IMPORT LICENSES

Evening Star, Issue 25472, 1 May 1945, Page 6

IMPORT LICENSES

PRIORITY FOR EX-SERVICEMEN

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 1. " Where other factors are equal, and provided the full facts are shown, and the application is properly recommended by the rehabilitation committee concerned, the Comptroller of Customs will usually give priority to ex-servicemen seeking to obtain an import "or indent license," said the Minister of Rehabilitation, the Hon. C. F. Skinner. '(•As in other business enterprises," added Mr Skinner, " public interest is given close attention. It has to be remembered that importers are employers of labour in most cases, and men returning from overseas to such firms have their occupations protected by regulation. It would thus be invidious to grant licenses in a manner so haphazard as' to endanger the employment situation. Besides, with several lines (for example, sugar) in short supply a common-sense attitude is necessary. Though the long view toward the' time when rationing is no longer needed must be taken, the inescapable fact that rationing is still with us, and is liable to remain with ns for some time to come, must not be forgotten." An ex-serviceman wishing to obtain an import license should first consult his rehabilitation committee, which would carefully investigate his claim, and then if it thought that the application should go forward, would make a recommendation to that effect.