lEAD DISTRIBUTION COSTS EXAMINED
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FROM OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT GOVERNMENT SPONSORED earchlight has been turned on to ransport and distribution costs of ation's bread. This follows the disre, by the Prices and Incomes Board, distribution costs have risen More y than others in bread production :ent years.
follows that these costs have coned most to recent increases in price, ling last November's rises which Board investigated. In addition, have been further wage increasestransport and distribution sector g this year, and yet another claim )ected.
bakers were wanting to meet these ither new costs by another increase . a loaf now—but the Board recomcd a six-month " freeze" in prices the industry attempts to get better etivity, and a. three-month "freeze" iventually agreed.
lowing the general findings of the I, it can be assumed that the big y chains will now have to look at their transportation costs. The I has given them a clear indication :tat it would like to see. It is a r differential in price for doorstep ry.
ommon sense would suggest that .1 services such as van delivery to oor should be separately charged f the retailer cannot recover his octal costs by selling other comics at the same time ", says the " in practice. Id. is added to the price of a loaf in some areas of the country for door-to-door delivery. The differential does not,. in many .cases, fully reflect the difference in cost as between selling bread at the doorstep and selling it in the shop, " We consider that the public interest requires that a baker selling bread at the door should specify a service charge fully reflecting the extra cost of this particular method of selling.
The report also says that the industry should consider telling the Government that distributive costs could he cut still further if manufacturers would agree to sell exclusively in certain streets. At present such a scheme would contravene the restrictive trade laws.
The report also calls on the industry to engage outside consultants to compare distributive costs firm by firm, so that there is a more broad and scientific approach. In addition, there should be national machinery for the settlement of wages in the distribution sector. At present five unions negotiate area and local agreements with individual firms.
Pressures generated by competition between unions, and by one area leaphogging over another, are basic reasons why wages have been rising out of line with productivity in the selling and delivery of bread.
The report calls on the transport unions involved to take the lead because they represent the main problem in this field.
TIR in France : The French authorities have announced the opening of new Customs offices for dealing with TIR traffic at the following locations: Soissons (destination): Chalon sur Marne (destination); Tarbes (departure and destination); Rochefort (departure and destination); and Niort (departure and destination).
TIR in Monaco: A branch office of the CLISIOIllti Bureau in the Port of Nice has been onencd for dealing with TIR traffic destined for Monaco. TIR carnets used for this purpose should state on the cover Nice--Port:' and indicate clearly that they are destined for Monaco