N.Z.-MADE ARTICLES

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 23, 27 July 1945, Page 5

N.Z.-MADE ARTICLES

AN OPINION IN BRITAIN

(Special P.A. Correspondent.)

LONDON, July 25,

An interesting but hardly encouraging view of the import markets in Australia and New Zealand was given by Mr. Charles W Bridgen, director of Ferranti, Ltd., at a public meeting held by the Manchester branch of the Institute of Export, states the "Manchester Guardian. He discussed the effects of the Import Selection Act passed by the New Zealand Government to foster secondary manufacturing industries, and said it prevented the importing of articles manufactured in New Zealand and in many instances meant that the New Zealander had to be content with inferior products. ~ ~ Remarking that there was practically nothing on the free list for either household or personal use, Mr. Bridgen described the quality of various homeproduced articles. On the textile side, he said, articles were made from fabrics woven in Lancashire. In the woollen trade, however, New Zealand was building an industry which it would "take a lot to disturb," producing materials of. very high quality. The furniture was "extremely good — very much better than the cheap furniture available in Britain before the war _but the leather was "very poor and the pottery "very bad indeed There was an absolute prohibition on the importing of small apparatus used in the house, office, or factoryelectrical equipment such as cookers, heaters, and radio sets. All these things were being made in New Zealand, and most of them compared very unfavourably with the English articles. Mr Bridgen gave the opinion that many of these import restrictions would have to be lifted, otherwise New Zealand would suffer.