BRITAIN MAY STOP BULK BUYING OF DOMINION FRUIT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23315, 26 July 1950, Page 6

BRITAIN MAY STOP BULK BUYING OF DOMINION FRUIT

(P.A.) NELSON, July 26. The possibility that the British Government might not purchase fruit from New Zealand in bulk in future was mentioned by Mr. H. Turner, chairman of the Apple and Pear Marketing Board at the Nelson fruitgrowers’ conference. At the moment the board was in a state of uncertainty as to the future, said Mr. Turner. It had been rumoured very freely and in responsible quarters in the trade in Britain that this was the last year in which the United Kingdom Government would make bulk purchases of Australian and New Zealand apples. The board could not find any confirmation of that. The beard was afraid that with politics in the state they were at Home, it was quite likely to be a matter which would be decided as much by politics as by economics. That was one of the reasons why the board had decided to send him to England to press for some decision on the question. If a decision was made to cease bulk buying, the board did not know whether the market would be completely open to New Zealand as before the war. There was a considerable body of opinion in (he trade that if the Government ceased bulk buying, it might control ceiling prices and limit the quantity sent to Britain. Growers would appreciate how difficult it was for the board when New Zealand had to market fruit at the same time as Australia which had an .advantage of 25 per cent, in the exchange rate.