LOCAL INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 140, 16 June 1939, Page 6

LOCAL INDUSTRY

THREE MORE LICENCES

ENSURING EFFICIENCY

, Industries engaged in the manufacture of soap and soap powder, radio : receiving sets, and apple juice were . gazetted licensed industries under the Industrial Efficiency Act in the Gazette issued last evening. In elaborating the announcement, the Minister of Industries and Commerce (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) said that upwards of a dozen applications for licensing various industries were under consideration by the Bureau of Industry at present. Mr. Sullivan said that in each of the present cases the scope of the industry for licensing purposes had been specially defined in the covering licensing notice. ."For some time past," he added, "representatives of the soap industry throughout the Dominion have, through the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation, been in touch with the Bureau of Industry and myself in regard to their application for the licensing of their industry under the Industrial Efficiency Act. The industry has submitted a tentative industrial plan for its reorganisation and' development, and it is expected that discussions with a view to finalising the provisions of this plan will begin at an early date. Meanwhile, units at present engaged in the industry as defined in the notice are exempt from applying to the bureau for licences until December 1 next." MANUFACTURE OF RADIOS. Referring to the radio industry, the Minister said he had received a number of applications at various times for the licensing of it. Latterly, the matter had been dealt with through the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation representing the industry as a whole, and after carefully considering the application he had agreed to the industry's request for licensing. "I feel sure," said Mr. Sullivan, "that the licensing of this important industry will be of the utmost advantage, not only to those engaged in it, but also to the many users of radio sets in the Dominion. Our local manufacturers are capable of producing radio setscomparable to the best hitherto imported from overseas, and when the industry is properly co-ordinated under an industrial plan I have no doubt that it will be better equipped to meet the additional demands now being made on it as a result of the import control regulations." The Minister drew attention to the provisions of the licensing notice making it necessary for all principals now engaged in the industry to apply to the Bureau of Industry for licences before July 1 next. UNFERMENTED APPLE-JUICE.. Mr. Sullivan said that comprehensive investigations had been undertaken by the Department, of Industry and Commerce and of Scientific and Industrial Research in the matter of the manufacture of unfermented apple-juice in the Dominion. Reports which had been submittechto the Government indicated that unfermented fruit-juices, especially apple-juice, were being consumed in large and increasing quantities overseas and that there appeared to be ade-' quate scope for the development of the apple-juice manufacturing industry in New Zealand. There were already some firms manufacturing apple-juice on ba small scale in the Dominion, and it was hoped to encourage the expansion of the industry to large-scale production. The Bureau of Industry had plans in hand for- this expansion and hoped to be able to put these into effect in time to enable increased production to be achieved for the next summer season. The licensing notice covering this industry exempted existing units from obtaining licences till July 1 only, and required that all persons engaged therein as principals must apply to the bureau for licences . within seven days. "With the greatly-increased industrial activity which has resulted from the Government's policy of expanding industry wherever possible, there seems to have arisen a much clearer appreciation among industrialists generally of the many advantages offered by the Industrial Efficiency Act in the matter of the efficient organisation and planning of their industries," said Mr. Sullivan. "Actually there are upward of a dozen applications for licensing various industries under consideration by the Bureau of Industry at present, and already some eight provisional industrial plans have been submitted by the representatives of the industries concerned—in most cases through the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation. Judging from the experiences of the bureau with those industries already licensed, the Industrial Efficiency Act is adequately fulfilling the purposes for which it was placed on the Statute Book."