ORANGE IMPORTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 128, 1 June 1937, Page 8

ORANGE IMPORTS

The Government has" given notice that importation of any quantity of Australian oranges from fly-free areas will be permitted from December next to the end of April.t This action has been taken to'prevent a recurrence of the experience of last year when Jamaican oranges realised such high prices that ' the Government found it necessary to intervene. The corrective measure is the right one to apply. High prices indicate a shortage of supplies, and the way to overcome this is to increase supplies, not merely to hold down the* price, The action taken by the Government will not, of course, affect the present situation. The Acting Minister of Customs considers that the local demand will be met from now to November by Cook Island importations and 180,000 Cases from South Australia, but he states that, if the' quantity is found to be inadequate, further imports will be permitted. Whether this works satisfactorily will depend mainly, upon the interpretation of "adequate." An adequate supply of this desirable and health-, giving fruit which is produced; in abundance by our near neighbours is a supply that is available at prices within the means of the average person. There is a great market here for oranges,. but n6t at luxury or near-luxury"prices. The fruit is a necessary, and regulated marketing can only be pronounced satisfactory when the prices correspond.