat at "a remunerative price to farmers; further it is very important that supplies of the various classes of meat should be regulated to meet the. requirements of the market" said the chairman of the New Zealand ' Meat Producers' Board (Mr. T. A. Dun--1 can) in his opening speech at the board's annual meeting today, when he outlined the attitude of the United Kingdom following the Ottawa Agreement, and dealt with the English meat .market in general. He stressed the fact that a quota system of quantitative regulation, is essential for stable or remunerative prices. Saving reviewed the Ottawa understanding, Mr. Duncan continued:— "The reduction of foreign imports of lamb and mutton has been of immensse benefit to New Zealand and has undoubtedly resulted in a marked improvement in prices of New Zealand lamb and mutton. In addition to the Ottawa Agreement the British Government arranged for a voluntary restriction of 10 per cent, in chilled beef from the Argentine, which was after; wards confirmed in the Anglo-Argen-tine Trade Agreement. Further, under the United Kingdom's bacon scheme the importations of foreign bacon were subjected to drastic cuts. "Under the Ottawa Agreement the United Kingdom Government undertook not to place any restrictions en supplies of meat from the Dominions before July 1, 1934, but since that date the meat export trade of the Dominion entered upon a new era, and quotas fixed by the United Kingdom Government for short term periods came into operation, pending a long term arrangement. LEVY OR REGULATION. "The United Kingdom Government's long-term policy was that the Government was of opinion that a plan based on a levy on meat imports would afford the best long-term solution of the problem of assisting the beef growers at Home. The British Government referred to the possibility that in addition some regulation of the market may be desirable but they could not regard as a satisfactory permanent arrangement a system under which the responsibility for the regulation of the market .would rest upon ;them alone. In their view the. intervention of the United Kingdom Government should be limited to the collection of a levy on.imports and the application of the proceeds to the assistance of the Home industry according to the needs of the market, overseas producers being thus left free to regulate their exports to this market themselves. Failing agree-ment-on the payment of a levy on meat imports the British Government stated they would have no alternative but to take steps to regulate during the currency of existing agreements, the quantity of imports to whatever extent is necessary to restore livestock prices at Home to a remunerative level. After the expiry of ; the existing agreements they would be free to impose levies without consent. ' The original levy proposals mentioned a levy of Id per lb on foreign meat and id per 1b on Empire meat. ! NEW ZEALAND SPECIALLY AFFECTED. "The1 New Zealand delegation was therefore, faced with proposals of very serious import to New.Zealand. Meat forms 27 per cent, of the exports of New Zealand (it is only 6 per cent, of Australia's exports, 2 pe. cent, of Canada's, and less than 1 per cent, of South Africa's). A levy on all meat is! therefore a far greater burden to New Zealand ;than to any other British Dominion. It.would be inequitable and,discriminatory. It would be contrary to the policy of giving the Dominions more favourable treatment than, that accorded to countries outside the Empire. ' Further, if supplies ,were unrestricted it would probably lead to the market being heavily oversupplied, which would involve a heavy ■fall in prices and New Zealand's economic position would then be rendered precarious. The United Kingdom problem; is primarily;.re'lated.. to beef, for which the derhand of the British consumer has been falling off and New Zealand's^share of the. beef imports, is not such- as would substantially affect the situation. The position in regard to mutton and lamb was satisfactorily adjusted as the result of the Ottawa Agreement. The difficulties at Home are not directly influenced, by supplies of mutton and' lamb,- and yet it was proposed that New Zealand mutton and lamb' producers should be heavily penalised' to' assist in the solution of what is essentially a beef problem. RECENT LONDON TALKS. "Few people seem to realise the vital importance ; of meat in our export trade. .On present-day values meat accounts for about one-quarter of our exports/whilst Australian meat exports are only one-twentieth of her total outgoing trade. Furthermore, our home market' is so comparatively small that it is of supreme importance to the Dominion that United Kingdom prices should be stable and profitable to the producer. Thus it was imperative that New Zealand should be adequately represented at the deliberations which have just concluded in London. I may say here that the Prime Minister (the Right Hon. G. W. Forbes) and the Minister of Finance (the Right Hon. J. G. Coates) played a big part in the conferences, and their presence at the discussions, in which no less than four Australian Cabinet Ministers were concerned, was invaluable from our point of view. . : ..". Our meat policy laid down at Ottawa has-served New Zealand well, and unless we have a continuance of the .quota system, or what I prefer to call quantitative regulation, we cannot hope for stable or remunerative prices." • The. Meat Board, said Mr. Duncan, had earned the; commendation of the United Kingdom Government and the English meat trade, which wished other countries to follow its lead both in regulating shipments and in maintaining quality. PRESENT POSITION. "Under; the arrangements made at Ottawa foreign supplies of mutton and lamb are held at 35 per cent, below the Ottawa year, and this has been the great advantage to New Zealand, which ; has willingly accepted the policy, of quantitative regulation. It must be most gratifying to our producers to find that, as far as mutton and lamb are concerned a satisfacotry plan of supply regulation has been adopted up to the end of 193 G. In other words, we know, where we stand lor the next eighteen months. "For the six months to the end of 1935, the.quantity of mutton and lamb allotted' to New Zealand amounts to l;E>7B,ooocw,t. ?,F6r the year 1936 New Zealand has been allotted 3,900,000cwt. In addition to this figure an arrangement has been -made ,that-if we are short in1 the second half-year of 1935 we may add the deficiency up to 50,000 cwt.to-the 1936 .total. This quantity

represents an increase of 300,000cwt. which is equal to an extra million lambs over the quantity killed last year. "As far as beef is concerned, quotas have been agreed upon to the end of 1935. The long-term policy has not yet been formulated but New Zealand has reached an argeemeiit on most of the points with the United Kingdom and it now remains to be seen how far the other Governments which have been parties to the discussion will also find the draft agreement acceptable. Owing to the fact that the negotiations are yet incomplete it M impossible to make disclosures at this stage. "The pork situation also came up for discussion and I am sure that the quota of 12,500 tons for baconers which was arranged some time ago will prove to be sufficient for our requirements for arrival in 1935. For the half-year July-December, 1935, we have now been given a quota for porker pigs amounting to 140,300cwt. ' This figure may be just about enough for our requirements—a good deal depends on our production this spring and the state of the market. At the present moment the question of pork importation is being examined by the United Kingdom Government, and it is difficult to foretell what future quantities will be allowed to be shipped from this Dominion. It is clear, however that we shall have -to recognise that the outlook is more favourable for the expansion in our baconers than for porkers, and that we may have eventually to adjust our farming activities accordingly. ... "It is particularly satisfactory to have obtained an exemption from a levy on our mutton and lamb and at the same time been given a satisfactory allocation of quantity up to the end of 1936. Up to now we have been working on quarterly quotas for the various classes of meat and it may be appreciated the difficulties and worries these short-period terms have entailed." LAMB IMPORTS TREBLED. Dealing with improved conditions in the United-' Kingdom, Mr. Duncan said that our lamb distribution channels were extending, showing satisfaction with quality. During 20 years United Kingdom lamb imports from all sources had increased from 6,000,000 to 18,000,000 carcasses. During four weeks 1,900,000 carcasses of lamb were consumed. \ Mr. Duncan dealt with the dangers of the control of New Zealand's meat interests passing into overseas hands. "The spread of meat supplies over as wide a geographical area as possible in the British market is another important aspect of the regulation of shipments," continued Mr. Duncan. "Whilst at Home, Mr. Fraser (the general manager) and I had an opportunity of seeing something of the special 'New Zealand weeks' which are organised by the board in the populous centres, and we were very impressed with the valuable work being carried out by the London office throughout these areas. / "The British Government's Meat Branding Order calling for all imported mutton, lamb, pork, and chilled beef to be branded with either the country of origin or 'Empire' or 'foreign' came into force at the beginning of this year. All our advertising material this year was specially designed to draw the attention of the public to the fact that all New Zealand meat is branded 'New Zealand' and .that no New Zealand meat would be branded 'Empire.' CHILLED BEEF. "As illustrating the development of the chilled-beef industry, it may be mentioned that whereas 15,118 quarters were shipped for the twelve months ended June 30, 1934, the quantity for the twelve months ended June 30, 1935, reached 53,755 quarters. I had the opportunity of inspecting several shipments of chilled beef from New Zealand, and also chilled beef landed from other Dominions. The trade is very favourably impressed with the eating qualities of our chilled beef, and with the continued improvement in the condition ;in .which it arrived. Provided- remunerative prices are obta'ciable and that our beef quota will permit, I feel sure we can look forward to a large increasing development in our chilled beef trade during the next few years. As a result of the London discussions New = Zealand" is hi a fair way towards getting the- right to absolute freedom in changing over from frozen to chilled."