EMBARGO ON BEEF

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21874, 9 August 1934, Page 12

EMBARGO ON BEEF

PARTIAL RELAXING MEAT BOARD STATEMENT PRESERVING PIG INDUSTRY EXPERIMENTS IN BACON Partial relaxing of the embargo on the export of frozen beef has been announced by Mr. D. Jones, chairman of the Now Zealand Meat Producers' Board. Mr. Jones said arrangements had been made by the board for the shipment of reasonable quantities of beef in quarters to Great Britain. The board was in touch yesterday with meat exporters in Auckland and it is understood the policy is to allow quantities of quarter beef held in store to be shipped between now and Christmas. The prohibition on killings for export remains, as also does the embargo on killings and export of other beef classes. The board has obtained from exporters* requirements of space on vessels in New Zealand waters and also for future shipments.

The representations made to Great Britain on the meat export question were not discussed by Mr. Jones. However, further information available confirms the statement made in the Hkrald on August 3 that a determined effort is being made by New Zealand to preserve the pig industry, allowing for expansion in shipments principally of baconers. This involves the possibility of accepting a heavy cut in shipments of beef but it is understood that at the conferences held in Wellington such a prospect was not viewed with serious alarm. Restriction by Weight It is believed that Britain is concerned chiefly with the weight of meat lifted from the market and, as second grade and boneless beef is the cheapest meat exported from New Zealand, it is obviously to the Dominion's advantage to concentrate as far as possible on the cutting down of the cheap meat. Frozen pork is twice as valuable as quarter beef and three times as valuable as boneless beef, weight for weight. Mention was made by Mr. Jones of experiments carried out by the board in the export of bacon to Great Britain. He said these had not been -successful and there appeared little prospect of developing the trade. The distance the bacon had to travel was one of the chief difficulties. The English taste was for mikl-cured bacon, which would not carry successfully, and the board very reluctantly had been forced to abandon the idea of sending bacon to Britain. Bobby Calf Trade

Evidently Mr. Jones is referring to shipments of bacon already cured. There is no reason to doubt that the Dominion can build up a very substantial trade in the export of baconer pigs, which will be cured in England. Progress has already been made in this direction, tut exporters claim there is urgent need for establishing a rigid system of Government grading in the Dominion, iso that only pigs of quality and type suitable for the English bacon trade are sent. Referring to the bobby calf trade, Mr. Jones claimed that producers were receiving only 9d a head less than before the embargo on shipment. Experience in the Auckland Province does not fully support this statement. Last year the average price was about 5s or 5s 6d. However, this year the meat was less valuable and the skins also had dropped in price. Consequently, the season opened to an average price of about 3s or 3s 6d. The average price now, with the loss of the export meat market, is about Is 9d.