Farm Machinery Imports

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31087, 16 June 1966, Page 18

Farm Machinery Imports

No other industry had been treated as well as the agricultural machinery industry, before the 1965-66 import licensing schedule, or since, in the view of the Minister of Customs (Mr Shelton).

In a letter to the member of Parliament for St. Albans (Mr H. J. Walker), Mr Shelton said that a recent claim by a Christchurch retailer that the fanning community had been treated worse than any other by import cuts was, “frankly, ridiculous.”

Mr Shelton’s letter was read to a meeting of the Canterbury Agricultural Engineering Club, when Mr Walker replied to a number of complaints raised at the club’s May meeting. “The 1965-66 import licensing schedule exempted a wide range of machinery of agricultural significance, and no other industry ' had been treated as well, before or since,” the Minister’s letter said. “In fact, the 1966-67 schedule may well have the effect of curtailing production in many manufacturing industries.”

The Minister’s letter also defended the import of sec-ond-hand tractors, saying there was no evidence to suggest that New Zealand was wasting exchange by importing them. “Even before certain tractors of agricultural significance were made exempt from control, licences were occasionally issued . . .

for certain types of used machines, where it . was proved they were adequate and would represent a substantial saving in funds,” the letter said. "I do find some antithesis in representations made on the one hand, directed generally toward greater freedom from import licensing and the specific complaint relating to the import of used tractors. “K appears the retailer who raised this matter might wish to remove controls which affect his business, while introducing another control detrimental to the interests of others, which would have the

effect of giving new tractor dealers a measure of protection. “The principal complaints being received in this respect appear to stem from those with a vested interest in selling machines,” the letter said.

Replying to a complaint about a shortage of light trucks, the Minister said that fairly considerable discretion was given franchise holders in the types of they might import and this was particularly true regarding the allocation of 15cwt trucks. To some extent, he said, the priority given to the assembly of these trucks in New Zealand depended materially on the preference accorded by the motor companies in the use of their licences, which were also available for other types of vehicles.

Regarding 30cwt trucks, the Minister’s letter said that there was a significant increase in imports of these in completely knocked down

form in 1965-66, compared with the previous year. To the submission that licence preference should be given to well-established firms selling a standard type of machine, the Minister's letter said: “This approach again conflicts with the general tone of the other submissions aimed at dispensing with controls.

“While it may be regrettable that the actions of some importers cause inconvenience, I feel it would be unjust to depart from the longestablished practice of allowing importers to use their licences as they wish, to the best advantage. The problems associated with policing a scheme on the lines proposed, and the individual anomalies it could create, would be substantial. “It could well be pointed out . . . that the wide differences between some of the proposals discussed pinpoint the complexities,” the letter said.