SERIOUS COMPLAINT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23061, 11 June 1938, Page 12

SERIOUS COMPLAINT

FIJI'S CITRUS FRUIT TRADE IS ' -•;#! KILLED BY GOVERNMENT [fbom otte own cohhespomjest] SUVA, Jose 8v , Because of the attitude of the New Zealand Government in refusing to purchase citrus fruit f.o.b. Suva, as is now done with bananas, no citnu fruit was shipped by the Niagara. This is the second prospective shipment of ? citrus fruit that has not gone to New ;S . Zealand owing, it is stated, to new regulations. Local shippers describe as unsatisfactory the state of affairs in connec- v tion with the handling of island fruit" by the New Zealand Government and " point to the fact that they have notyet received account sales, nor any payment on account of citrus fruit shipped from Suva by the Aorangi on_ April 28. Jjli •" Under the old method of shipment to the regular fruit merchants, of Auckland shippers, if they wished, could draw funds from the local banksdirectly the fruit was shipped; on presentation of the bill of lading, and 0 account sales and balance of proceeds' were always received by the first/re-ft-turn mail. Had they continued to forward" under the new arrangements theyo would have had three shipments afloat;> bv this time, with a fourth going byj the Matua at the end of this weet v Against these four shipments they j would not have received a penny vance, nor any advice as to the dis-i posal of the fruit, and the average. shipper says he has not the financial standing to be able to afford this sort ( of thing. • , . However, the local shippers say- that the first shipment of citrus fruit, and ' the methods under had to be handled, so disgusted them tnai they decided to send no more, and they stress the fact that the net result of the Government's taking over of the industry has been to kill it a* far as Fiji is concern pd. . -\