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1950 NEW ZEALAND

IMPORT LICENSING IN NEW ZEALAND: A REVIEW (STATEMENT BY HON. C. M. BOWDEN, MINISTER OF CUSTOMS)

Presented to Both Houses of the General Assembly by Leave

Ist November, 1950. A. INTRODUCTORY 1. This paper outlines the basic features of the import licensing system operating in New Zealand and sets out some of the associated problems with which the Government had to deal on assuming office. Some of the material used herein is from reports to the Government by the Import Advisory Committee based on information obtained by the Committee in the course of its deliberations, but this paper is not a report from the Committee. B. THE SYSTEM—GENERAL DESCRIPTION 2. Import licensing was introduced after the 1938 general elections to conserve overseas funds. Restriction of imports of some classes of goods encouraged and made possible production of similar goods within New Zealand. It then became Government policy to assist local manufacture by restriction of imports, the argument being that this course not only created employment and brought other benefits, but also conserved overseas funds for the purchase of essential imports. The system, therefore, has had two objectives, sometimes interdependent. 3. It is the policy of the present Government to abolish import control when possible, and it has already gone some distance in that direction. To the extent that import control is retained, the purposes will be to conserve overseas funds and assist local manufacturers, at least until the question of the adequacy or otherwise of present Tariff duties as a means of protecting local industries can be properly examined. In any such examination of Tariff duties it will be a further objective of the Government to maintain the policy of Imperial Preference.