STOCK IMPORTS

Evening Post, Issue 86, 8 October 1936, Page 14

STOCK IMPORTS

EMBARGO QUESTION

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

After the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. W. Lee Martin) had stated to the Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire yesterday afternoon that the New Zealand Government would investigate the embargo on the importation of stock from Great Britain and consider its removal, the Congress carried a resolution asking for reconsideration of the embargo. Mr. A. A. Ross (Auckland) argued against any removal of the embargo, but the resolution was not opposed. The Government had to be satisfied that in removing the embargo it was doing the right thing, the Minister said. The Government had only been in office nine months, and had not gone thoroughly into the matter Up till 1922 there were' free imports of livestock into the Dominion, but in that year it was decided, on the advice of experts, that the embargo should be imposed. In 1923 it was removed, but in-1924 it was put on again, following a severe outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain, and had remained on ever since.

New Zealand was a dairying country and there was a strong feeling among tht dairy farmers that the embargo should not be removed The intention of Mr. Forbes had been to remove it when he went to England, .but the pressure was so great that action was not taken. The Minister of Finance and Marketing (the Hon. W Nash) would investigate the position carefully while in England The experts of the Department of Agriculture were in favour of removing the embargo, but experts were not always right, and it was felt that further investigation should be made. The Government was anxious to do the right thing, and it wanted to be sure that it did not open the door to foot-and-mouth disease. The dairy industry had been built up and it wanted to preserve it. In the past the stock in New Zealand had been remarkably free from disease. It would be impossible to combat an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease because of the limited number of veterinarians in New Zealand. While the British authorities were careful that diseased stock should not leave the country, said the Minister in conclusion; they' would not allow stock from countries, with foot-and-mouth disease into England. There was an embargo there just as there.was hi New Zealand ■ . : • •