EMPIRE MARKETING BOARD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21315, 17 October 1932, Page 11

EMPIRE MARKETING BOARD

SUPPORT IN THE FUTURE NEW ZEALAND TO CONTRIBUTE An announcement that New Zealand would in future contribute toward the maintenance of the Empire Marketing Board was made by the Ft. Hon. J. G. Coates in the course of his statement to the House of Representatives on the results of the Ottawa Conference. The producers' boards, it was stated, had agreed to make grants for this purpose. Dealing with the subject, Mr. Coates said : "In connection with the machinery for Imperial co-operation and consultation in London two questions were reviewed by the conference: (1) the future of the Empire Marrketing Board, and (2) the. possibility of co-ordinating, perhaps under some form of Imperial economic secretariat, the various Imperial bodies which from time to time have been set up. "The Empire Marketing Board, in carrying out its work for promoting the sale of Empire products, has been financed wholly by the United Kingdom. The justification for this has now disappeared with the granting of tariff preferences on Empire products imported into the United Kingdom, hence the matter arises for review. After consulting the representatives of our producers' boards and ascertaining that they would be willing to make grants to ensure the continuance of the Empire Marketing Board's work, I gave an undertaking that assistance would be forthcoming. The representatives of the United Kingdom undertook that the present - financial arrangements would continue until September, 1933, \Vith the understanding that the whole position should be reviewed in the meantime. "As to co-ordinating the activities of existing Imperial bodies in London (toward some of which New Zealand makes monetary grants), it is pointed out that with 11 separate organisations, all dealing with matters of more or less economic character, there is a certain amount of overlapping, and a good deal is to be said in favour of linking them to some responsible central body. On the other hand, there would lie a danger of interfering with the work of some of these if they were subordinated to a. centrnl body. No finality was reached in discussion of this matter, but if was decided that a small committee in London, representative of the Governments concerned, should consider 'the means of facilitating economic consultation and co-operation between the several Governments of the Commonwealth.' In this inquiry New Zealand will, of course, participate, but in general I think it may be said that, the present position appears to us to call for no drastic change."