Denmark A “Casualty Of Agricultural Revolution”

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28265, 1 May 1957, Page 14

Denmark A “Casualty Of Agricultural Revolution”

(Specig.l Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

LONDON, April 30.

The Danes’ complaint to G.A.T.T. about the export of British subsidised eggs to Denmark’s traditional markets in Europe is not without interest to New Zealand, according to the “Financial Times,” the export of these eggs is symptomatic of what it calls the “agricultural revolution of the 1950’5,” which resulted in a general increase of food production in Britain and the Continent. The paper says Denmark’s problem over eggs is an extreme version of the same trouble now worrying New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina. Commenting on a report from Geneva that G.A.T.T. recommended that Denmark and other Continental countries should continue discussions with the United Kingdom over the export of British eggs—which Britain claims to be temporary, due to exceptionally mild spring weather—the “Financial Times” says in an editorial: “It looks as though Denmark is going to be one of the outstanding casualties of the agricultural revolution of the 1950’5, but her case is by no means unique. It is only an extreme version of the same trouble that is now worrying New Zealand and Australia, as well as Argentina. Protection of Producers “It is not solely a matter of excessive agricultural protection in the traditional markets of these countries. The truth is that the industrial nations of Western Europe have shown themselves remarkably adept at developing their agricultural production since the war.

“They have been aided by subsidies or protective devices of one kind or another, but the surprise has been how much additional output these countries have been able to achieve on a basis of a moderate amount of financial support. The British case has been most spectacular. “The point that the Danes must recognise, however, is that it is not British policy alone which is responsible for Denmark’s present economic difficulties. These derive from deeper causes. “The fall in the price of butter which has eaten into Denmark’s foreign exchange earnings this year is a result of changes in world supply and demand, right outside Britain’s control. “Specialised Exporters Hit Hardest” “Everyone is trying nowadays to produce a high value of agricultural commodities, whether butter and other daily produce, or meat. It is the specialised agricultural exporting countries which have concentrated on just these products, and have become exceedingly efficient at making them, which are being hardest hit in the process.” The “Financial Times” sympa-

thises with Denmark’s reactions to the export of subsidised British eggs, but says there has been no deliberate attempt on Britain’s part to create a subsidised export trade in them. On the contrary, the Government has been embarrassed by the vigorous response coming from the British farmer to its support price for eggs. The outcome is that Britain, in 1957, is virtually self-sufficient in eggs. At times of glut they have been exported by individual merchants acting on their own initiative, but Britain cannot simply shrug off the problem. The rules of G.A.T.T. leave no doubt that the system of domestic support prices is to be the subject of international supervision when it results in sales abroad below the cost of production.