important Marketing Changes Announced

Chronicle (Levin), 18 April 1947, Page 7

important Marketing Changes Announced

Tress Association 1

By Telecr~ph —

WELLINGTON, April 17. , -j The intention of the Govern- J uient to inti'oduee legislation : which would provide for import- | ant changes in regard to the inar- i keting of dairy produce and the ; procedure for fixmg the guaran- 1 teed price, was announced this ; evening by the Prime Minister. | "The election nianifesto of the 1 Government contained proposals for the future marketing organisation of the dairy industry and also proposed that an independent . tribunal be established to deter- • mine the guaranteed price," said the Prime Minister. "That manifesto had stated that these proposals would be discussed with representatives of the industry be- ! I'ore they were put into eifect and this course has been followed. j "As the result of discussions which liave been proceeding for tbe past few weeks, the Government has approved a plan Avhich involved the establishment by statute of a Dairy Commission. will be given the task oi' determining the guaranteed price for each season and the price so determined will be fully guaranteed by the State. ' ' The new organisation will also assume, subjeet to policy direction by the Government, the powers of buying and selling butter and cheese for export and will undertake the regulatipn or disti'ibution on the local niarket. "The Commission will consist a of a full-time cliairman appointed by the Government after eonsultation with the New Zealand Dairy Board, three persons selected after consultation with the New Zealand Dairy Board from a panel of six liames submitted by the board, and three persons nominated by the Government after consultation with the Board. The Prime Minister emphasised that the proposals did not in any way depart from the principles of the guaranteed price. They were designed to establish a elose partnership between the industry and Government in the marketing of butter aiid cheese and in the important work of fixing a price to [the producer that was commensurjate with the return being reeeived | by other sections of the communlity. Such partnership was in aci eord with GoVernment policy and, iii the long term viexv, Was the course likely to be mosf benehcial to the iiidustry and to the ? Doioivriori as a whole. Claims had been made by the dairy industry that the price for

the 1946/47 season should be revised, said the. Prime Minister. In view of the decision to establish the Commission which would .in future be charged with the responsibility of fixing prices, it had been thought advisable that these claims sliould also be referred to the Commission. Legislation which would be introduced at an early stage in the coniing session, would therefore authorise the Commis^ sion to reconsider the purchasc price for the 1946-47 season if it thought desirable. "I am pleased to statc that the proposals outlined above have been accepted by tlie Dominion Dairy Conference," said the Prime Minister. "On behalf oJ the Government I can assure the industry that no timo will be lost in drafting and introducing the necessary legislation. The indus- • try and Government have T'or some time past sought a method which would give produeers a closer association with the marketing of their produce.^ 1 regard the proposals which have now been accepted by both the Government and industry as an important step in the history oi the dairy industry and the Government; for its part, will d everytliing pusSiblc to facilitate the establishinerjt of the Commission." *