IMPORT LICENCES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23707, 14 January 1939, Page 14

IMPORT LICENCES

SECOND HALF OF YEAR PROVISION FOR NECESSARY ORDERS ANNOUNCEMENT BY MINISTER (Per United Press Association) AUCKLAND, Jan. 13. Advice of a concession in the granting of import licences for the second half of the year was received bv the Bureau of Importers to-day in a telegram from the Minister of Customs (Mr W. Nash), stating that the procedure for import quotas in the second half of 1939 was at present being determined. Mr Nash added that applications which justified the early granting of licences for the latter six-monthly period of the year would be considered by the Government as urgent and would be granted if the circumstances warranted. The telegram was in reply to one from the bureau, seeking a list of British Empire and foreign goods prohibited, restricted and unaffected by the licensing regulations. Mr Nash said that information as to the allocation of imports was made available to each importer on making application for a licence. No general information was available in the meantime. A telegram has been sent thanking the Minister for his reply and asking him to nominate a definite date on which he would meet all the importers in a conference in Wellington. “If Circumstances . . The president of the bureau (Mr W. A. Boucher) said that the decision to consider the granting of licences for the second half of the year was a small step forward. It remained to be seen, however, how much attached to the proviso “if circumstances warranted.” Neither this question nor the situation as a whole was clarified as they should be by the Minister’s reply. Business could not go on under the present conditions. The secretary of the bureau (Mr H. M. Barker) said that the booking of orders for delivery from July onward by softgoods firms and others, who normally made such bookings at this time of the year, had been brought to a standstill of recent weeks. , The interruption had created difficulties, and valuable time had been lost, but if the applications were dealt with quickly the importing , firms would be assisted in meeting the position. No time would be lost in preparing applications to import essential goods in the second half of the year. Value of Concession Doubted An executive officer of a large department store said that the value of the concession depended on what the Government classed as urgent. In the case of agents handling only a few lines, it might be of value, but isolated cases would be of little value to a large general business. His concern now wanted to order all its requirements for the second half of the year, the executive officer added, and should really make application for every line to be treated as urgent. In his view, the whole system should be put forward six months. ADVICE ON PROCEDURE INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY MINISTER DETAILED LISTS REFUSED (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Jan. 13. Questions regarding applications for import licences raised by a deputation from the New Zealand Importers’ Federation which waited on the Minister of Customs (Mr W. Nash) on December 13 were replied to this month by the Minister in a letter which was released for publication to-day. Excluding points concerning which full publicity has already been given, the Minister writes as follows:

“ Urgent orders for special requirements pending the issue of licences in respect of the first licensing period—Collectors of Customs have been authorised to deal with special applications in respect of urgent orders covering essential requirements. “ Orders despatched on December 6—Consideration will be given to any representations in respect of individual cases where orders were despatched on December 6. New Avenues of Business “ Applications in - respect of new avenues of business—As full information as possible should be submitted in support of such applications, each of which will be carefully considered.

“Payment for goods imported on consignment—No difficulty should be experienced in obtaining the foreign exchange reqyired in respect to payment for goods imported before the licensing system came into operation. Any further shipments on a consignment basis will be subject to an irQDcrt licence similarly to other importations, and application will require to be made to a trading bank in respect of any remittances in excess of the amount shown in the import licence. “ Facilities for the payment of royalties, etc. —Applications in respect of such payments not covered by licence in respect of imported goods may be submitted in the prescribed form through a trading bank for the consideration of the Reserve Bank. Similar orocedure should be followed regarding remittances in respect of the salaries and expenses of overseas buyers. “ Imcort Licences: who should apply?—The person in whose name the goods are entered through the Customs on importation should be the applicant for the licence. If an indent agent places an order overseas on behalf of clients, and the clients erfter the goods, then the clients should be the holders of the licences. On the other hand, if an indent agent enters goods in his own name and sells them on a duty-paid basis, he should be the holder of the licence. “ Term of licence.—Full consideration will be given to special applications in respect of licences covering a longer period than six months where the circumstances (e.g. seasonal goods) justify some departure from the ordinary procedure in that regard. “ Manufacturers’ samples.—These should be the subject of special application to the collector of Customs at the time of importation.

No Detailed Lists "As I indicated to the deputation, it is not possible to give effect to the suggestion regarding publication of lists of -prohibited goods, those subject to licence and those for which no licence is required. Certain exemptions have already been created, but it is improbable that any further exemptions will be granted in respect of commercial goods. I think, however, that the information already disseminated should give importers a fair indication of what is required in the matter of lodging applications. “ I may say that the High Commissioner in London (Mr W. J. Jordan) and the Customs representatives in London and New York, as well as the New Zealand trade commissioners abroad, are also being kept advised as to the position.” DOMINION CONFERENCE DELEGATES FROM DUNEDIN ELECTION NEXT WEEK The Government’s import regulations were fully discussed at a combined meeting of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce and the Otago Importers’ and Shippers’ Association yesterday, when it was decided that a special meeting of Dunedin importers should be held on Thursday next to elect delegates to represent local importers at the conference at Wellington on January 25 which the Minister of Finance (Mr Nash) has agreed to attend. In connection with .the petition being prepared in Auckland requesting the Governor-General (Viscount Galway) to suspend the regulation? by proclamation until their validity has been tested, it was resolved that the signing of the petition should be left to individual importers. The petition will be available at the office of Mr R. H. Gardnef, 42 Crawford street. It was reported that the delegates to the meeting on January 25 would discuss the position and formulate questions to be put to- the Minister. IMPORTERS’ CONFERENCE ARRANGEMENTS IN HAND RESTRICTIONS ON WINES AND SPIRITS (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Jan. 13. The New Zealand Importers’ Federation and the United Kingdom manufacturers and New Zealand representatives are collaborating with the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand in calling a conference to be held in Wellington to discuss the import regulations. It is expected that arrangements for the conference will be made within a few days. An importer of wines and spirits to-day gave the following approximate figures showing the extent to which his imports had been reduced compared with those for the first half of last year. Spirits: Whatever country of origin, 33 1-3 per cent. South African wines: 55 per cent. French wines: 64 per cent. German wines: 63 per cent. Australian wines: 55 per cent. British ales and stouts: 65 per cent. Australian lager: Licence refused. This importer added that the reduction in his business would probably necessitate curtailment of his staff. The licences issued to tea importers so far indicate that no restriction is being placed on that commodity, other than that individual importers are being limited to the quantity they imported during the first half of last year. Some manufacturers complain that, acting on the assurance that there would be no undue restriction of imports of raw materials, they have sent orders overseas, but that the banks in London are not prepared to allow shipment until they have a cabled certificate that licences have actually been issued. In the meantime, these licences have not been issued. Representations have been made to the Minister of Customs. It is reported that some overseas manufacturers are contemplating the establishment of factories in New Zealand, but confirmation of this cannot yet be obtained. PROFESSOR’S BROADCAST 8.8. C. EXPRESSES REGRET (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) LONDON, Jan. 12. The Broadcasting Corporation broadcast in connection with Professor Hall’s talk that the New Zealand Government had stated that it had embarrassed it. “ This we regret and have arranged for another viewpoint to be heard later,” the broadcast added.