IMPORT LICENSES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 30 December 1938, Page 4

IMPORT LICENSES

PROGRESS OF ISSUE TASK SHOULD SOON BE COMPLETED BUSY STAFFS I United Pres* AMociatioul WELLINGTON, This Day. It is expected that within the next week or two importers and the public will have an insight into the full details of the regulations recently introduced by the Government to licence imports. By that time almost all applications for licences will have been dealt with by the Customs authorities in the various centres. Inundated with applications for licences since the announcement of the Government proposals, the Customs authorities have been exceptionally busy. Staffs have been working day and night, and will be similarly occupied for some time yet. It is most probable that the enforcing of the regulations will involve additional work such as checking up on imports.

The hope was expressed by the Min- ( ister of Customs that licences would; ;be available shortly after Christmas, i Very few licences had been issued ud j jto yesterday. The delay was to a | j large degree unavoidable as the mach- 1 | inery for handling the applications was unfamiliar to all parties, but importers, generally, were very patient in the face of the initial delays. It is considered probable, hiiwever. that all applications will have been dealt with within a week or two and the necessary licences [ issued. No details of the schedule of goods being brought under the licensing regu • ! lations is at present available, and It j | is unlikely that the imports to be cov- I j ered by the licences will be made gen- j crally known. An intimation to this ! effect was given by the Minister of ! Customs, Mr Nash, shortly after the ! announcement of the Government’s regulations. Asked when the sched- ' ule was likely to be released to the newspapers, Mr Nash said: ‘‘l do not: j think that the schedule will be pub-' llslied.” A LOOPHOLE IN REGULATIONS Attention to a loophole which might 1 easily nullify the whole intention of the ! proposed import restrictions was drawn by a Wellington manufacturer yesterday. The particular point was the provision permitting anyone to import goods for his own personal use to the value of £lO. “It is certain that when overseas mail order firms notice that provision they will immediately flood New Zealand with catalogues and people acting individually could easily make overseas purchases that would amount to a total sufficient seriously to imperil the Doi minion’s London balances, j “One would have thought that the 1 comparatively recent experience with : the cash on delivery system would have | been a sufficient warning of the danger inherent in the new provision. New Zealand traders investigated the cash lon delivery system before the successful move was made to have it abolish- ' ed. It was found that thousands and i thousands of parcels were coming to | New Zealand from overseas, and that the post office in this country was acting as a collecting agent for the consignors. “It is possible that people in this i country would find it a little cheaper to j import their requirements from abroad rather than buy them locally, and if that happened to be the case it would quickly provide a strong impetus to ! buying from overseas firms.”