MARKETING OF ONIONS

Southland Times, Issue 23444, 26 February 1938, Page 8

MARKETING OF ONIONS

New Board-Of-Trade Regulations ADVISORY COMMITTEE SET UP (United Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 25. The Board of Trade (Onion) Regulations 1938 which come into force tomorrow will replace all previous regulations under the Board of Trade Act. For the purpose of the regulations New Zealand is divided into three districts: — (1) Roughly the northern half of the North Island; (2) the other part of the North Island; and (3) all the South Island. Onions for sale in New Zealand are to be classified as graded or ungraded. The sacks containing the latter are to be marked with the letter “X”. District complaints committees, set up by the New Zealand Grain Seeds and Produce Merchants’ Federation, will deal with complaints about graded onions. The minimum price for f.a.q. grade onions is £4 a ton ex port or railway station, whichever is nearest the place where they are grown. No minimum price is fixed for the sale of pickier grade onions. When f.a.q. grade onions are sold by public auction the upset price must return to the grower £4 less the auction charges. A New Zealand Onion Marketing Advisory Committee, composed of representatives of the Government, onion growers and onion wholesalers, is to advise the Minister about the minimum price variations (if any) and on matters relating to the production and marketing. Onion growers and wholesalers must register annually and furnish monthly returns, except in December and January.