CONTROL OF IMPORTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26693, 12 February 1948, Page 6

CONTROL OF IMPORTS

It is superfluous to say that the business community of New Zealand has become thoroughly fed up with the present Government’s policy of import control, but there appears to be little evidence of a desire on the part of the authorities to bring about an improvement by the adoption of any of the alternative schemes that have been submitted. The proposal put forv/ard by the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation has the support, in principle, of many business organisations, including the Associated Chambers of Commerce and the New Zealand Society of Customs Agents Association. Briefly stated, the plan provides for the setting up of a trade control commission or similar body which, within the framework of the overall policy determined by the Government, would administer import control, make recommendations on customs tariffs, and generally supervise the expenditure of overseas funds in a manner that would preserve a balanced economy while removing a number of irksome restrictions and delays. As an alternative to the present bungling and unreasonable methods of bureaucracy the proposal appears to be an acceptable one—as indeed, any plan containing an element of logic would be. As the report of the Manufacturers’ Federation made clear, had the scheme been in operation last year there would not have occurred the over importation of poor-quality, high priced and, in many cases, wrong types of goods which lack of co-ordination and the indiscriminate issuing of licences, brought about. In other countries of the Commonwealth boards of trade having a character similar to that suggested in the manufacturers’ resolution have functioned with success. A tariff board was constituted in Australia in 1921. According to a statement made at the last annual meeting of the Associated Chambers of Commerce this Australian board in a recent year furnished 110 reports to the Minister, 58 being concerned with questions of tariff revision. Canada also has a tariff board charged with broadly similar functions and its reports are tabled in the Canadian Parliament. If each of these dominions has found a tariff board useful there seems no reason to doubt that New Zealand would also derive benefit from the operations of a similar body. The proposal would require careful scrutiny regarding the suggested constitution of the board and the safeguards that would be necessary, first, to protect consumer interests, and secondly, to prevent the board from becoming just another Government bureau or a repository for political rejects. These problems could, however, be overcome. The greatest difficulty that business organisations will have to surmount before they can secure recognition of their proposal is that of securing from the Minister of Customs an admission that his policy of selective import control has proved a lamentable failure, and that will be the most difficult task of aIL