“PRODUCERS HAVE LAST WORD”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22510, 13 December 1947, Page 4

“PRODUCERS HAVE LAST WORD”

SHIPPING FROM SECONDARY N.Z. PORTS MULTIPLE HANDLING DAMAGES QUALITY “The announcement of the Overseas Shipowners’ Allotment Committee that Gisborne is to be excluded from the benefits of direct shipment of produce for the future is not the last word to be said on the subject. I feel sure that the committee was discussing immediate prospects in the light of existing control of shipping by the United Kingdom Ministry of Shipping, and not long-range prospects of the trade between New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The producers of this Dominion will have a voice in settling this and other problems when shipping is once more free from control.” The above comment was offered today by Mr. J. S. Jessep, East Coast Commissioner and formerly deputy-chairman of the New Zealand Meat Board, in reference to the statement published this week by the allotment committee. He urged particularly that Gisborne producers and business interests should not take the committee’s announcement as disposing finally of the claims of this district to direct-shipment facilities. ■ <

Present conditions are abnormal, he pointed out, in that the movements of ships and the selection of cargoes is a matter under the control of the Ministry of Shipping, London; and every effort is being made to meet the requirements of the Ministry so far as the concentration of cargoes and a swift turn-around of ships in New Zealand ports is concerned. Shipping companies are not masters of their own ships for,the time being, and there is no room - for individual management or competition. Safeguards For N.Z. Meat Quality The outbreak of the war and the shipping commandeer abrogated the existing contract held by the shipping companies for the overseas delivery of New Zealand’s meat, butter, cheese, tallow, pelts and slipe wool. The conditions of the old contract were no longer binding, and while the present food situation in the United Kingdom continued there was no likelihood of conditions in the New Zealand trade altering materially. The necessity for 'sending as much food as the available' bottoms wiped out considerations of delivery conditions; and meat producers in the country could not take steps to revert to former conditions to safeguard the quality appeal of their produce in the English market. “You may be sure, however, that the day will come when quality in our product will be as important as it ever was before,” said Mr. Jessep. “When it does, the New Zealand producer will not submit to conditions of shipment which affect the appeal of their produce on the overseas market. He will discard every practice which injures his produce in transit, and institute ‘every further precaution possible to preserve the special bloom of quality which made New Zealand' meat so popular in pre-war days. The shipping companies will have to come into line, and shipment from secondary ports will be part of the system again.” Benefits of Exclusive Contract Quoting from his experience as deputy-chairman of the New Zealand Meat Board, Mr. Jessep stated that quality was the principal factor on a free market, such as people looked for within two or three years. Concentration of cargoes in New Zealand's main ports was not conducive to the aim of providing the best possible article for the English market; for every extra handling robbed the meat of some portion of its bloom. The ideal system of delivery would reduce handling to the absolute minimum, and put the meat on the London market just as it emerged from the freezing chambers of the works in New Zealand. “Shipping lines operating between New Zealand and the United Kingdom were, in a unique position prior to the war, in that'they had contracts covering practically all New Zealand’s exportable produce—greasy wool being the only exception. No other country had given a like contract to shipping firms, and in no other trade were the companies under contract so well protected from competition. However, the contract was not drawn up for the protection of the shipping lines, but for the protection of the producer. The producer’s interest will still be paramount in the days when the market is free again. Shipping companies will either meet that interest or face competition in the New Zealand trade,” said Mr. Jessep. Basic Provisions Fixed in “The contract on which the companies operated before the war was based upon terms which I personally settled with their chiefs in London in 1922. I was sent home by the Meat Board to negotiate for a better tariff 'on New Zealand meat, in view of the fact that increases in costs of deep-sea freight in our trade were substantially heavier than those applying to the South American trade. It was no small task 4 to deal with those people, who started off with an offer of a 2J per cent reduction on the existing tariff.

s “That offer was promptly rejected, : and a request for a 40 per cent reduo' i tiqn made in reply. The talks went on • for months before agreement was ’ reached, substantially on the lines the : New Zealand meat Board had sought. 5 Moreover, included among the provisions of the new contract were clauses ’ which specified the number of trips ■ to be made—B7 was the annual' mini- : mum—and the ports at which meat ? was to be lifted on the New Zealand 1 coasts. Gisborne was one of those Dorts. “We fixed the minimum number of , voyages to ensure that there could be j diversion of ships to other trade routes, \ temporarily more attractive. We had E to be sure that there were sufficient , ships to carry the whole of New Zea- . land’s produce Home. The port? for i direct shipment were named for the t express purpose of reducing the handi ling of meat as far as possible. The : shipowners appreciated these points ! and conceded them after long negotia- ; tion. The provisions were observed ; up to the outbreak of the war.. ; War-time Makeshifts Persist • “From that time to the present our • meat trade has been subject to condi- • tions outside the control of the producer or the shipping lines.. We have 1 had to adopt makeshifts in order to send Home as much food as possible, and finer points of quality have been [ less important than quantity. But wa \ are not far from the time when quality • will tell once more. “What must happen then I cannot ; forecast in detail. Whether the old [ contract, suspended by the war, will ba ' resuscitated with adjustments to meet . the companies’ new costs, or whether , a new contract will be written, the certainty remains that the producers 1 will have to protect New Zealand’s re- 1 \ putation for quality. Excessive handling of meat will have to be eliminated, and big ships will have to come to ports like Gisborne to take up their freights. Chilled Beef Trade Prospects “From the point of view of Gisborpa the restoration of direct-shipment facilities is particularly important, in view of the prospect which this district has of developing a chilled beef trade. - There is no part of New Zealand better suited for growing export beef than Gisborne and the East Coast; and that beef should be sent Home chilled to get the best results. "We had a taste of the fruits of chilled beef export before the war, and we know that it will pay producers here to fatten their beef at 2J years to' meet the chiller trade’s requirements. Gisborne and the East Coast can produce the goods for shipment, and it la i/mperr.tive that whatever conditions may apply to the grade in general after the surrender of shipping control by the Ministry of Shipping the‘‘chiller producer should be encouraged. “That is why I say that the producers will have a voice in fixing the’ conditions for the future, and that the Overseas Shipowners’ Allotment Committee must not have the last word. They cannot be granted a contract without the, provisions written into the 1922 agreement—at least not an exclusive contract.” -