MAKING CONTACT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17249, 3 May 1930, Page 4

MAKING CONTACT

HELPING MANUFACTURERS TRADE COMMISSION SERVICE An outline of the services that can be rendered to manufacturers, exporters, and business men generally by New Zealand’s Trade Commissioners in Australia. and Canada is given in a bulletin issued by the commerce section of the Department of Commerce, Tourists and Publicity. The bulletin states that through tlie service, information will be available as to the present and prospective demand for goods, foreign and local competition, details oi best selling methods, confidential reports concerning the status of buyers, and specifications of products in particular demand.

The commissioners will be able to recommend to intending exporters the names of responsible parties in a position to act tis agents or buyers and distributors; to assist agents and introduce them to influential individuals or associations who may be in a position to buy goods from New Zealand; and to furnish confidential information, when so requested, as to the activities of agents appointed by New Zealand exporters, or firms to whom sales have been, or are being, made.

In addition, the commissioners can assist in advising New Zealand producers and manufacturers as to the best media in which to place advertisements, together with their adaptation to tlie special requirements of tlie community; in the display of catalogues, price-lists, and samples where they can be seen by potential buyers; and as to the distribution of trade literature and its probable cost. FINANCIAL MATTERS.

The bulletin shows that particulars can bo obtained with regard to terms of payment which may be arranged with overseas buyers; financial houses and banks who will discount bills or give credit; regulations governing the recovery of debts in tlie country in which they are stationed; disposal of goods abroad contracted for but not accepted by overseas buyers, and infringement of trade marks or patent rights, and advice on registration. “The commissioners will always be glad,” tlie bulletin adds, “to receive visitors from New Zealand and introduce them to possible buyers, or agents, or put them in touch with such experts as legal advisers, and shipping and banking representatives. Their good offices can always be invoked with a view to settling difficulties which may arise between New Zealand exporters and buyers abroad. They will at all times provide such information as may be available as to freight rates, Customs duties and requirements, and port dues, so as to enable New Zealand firms to quote prices for delivery overseas. They will be glad also to provide information respecting cost of travel, regulations applicable to commercial travellers,, packing and marking of goods, shipping, accommodation, storage arrangements, and any other Government regulations or conditions which have to be complied with in the countries in which they are stationed.”

TO PUSH SALES. The bulletin expresses the hope that Dominion exporters and merchants will co-operate with the trade commissioners and utilise their services to the fullest extent, and sets out the nature of the information the commissioners will require in order to push the sales of the Dominion’s produce, “A general statement of the facts about the exporter, bis bank references, whether he is already engaged in overseas trade, and for what period and to what exent, are some of the essentials that should be given in the first letters to the commissioners or to the department,” the bulletin states. The commissioners also require general data about the commodity which the exporter wishes to sell in that particular market, noting any special advantages pertaining to the line offered, particularly as compared tvith tlie well-known articles of the same typo from other countries. They want to know exactly what the producer or exporter is himself willing to do to place his goods in the new field; the basis on which sales would be made to the importer, or on which goods could be offered for sale by a recognised agent, and the commission that would he paid the latter; what would be required of an importing house or agent in order to obtain the agency for the line; whether the producer or exporter would send consignment stock or samples, and in what quantity; whether he is prepared to advertise or co-operate in advertising, and to what extent; the facilities possessed by the manufacturer or producer for export shipment, and the kind of supervision that is exercised by him over the packing of goods destined for a distant market.

'file information required is summarised as under:

“Catalogues and best export prices c.i.f. port or entry, or failing: that, f.o.b. New Zealand port. Details regarding process of manufacture if convenient. Grading methods employed (if any), and whether under Government control; methods of packing; size, weight, and cubic content of packages, and whether sale is made by consignment or straightout purchase. If not too bulky, samples of what the firms have to offer should ho forwarded—not necessarily a full range—and a draft or money order sufficient to cover the Customs duties and landing charges on the samples. Bankers’ references. The proportion of output which is available for export, time required to ship from receipt of order, the quantity for which orders will he accepted, and the period during which goods are available for export.”