MEAT QUOTAS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 97, 18 January 1935, Page 8

MEAT QUOTAS

Problem For Dominion GOVERNMENT’S POLICY Long-term Agreements Restriction -of meat exports from New Zealand to the United Kingdom is admittedly the worst difficulty confronting the Dominion’s a'dniiuistrators. Leading Ministers, when questioned on the subject yesterday, were not prepared to make a detailed statement regarding policy, this reluctance being due to the fact that negotiations with the British Government for a new agreement are going forward both by cable communications and by conferences in London, "where the High Commission!’, Sir James Parr and Mr. Mr. David Jones, chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, are advocating the Dominion’s interests. The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, said that, in view of the active negotiations in London, it was impossible for many vital reasons to disclose the details of the Government’s proposals or suggestions to the British Government as the basis of a new agreement. As had been indicated already the New Zealand Government was making every effort possible to secure a long-term agreement as from the expiry of the existing short-dated agreement ending on March 31 of this year It was difficult to &ive a definite period to what was comparatively called a long-term agreement, but a minimum of a year seemed to be reasonable, seeing that producers had to make plans for each succeeding season. The general idea at the Ottawa Conference was that trade agreements should operate for three years, but this did not mean that any prospective new agreement —with the British Government—in respect of meat exports from New Zealand, would have a similar time limit. The main aim was to seek something better than it quarterly agreement. That was all that could be said on the subject at the moment. At to quantities, it would not be politic to disclose the basis of the Government’s proposals to the British authorities. EggS in Empire Politics. There does not appear to be any anxiety either in political orcommercial circles about the possibility, of a British restrictive quota on the importation of New Zealand eggs, as is threatened on Australia’s output One authority in close touch with the D minion’s export trade said that Zealand’s shipments ot eggs to. tne United Kingdom were infipitesum.l compared with Australia’s exports. Last year this country exported crates eacli containing 30 dozen. J-lns season, which began in the last week of August aud continued up to November, this allowing all the exported eggs to arrive on the London market betoie Christmas, the shipments totalled on 11,500 crates. It was relatively a small export trade, but without it this season the price of eggs in this country would have been about sixpence a dozen. The exports prevented a serious glut in the Dominion market. ’There was no use pretending, he said, that the industry was in a satisfactory condition. It really was in a bad way, and unless something was done about it, the position soon would become very serious for the majority of producers. There had been increased production this season in Canterbury and Otago; the industry, however, was almost stagnant in the Wellington, Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki districts, while in the Auckland province there had been a small increase. The only poultiyraisers who were doing anything like reasonably well were those who concentrated on the production and sale of day-old chicks and pedigree birds. And even with them prices were very different from what they were seven, or eight years ago. Instead of receiving £7 a hundred for day-old chicks, raisers had to be content with £2/10/-. And who nowadays could get five guineas for a pedigree bird ? The old days, when an expert with 2000 hens could earn £lOOO a year, had gone. There was no scope for further development of the industry. In the circumstances, there was little likelihood of a quota being Imposed on the export of New Zealand eggs. On rhe contrary, those most closely associated with the industry anticipated an expansion of the export trade