MARKING OF BUTTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20924, 14 July 1931, Page 13

MARKING OF BUTTER.

PROPOSALS IN BRITAIN.

DENOTING IMPORT ORIGINS. BLENDS TO BE DESCRIBED. •The desirability of indicating the origin of imported butter and blends containing imported butter has been emphasised in the report of the Standing Committee sot up by the British Government to consider tho question of butter marking. A summary oE tho recommendations was cabled on June 10, but the whole test of tho committee's report has now reached Auckland.

Opposition to the application for the making of an Order-in-Council, requiring such marking, in accordance with the Merchandise Marks Act, 1926, came from tho English Butter Makers and Butter Blenders' Association, whose objection was mainly to the extension of tho proposed marking order to blends; the Federation of Grocers' Associations, which was concerned with the effect of the proposed order on retailers; and Amalgamated Master Dairymen, Limited, whose objection was addressed to the proposal that retailers selling butter from bulk should be required to mark each individual package sold, but who, in other respects, supported the application. Arguments for Scheme. The main general arguments put forward by the applicants, the Butter Marking Order Committee, were, so far as imported butter is concerned, that ifc is impossible for the ordinary purchaser to distinguish between Home, Empire and foreign butters unless they are marked; that there is a preference for Home and Empire butters on tho part of the consuming public, which cannot become effective unless butters of different origins are distinguished; that imported butters are often described merely as " choice" or " best dairy" or by some such term which, although non-committal in itself, combines with other circumstances, such as sale in a milk shop, to convey a suggestion that it is Home-produced; and that the result is prejudicial to both Home and Empire dairying interests. The applicants claimed it to be detrimental to Home butter producers that imported butter should be sold without an indication of origin because, if the origin were shown, the demand for Homo butter would be increased; and to Empire interest? because, if it were realised that so much of the butter consumed is imported, the Empire product would generally be purchasod in preference to the foreign.

The Opposition Case. The principal lines of opposition followed by the English Butter Makers and Butter Blenders' Association were:—(i.) That the allegations regarding the misleading of the public as to the origin of the butter which they were buying wcro greatly exaggerated; (ii.) that it is not the question of origin, but the various characteristics which go to make up quality, combined with considerations of uniformity and price, which determine a purchaser's choice of butter; (iii.) that a requirement of marking would be prejudicial to Home and inter-Empire trade; (iv.) that the proposed order would be unenforceable and would, therefore, give an unfair advantage to those who ignored it; and (v.) that the methods of marking proposed in the case of blends were unsuitable and calculated to injure the trade in blended butter.

The committee's report states that, subject to certain considerations, it is desirable that the principles laid down in section 2 of the Act of 1926 6hould be applied to imported butter and blends or mixtures of butter consisting o£ or containing imported butter. The Marking of Blends,

If an Order-in-Council is made, the indication of origin to be applied to blends or mixtures of butter consisting of or containing imported butter should'be, at the option of the person applying the indication, either:— (a) Tho word "Empire," if the whole of the butter included in the blend was produced within His Majesty's Dominions overseas, or tho word "Foreign" if the whole of the butter included in the blend was produced in foreign countries; or (b) the expression "Partly Empire and partly foreign" if part of the butter included in the blend was produced in liis Majesty's Dominions outside the United Kingdom and part was produced in foreign countries, whether or not the blend contains also butter produced in the United Kingdom; or (c) the expression "Partly Empire" if the butter consists of butter produced withiil His Majesty's Dominions overseas, and butter produced in the United Kingdom, or the expression "Partly foreign" if the blend consists of foreign butter and butter produced in the United Kingdom; or (d) a definite indication of tho country, or of all tho countries, of origin, as the case may be, of the butters forming the blend; or (e) tho word's "Including imported butter." Form of Application.

The committee suggests that the form and manner of application of indications of origin, in the case of both imported butter and blends of butter consisting of or containing imported butter, should bo as follows:

(1) On exposure for sale wholesale and on sale wholesale—(a) butter in bulk (i.e., not made up into packets ready for retail sale), by means of printing, stamping, branding or stencilling on each outer container, or on a label securely attached thereto, in letters not less than half an inch in height; (b) butter in wrappers or packets as in 1 (a) above in the case of outer containers of 121b. or more; and also, in every case, as in 2 (b), below. (2) On exposure for sale by retail—(a) butter in bulk, by means of a show ticket, clearly, visible to intending purchasers, bearing the indication of origin in letters not loss than half an inch in height; (b) butter in wrappers or packets, by means of printing or stamping on each package, or on a label securely attached to tho package or visible through the wrapper, in plain block letters, not less than onetwelfth of an inch in height. Informing the Customer.

"Wo have kept in mind the desirability of avoiding the imposition on retailers cif any requirement which is not essential to the purpose of the application," the report concludes, "and for this reason wo do not recommend that each individual parcel of butter sold by retail from bulk should be required to bo marked. It is believed that, where butter is sold by retail from bulk, the bulk is usually visible to the purchaser who goes into the shop; and wo consider that the marking of the bulk gives reasonable notification to the interested purchaser. "A point of difficulty has been whether retailers, who themselves pack butter on their own premises in readiness for sale during rush hours, should be given an option to omit the indication from each package and mark a stack of packages by means of a show ticket. Wo are disposed to think thftt, if this alternative were permitted, the result might be to increase the difficulties both of obeying and of administering the order. On the other hand, the hardship and confusion which might arise from a requirement of marking each package on sale from bulk is substantially reduced where butter is packed beforehand in readiness for future sales. On the whole, we have arrived at the conclusion, not without some hesitation, that the method of marking recommended should be applicable to all butter which is exposed for sale in wrappers, whether it is jvrapped before reaching the retailer or on his premises. "It is recommended that, if it be decided to proceed with the making of an Order-in-Council, the order should come into operation threo months after the dale on which it is made."-