(3) All canned fish delivered hereunder shall conform in every applicable respect to the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act as amended and of regulations pursuant thereto in effect on the date of this invitation to offer. CONTAINER SPECIFICATIONS FOR CANNED HERRING AND MAINE SARDINES ANNOUNCED BY FDA The following container specifications were announced by FDA on February 12 as applying to all purchases of the 1943 pack of herring and sardines for Government requirements; CASES: Cases shall be Type A-1 as shown in Export Packaging Specifications, FSC-1742-B. A small quantity of herring and sardines packed in Type A cases as shown in Export Packaging Specifications, FSC-1742-B will be needed. When this case is specifically required, arrangements will be made with individual packers for their use. Insofar as possible No. 300 (300x407) size cans and No. 1 oval cans shall be packed 48 to the case. Any wood cases meeting Export Packaging Specifications FSC-1742-B will be accepted but are not required. CANS: The use of inside enamelled cans will be required on river herring, sea herring and sardines. Any inventory of plain cans now in packer's hands may be used by special arrangement prior to purchase, but their use shall not be extended beyond the packer's present inventory. LARGER CANS: The use of the larger sizes of cans wherever possible will be encouraged. Attention is directed to paragraph (c) of WPB Supplementary Order M-86-b as amended December 24, 1942, which provides that a canner's quota percentage is based upon the net (label) weight. It is anticipated that this same provision will be effective in the order which will succeed Order M-86-b at its expiration on February 28, 1943. If packers are unable or unwilling to arrange for packing large herring in the No. 300 (300x407) size cans, it is requested that they attempt to secure the maximum production in the 3/4 size cans. TOMATO PURES: The Food Distribution Administration has set aside a quantity of tomato puree to be used by the Maine packers in packing sardines and herring for Government requirements. In order that each packer may be assured of a supply of tomato puree to meet his requirements, a letter should be addressed to the Special Commodities Branch of the Food Distribution Administration giving the following information: (1) Estimated total quantity of puree required for 1943 pack. (2) Approximate quantities and dates on which delivery is desired. (3) Destination of shipments. FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS: Government procurement plans have not yet been completed but will be announced within a short time. It is presently planned to meet with the Maine Canners sometime late in February or early March, at which time proposed specifications and other pertinent matters can be discussed. NEW CANNED EASTERN AND GULF OYSTER PRICES ESTABLISHED BY OPA Moving at the height of the canning season to adjust maximum prices for canned oysters in order to reflect increased contents and higher costs of labor and raw materials, the Office of Price Administration on February 18 replaced the March 1942 ceilings on canned oysters produced in the southeast Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico areas with higher uniform dollars and cents ceilings. Effective February 23, 1943, Maximum Price Regulation No. 328 (Canned Eastern and Gulf Oysters) lifts canner selling prices from a March 1942 average of approximately $1.95 per dozen No. 1 picnic size cans to a specific ceiling of $3.15, reflecting in part a larger amount of oysters in each container. This advance--which is passed along to the consumer through fixed mark-ups over net costs by wholesalers and retailers under Amendment No. 7 to Maximum Price Regulations No. 237 and 238 respectively--will raise the housewife's costs on canned oysters by approximately 10 cents on each No. 1 picnic size can, according to QPA. This popular size comprises about 80 percent of the canned oyster sales volume. The order authorizes corresponding increases in the other can sizes. In partial compensation for the advance, however, housewives will obtain 50 percent more oysters in each can as the result of a War Production Board order. Raw oysters comprise between 40 and 45 percent of the cost of a tin or jar of canned oysters. Although OPA has ceilings on both canned and frozen fish, no price control exists on fresh fish. Thus, advances since last March in oyster costs--as well as the necessity of placing more in each tin--cut deeply into canner margins. Labor costs also have risen since last March. Oyster canning took about 23 percent of the entire national oyster catch in 1941. The oyster industry as a whole ranks third in money value of its product in the United States, exceeded in value only by tuna and salmon. More than 60 percent of the Gulf oyster pack is canned. Without price relief, Gulf operations now under way would be severely curtailed or eliminated. "Eastern and Gulf oysters" means oysters of the genus Ostrea virginica, where the same are caught in Atlantic waters or the Gulf of Mexico. The prices set forth below are maximum prices, f.o.b. the shipping point nearest cannery. The maximum prices are gross prices and the seller shall deduct therefrom his customary allowances, discounts and differentials to purchasers of different classes. No. 1 Picnic (211 x 400) 71⁄2 oz. net $3.15 per dozen For container sizes of oysters not listed above the price shall be determined by OPA to be in line with the prices listed. OPA made no provision for specific dollars and cents ceilings on Pacific Coast canned oysters in this order. It is expected that these will be handled in a separate regulation because of the different pricing problems involved. FROZEN TINPLATE DEFINED BY WPB INTERPRETATION The following interpretation--Interpretation 1 of Conservation Order M-81, as amended February 18, 1943--was issued by the Director General for Operations with respect to 1068.1, Conservation Order M-81 on February 22. Frozen tinplate, terneplate or blackplate means only tinplate, terneplate or blackplate which, since prior to December 9, 1942, has been held in the inventory of a can manufacturer (or in the inventory of a supplier of such plate, having been produced for the account of a can manufacturer) because it had been so processed, or was of such size, gauge or grade, that it was not suitable for the manufacture of cans for which tinplate, terneplate or blackplate are specified, without qualifications, in the "Can Material" columns of the schedules attached to the said order. CERTAIN PREFERENCE RATINGS ON PD-1A FORMS TO BE ASSIGNED BY WPB FIELD OFFICES Another long step in the decentralization of War Production Board activities was made public February 24, when Chairman Donald M. Nelson announced a new WPB administrative order which directs that, after March 1, applications for priority assistance on Form PD-1A, "Application for Preference Rating", be filed with the nearest of the 131 WPB district offices, and authorizes the 12 Regional Offices, beginning March 15, to assign preference ratings on PD-LA certificates to deliveries of materials valued at $100 or less. Mr. Nelson said that the preliminary value limitation of $100 would be progressively stepped up as the field offices assume greater responsibilities and he expected that within six weeks more than 80 percent of all PD-1A applications would be handled entirely by the Regional Offices. Under the new procedure, which will simplify greatly the problems of businessmen and others needing occasional priority assistance, WPB's field offices will be responsible for seeing that all PD-1A applications are properly filled out and will forward them to Washington, or to the Regional Offices if they fall within the value limitations set by the order. Another administrative order, effective March 8, also announced February 24, empowers Regional Offices to authorize construction under Conservation Order L-41, and to assign preference ratings to deliveries of necessary scarce materials to building operations costing less than $10,000, except industrial and certain other listed types of construction. Applications for authority to begin construction under this procedure are also to be filed with the nearest WPB district office. In the early days of the priorities system, Form PD-1, later supplanted by PD-1A, was the principal instrument in the assignment of preference ratings to orders for scarce materials. Later, the Production Requirements Plan, now being superseded by the Controlled Materials Plan, provided the means for distribution of the great bulk of material required for military and essential civilian production. Receipt of the PD-1A forms has dropped from a one-time peak of more than 60,000 a week to only a little more than one-half of that number at the present time. The fact that CMP provides central control over the distribution of scarce materials to claimant agencies makes it possible to decentralize handling of PD-LA's, Ratings assigned on PD-1A certificates are known as "single-shotters", since the priority. assistance they provide is applicable only to the particular delivery for which help is requested. They do not establish the continuing assistance provided by PRP and CMP, and by orders in the "P" series covering specified industries. Form PD-1A has been revised on the basis of suggestions from industry representatives and the Industry Divisions of WPB. Copies of the revised form will be available in WPB field offices after March 1. In order to allow time for full distribution of the revised form, WPB will continue to process applications filed on the old form until April 1. this date, only the revised Form PD-1A will be accepted for processing. Foreign Fishery Trade CANADA ASSISTS QUALIFIED VETERANS TO ENGAGE IN THE COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY After The Government of Canada recently passed the "Veterans' Land Act, 1942". While primarily designed to cover farming operations, the Act includes provisions for facilitating the return of qualified veterans to commercial fishing or their entry into the industry. The Act recognizes the desirability of promoting rehabilitation in the agricultural and commercial fishing industries during the war and in the post-war period, provides financial assistance to qualified disabled veterans, and makes possible the release of needed manpower from these industries for active service in the armed forces. The Act authorizes the sale of commercial fishing equipment and building materials up to a total cost of $4,800 to any disabled veteran deemed qualified to engage in commercial fishing. The veteran is required to make an initial investment of 10 percent, the remainder to be paid over a period of 25 years or less, with interest at the rate of 3 percent. He is required to insure the property he acquires under the Act. Responsibility for the administration of the Act is vested in the "Director, The Veterans' Land Act", who is designated a corporation sole, he and his successors having perpetual succession. For the purposes of the Act, the Director is given power to acquire commercial fishing equipment as he finds necessary. Title to property acquired by a veteran under the Act rests with the Director until the veteran pays the sale price and other charges in full. Until he gains title, the veteran is regarded as a tenant at will. However, the Director may allow transfer of title to the veteran after a period of ten years, if during that period the veteran has complied with the terms of his agreement. SPANISH PRODUCTION OF BONITO-LIVER OIL AVAILABLE IN 1943 The extraction of oil containing vitamin A from bonito livers in the Vigo district of Spain is a new but flourishing development. One firm which leads in the production of this oil processed approximately 50 tons of bonito livers during 1942, yielding approximately 2,000 liters of oil. Output in 1943, according to estimates, should be roughly equivalent to that of 1942, according to the February 6 issue of Foreign Commerce Weekly. Stocks of bonito-liver oil were exhausted at the end of 1942, according to this trade source, the entire production having been absorbed by the domestic market. About one-half the estimated 1943 output could be made available for export, it was stated. The price of both bonito livers and oil extracted therefrom is strictly controlled by the Government, the price of the livers being 1.75 pesetas per kilogram and that of the oil, 1.50 pesetas per 1,000,000 international units of vitamin A. When transportation and refrigeration charges are added to the price of the livers, however, the cost probably would come to about 4 pesetas per kilogram (10.95 pesetas--$1). THE COVER PAGE Fishermen are unloading a catch of Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) at Riviera Beach, Florida. Heaviest catches of this species on the peninsula's East Coast are made from November to March, inclusive. Most recent available figures show between 2 and 3 million pounds per season taken from this area, and shipped to consumers in the East--mainly, however, to New York City. Fast open motor boats are used to prosecute the fishery. If it appears practicable and profitable to make more than one set while fishing, the Spanish mackerel are removed from the run-around gill net at the fishing grounds, and additional sets, or "strikes" are made. Otherwise, the net with the entire catch is pulled into the boat and the fish removed from the net at the fish house. Between trips the gill nets are hung on drying racks. Spanish mackerel are shipped in ice in 200 pound barrels. from one to four pounds. Market sizes usually run WHOLESALE AND RETAIL PRICES Continued gains in primary market prices for agricultural commodities together with higher prices for anthracite brought the Bureau of Labor Statistics' comprehensive index of nearly 900 wholesale series up 0.2 percent during the week ended January 16. At 101.6 percent of the 1926 average, the index is approximately 1 percent higher than in mid-December and 6 percent higher than one year earlier. The Bureau also reported an increase of 0.2 percent in the index of the retail costs of food between December 15 and January 12, the smallest monthly rise in a year. Uncontrolled foods, making up about 10 percent of the family food bill, decreased 2.3 percent from midDecember to mid-January and now stand about 27 percent above the May 1942 level. This is the first decline in uncontrolled foods since May and resulted partly because of normal seasonal declines and partly from contra-seasonal reactions from previous high peaks. 2/ Includes all arrivals as reported by express and rail terminals, and truck receipts as reported by wholesale dealers including smokers. Data for individual cities are as of the last Thursday of the month, except those for Boston which are for the last Wednesday of the month. Data on total United States holdings of various species, and for all species in geographical areas are for January 1st of the current year, and for January 15 for the previous month and the same month a year ago. Note:--Data for the latest month are subject to revision. |