TOO MUCH RIGIDITY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 64, 16 March 1945, Page 4

TOO MUCH RIGIDITY

In describing as strange bedfellows Britain's need to rebuild her export trade and the declaration by Mr. Nash that the present restrictive scheme of import selection is to continue after the war, the Associated Chambers of Commerce have drawn attention to a serious defect in the cumbersome! machinery under which import control operates. In a recent statement' by the British Board of Trade on the) United Kingdom's post-war policy, the following passage occurred: "It seems reasonably certain that the supply j position for some kinds of semimanufactured raw materials and for many consumer goods and engineering products will improve fairly rapidly and that it will, therefore, be possible either to remove restrictions on their export entirely or to administer such restrictions- with much greater flexibility. In these circumstances, therefore, there is every advantage in Australian and New Zealand importers placing post-war orders in the United Kingdom for delivery as soon as the supply position permits, and we hope

that they will not be deterred from doing so by wild rumours that the United Kingdom will not be able to meet the export needs of these Dominions for five years." From this the desirability of advance ordering is plain, but, under the system of control exercised in New Zealand, importers have no knowledge, beyond December 31 next, of the nature or quantity of the commodities they will be permitted to import. This makes forward ordering almost impossible. Moreover, under such a restriction,'there is a very real danger that New Zealand importers will be placed at a serious disadvantage as compared with importers of other countries who have greater freedom in meeting the needs of the public. When they are able to place their orders they may find that they have been forestalled—that goods they are seeking are no longer available or not available in sufficient quantities to meet the demand. The Associated Chambers make a strong case for a relaxation of the existing restrictions that would enable long-term contracts to be made. TJhe importers, by long experience,) have a thorough knowledge of public requirements, a knowledge that is not possessed by those administering the present cumbersome system of control, and if their advice and co-operation were sought many of the defects could be remedied in a reasonable and sensible way. A too rigid adherence to the present system may result in New Zealand being left behind when many of the goods we badly need once more become freely available. We must not forget our experience when the war broke out. Merchants knew certain goods would become scarce and costly and they wished to order at once; but by the time they had convinced the Government of the wisdom of this course supplies had diminished and prices had risen. The consumers had to pay, and in some lines go without.