W. Samoan

Price Controls

Bring Protests

From GLEN WRIGHT, in Apia

A limit on price markups for

hardware, agricultural goods,

ferryboat fares and New Zealand corned mutton recently ordered by Western Samoa’s Price Tribunal has roused widespread indignation among merchants here.

The mandate was issued under 1939 emergency regulations from which there is no right of appeal.

“The tribunal has issued an irresponsible order,” said Mr. P. M.

Paul of the Chamber of Commerce.

“Our members’ figures prove it. How can the tribunal come to these con clusions without asking people in business?”

A special meeting of the Western Samoa Chamber of Commerce was called soon after the order was announced. Members were unanimous in opposition.

In reply, tribunal chairman V. F.

Brebner, who is Collector of Customs, declared that its duty is to protect the consumer. He said the tribunal had full access to import cost in voices and also to the Statistical Bureau’s figures on cost of living, and acted on the basis of this in formation to decree prices fair to both consumer and merchant.

Furthermore, said Mr. Brebner, duty on almost every item on the price-freeze list had been lowered to help planters and low-income con sumers. In some cases, he said, the reduction was from 40 per cent, to five per cent.

Markup limits are 15 per cent, on landed cost of all sporting goods and refrigerators; 10 per cent, on barbed wire, pig fence, wire netting, outboard motors, insecticides, fertilisers, weedicides, agricultural sprayers and radio sets. Limit price for New Zealand corned mutton which has been imported to replace corned beef was set at 32 sene.

This is within one or two sene of landed cost and some brands cost 37 sene, store-keepers asserted.

Before removing any of the specified goods from the Customs warehouse, the tribunal decreed, merchants will have to present a cost analysis, together with invoices and import entries, for checking by the Customs Department.

Members of the tribunal are Mr.

Brebner (president), John Wendt, sheet metal and air conditioning con tractor, J. D. Hunter, Western Samoa Handicrafts Corporation, and F. I.

Petana, Customs Department.

These men show a lack of know ledge of commerce and distribution, declared Mr. K. Lobley, Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation. He pointed out that not one of them is a businessman.

“We should not agree to specific markups on anything or any arbitrary percentage,” said Mr. D. McClellan, of Bums Philp.

Morris Hedstrom manager, Mr. J.

Lissington, said that break-even point for his operation was above the limits imposed by the order. He said that in Tonga, whose government tries to keep profits down, the average mark up is 30 per cent.

The new schedule will be self defeating, said Angus MacDonald, of A. MacDonald and Company. Items to be handled at a loss will simply not be imported.

Slight fall in

world copra price

Mr. lan McDonald, chairman of the Papua-New Guinea Copra Marketing Board, gave the following report on June 23: London Copra Association price fixed for Philippine copra delivered weights UK/ Continent averaged for May $167.17. This was a fall of $7.65 per ton below April’s average.

Prices fixed for June were around SAI6B per ton and this figure will be about the month’s average.

In early June, prices asked by sellers were quite out of line with consumer’s ideas, and apart from some “afloat” copra being taken up, there was little business.

Much the same happened in other edible oils with the result that prices generally were steady. This may be the tendency for some weeks to come.

There has been a fairly marked decline in supplies of fish oils, but this has merely resulted in a corres ponding decline in consumption, not in any way affecting the edible oil prices.

It is also estimated that the ground nut crop this year will be consider ably less than usual and that there will be a decline in availability of sunflower oil. This all points to an improvement in edible oil prices later this year.

There has been a fairly marked drop in NG copra production to the end of May, comparative figures being—l96B, 54,000 tons and 1969, 51,400 tons.

now Onn Fiji 5 new

fibreglass industry

3 7 Sizeable fishing boats and items such as food containers, storage tanks and floor coverings will be among the manufactures of Fiji’s new fibreglass industry.

To launch the industry, Millers Ltd. has entered into a $60,000 partnership with a New Zealand fibreglass moulding firm, George and Ashton Ltd., of Dunedin.

A fibreglass factory has started operations at Walu Bay, Suva, and the partnership has already received its first contract—the provision of

fibreglass linings for six concrete water tanks near Nukualofas Xonga As an encouragement to the new industry, the Fiji Government has given permission for certain essential chemicals to be imported duty-free, Millers’ manager, Mr. W. J.

Cruickshank, said the proposed fish ing boats would be 29 ft long and weigh 4i tons.

“The people in the islands will be able to operate them with a mini mum G f expense.” a 43 ft model may be manu factured if the 29-footers prove successful. The partnership also plans to manufacture concrete boats and barges.