CONGRATULATIONS!

Grey River Argus, 20 August 1937, Page 10

CONGRATULATIONS!

N.Z. DAIRY BOARD Mr. Goodfellow’s Strong Endorsement [Per Press Association!. HAMILTON, August 19. New Zealand was once again threatened with a tariff or quota on dairy produce entering the United Kingdom, said Mr W. Goodfellow, speaking at a smoke concert of committeemen of the New Zealand Dairy Company, last night. Heavy losses ancT periodical chaos have in the past been the result of unrestricted competition in the sale of New Zealand butter and cheese in England. This is now a thing of the past, and orderly marketing has been established under the control of the marketing department in London. Shipments to outports were regulated to give the best return. No sales were made prior to the arrival of shipments. There were no f.o.b. or c.i.f. sales, competing with consignments. No sales were made to brokers and/or speculators. A daily sales return was required. The marketing, department had the right to inspect importers’ records for check purposes and the marketing department acted as a clearing house for marketing information.

Mr Goodfellow pointed out that prices were not fixed by the marketing department, but that this weakness would soon be overcome, no doubt. Later, the fixing of prices would, in his opinion, quickly eliminate any inefficient agents. The speaker said that Mr Walter Nash was to be congratulated for his courage and sagacity in adopting a proved plan for the supervision and control of dairy produce throughout Britain. This action had already increased marketing efficiency and had already eliminated many of the objectionable weaknesses of the old system. It had remained for the present Government to succeed, where others had failed in this objective. Referring to the statement published in the Press, on August 16, regarding the possibility of the imposition of a levy, if and when nutter and cheese imported into the United Kingdom fell below. 100 s and 56s respectively, Mr Goodfellow said that the question of a levy would thus be postponed for three or four months, but if the original ten per cent, import duty were imposed, the cost to producers and the country generally would be £2,000,000 per annum. Mr Goodfellow stressed the necessity for keeping down costs, and doing everything in New Zealand’s power to develop reciprocal trade with its only important customer, Great Britain.