IMPORT CONTROL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 8, 21 September 1943, Page 6

IMPORT CONTROL

A FUTILE POLICY

ADDS TO COST OF GOODS

According to the Bureau of Importers, the import control regulations, introduced in December, 1938, nine months before the Avar, have caused a severe .shortage of. many imported commodities. When the war broke out our larder should have been full : instead the cupboard was bare, and in many household lines it is still very bare, as every housewife of this country knows — imported foodstuffs, canned goods, matches, cigarettes, crockery, glassAvarc, cutlery, pots and pans, cotton goods, shirts, pyjamas and. many other lines too> numerous to mention. Without these essentials the standard of liA'ing throughout the country is substantially lowered — all because, of the Labour Government's adherence to its i'ulile policy of import control.

In a world market short of consumer goods through the effect of the Avar, opportunities to purchase when, goods are aA'ailable arc irretricA'ablv lost, because it is an offence. punishable Avitli a heaA'y fine, to import goods into New Zealand without an import 'license, and these cannot be obtained for most commodities now in short supply. The shortage of goods is <lue principally to the cumbersome operation of the Labour Government's import control policy. This has a colossal failure, adding considerably to the 1 cost of goods through the burden of maintaining an army of bureaucrats. The critical shortage of goods is apparent everywhere. No imports under existing licenses may enter New Zealand after December 31 and no money in payment. therefor may be remitted abroad after October 31. Overseas manufacturers simply Avill not accept orders because the goods, cannot be produced within the limit of time permitted l'or payment or the time limit Avithin Avliich licensed imports much reach New Zealand. Importers' organisations have persistently requested the Governiucnt to extend the seventh licensing period so as to alleviate the shortage of many imported commodities, but. all their requests haA 7 c' fallen on deaf ears. As a result, the shortage of many imported commodities must be accentuated. The Avhole. policy of import control has been a hopeless bungle. It is directly responsible for the shortage of imported commodities, and it has greatly increased the cost of imported goods to the consumer.