THREAT OF TARIFF

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20276, 19 August 1937, Page 8

THREAT OF TARIFF

DOMINION DAIRY PRODUCE PROBLEMS OF MARKETING. r j i j j MR GOODFELLOW’S IMPRESSIONS. ! New Zealand was once again threat- ’ ened with a tariff or a quota on dairy produce entering the United Kingdom, stated Mr W. Goodfellow in -speaking at Hie smoke concert of the committeei men of the New Zealand Dairy Comi pany in the Alexandra Hall last night. . ' "Heavy losses and periodical chaos have in the past been the result of unrestricted competition in the sale of ' New Zealand butter and cheese in the United Kingdom," said Mr Goodfellow. ; "This is r.uw a thing of the past, and orderly marketing has been established ■ under* the control of the Marketing I Department in London. No risks were \ taken and a well-tried common-sense I plan of control and supervision was s adopted, as follows: (1) Shipments to g outports are regulated to give the best returns; ,2) no sales are made prior _j to tlie arrival of shipments; (3) there are no f.o.b. or c.l.f. sales competing e with consignments; A) no sales are _ J made to brokers and/or speculators; ■ i (5) a daily sales return is required; * j (6) the marketing department has the t rigtit to inspect importers’ records for 0 j check purposes; (7) the marketing dee partment acts as a clearing-house for rj I marketing information. Prices Not Fixed. Mr Goodfellow pointed out that ' prices were not fixed by ttie Marketing | Department, but that this weakness ’ i would no doubt be overcome later. c I The fixing of prices would, in his opinion, quickly eliminate any ineffleic ent agents. Recent correspondence from Mr J. ;1 iB. Wright, the London manager for j Amalgamated Dairies, Ltd., contained j the following statements, which conq ! firmed the opinion of the directors j that the Marketing Department’s j scheme had been an unqualified suc- . | cess: ” The steady and continuous rise from the month of February this year, s with only very minor reactions, was a ' demonstration of the soundness of the 1 sole consignment policy, with the elimination of importers’ speculation. We have no hesitation in saying that hr otherwise the fluctuations would have e been much wider and the average . price over the period substantially 1 lower. "An example of the dangers of for- * ward selling was evident on the Lon--0 don market during the month of Sep- * teniber, 1936. when the heavy arrivals j! j of c.i.f. New Zealand butters were the t 1 j main cause of the rapid slump in spot s i values. Under the present system 0 such a position would not have come ls j about. ,r "Trade Reaction to Scheme—Buyers lt | generally are quite satisfied with the e present arrangements. Now that the c.i.f. and short sellers in the 4 New Zealand trade are out of the way, very little cutting goes on amongst the wholesalers in order to obtain their orders: whereas before, when a wholesaler had a parcel delivered to him from a cheap forward purchase he f frequently disturbed his competitors . by undercutting to the retail trade.”