RETAILERS’ VIEW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27212, 15 October 1949, Page 8

RETAILERS’ VIEW

EXTRA BASIC LICENCES WELCOMED

PA WELLINGTON, Oct. 14. The New Zealand Retailers lederation, in a statement to-day said it was noted with some degree of satisfaction that the Minister of Customs had granted a basic licence for some items for which there was no basic licence in previous years, although supplementary licences were granted during the year. Examples quoted were, blankets, bridal veils, dress shirts, fabric gloves, nylon and silk hosiery., ... _ “The federation believes that the hosiery basic allocation is totally inadequate to meet the current demands. For instance, the 1950 import licensing schedule allows traders to import 50 per cent, of the 1949 importations of silk and nylon hosiery, and the federation would be prepared to leave it to the women of New Zealand to decide whether they consider this sufficient, particularly as it is not anticipated that local production will be increased to any degree over the production of 1949,” the statement said. The federation was concerned at the very late release of the 1950 schedule. “If the 1950 schedule had been released early in August last, importers in New Zealand would have been able to place a substantial quantity of goods at pre-devaluation prices, but now we are faced with the position of having to place orders at costs 10 to 20 per cent, higher, which, m effect, means that, apart from the increased cost to the consumer, fewer goods will be imported on the same amount of licence value," the federation concluded.