EMPIRE MEAT COUNCIL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23215, 8 December 1938, Page 19

EMPIRE MEAT COUNCIL

WARNING AGAINST PLAN BOARD MEMBER'S OPINION [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION'] CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday A strong warning that participation in any such body as an Empire Meat Council, as suggested at- the British Empire producers' conference held in Sydney this year, would be extremely dangerous, was given by Mr. J. D. Ormond, member of the Meat Producers' Board, when addressing farmers at the Canterbury lainb export competition at Belfast. He said that an obvious result would be that other Dominions producing meat would insist on taking some of New Zealand's large share of the British market. " The question now, is how much of our meat will Britain -take? " said Mr. Ormond. "It was suggested earlier this year that an Kmpire Meat Council should be formed, but if that happens it will be very serious for ]Sew Zealand, with its unique position on the London market. Other Dominions will immediately want some of our trade, and it will be a very serious thing if New Zealand is forced into anv such council." While there were very many problems for the Meat Board to face, the position was not as gloomy as some people imagined. The dark future that many felt was ahead of the meat producers would not necessarily eventuate. The Hon. "\V. Nash had reached a trade agreement with Canada which hopes for an expanded meat trade with that country, and the recently arranged Anglo-American trade treaty also gave hopes that there would be an expanding market for Empire meat in America. „ _ , A further influence was the development of the chilled beef trade. The recent hold-up of meat cargoes on the Auckland waterfront was described by Mr. Ormond as serious, because it had held the first of the new season's supplies of New Zealand meat off the London market for a week. "If we are to continue to have troubles of that sort," he said, "there is only one way out of it. Ue will have to establish cool stores on the wharves and develop some form of mechanical loading,"