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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, NOVEMBER 28, 1919.
In addition to the above, in pursuance of the undertaking given by the President of the Board of Agriculture in the House of Lords on 19th March, 1919, the prohibition on the importation of hops will be continued for the present.
It is not proposed to make any additions to the above list unless and until Parlia- ment so determine, with the possible exception that in the event of the contingency foreshadowed in paragraph (b) above arising it might be necessary to suspend tem- porarily all or any of the imports from the country affected by the collapse of exchange.
The Board of Trade announce, in explanation of the above, that pending legislation a General Licence under the Prohibition of Import Proclamations is to be issued to cover all goods with the exception of those set out in the list of key industries. In the case of Kerosene and Benzine (including White Spirit), Gas Oil, and Fuel Oil, this general licence refers to total quantity of import, and does not affect the agreement entered into by the Government to limit the number of importing firms for the period of the existence of the Pool Board and nine months thereafter to those firms which co- operated with the Government to form the Pool Board as a result of which the community received material benefits. The termination of the war organisation of the Pool Board as from 31st January, 1919, was announced in the Press on 2nd January, 1919. The nine months period which has to elapse before other firms are allowed to import does not therefore expire until 31st October, 1919.
Further, it should be noted that in accordance with the provisions of Article 295 of the Peace Treaty, which requires all the parties to the Treaty to adopt the International Opium Convention, the importation of Opium and Cocaine, except under Home Office licence, remains prohibited.
(Board of Trade Journal, 28th August, 1919.)
Imperial Preference.
Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, (which received the Royal Assent on 31st July), provides as follows:---
“8.----(1) With a view to conferring a preference in the case of Empire products, the duties of customs on the goods specified in the Second Schedule to this Act (see below) shall on and after the dates provided for in that schedule, be charged at the reduced rates (hereinafter referred to as "preferential rates") shown in the second column of that schedule, where the goods are shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise to have been consigned from and grown, produced or manufactured in the British Empire..
"For the purposes of this section ::
“The British Empire' means any of His Majesty's dominions outside Great Britain and Ireland, and any territories under His Majesty's protection, and includes India:
"Provided that where any territory becomes a territory under His Majesty's pro- tection, or is a territory in respect of which a inandate of the League of Nations is exercised by the Government of any part of His Majesty's dominions, His Majesty may by Order-in-Council direct that that territory shall be included within the definition of the British Empire for the purposes of this section, and this section shall have effect accordingly.
"Goods shall not be deemed to have been manufactured in the British Empire as aforesaid unless such proportion of their value as is prescribed by regulations made by the Board of Trade is the result of labour within the British Empire.
"(2) Where the Board of Trade is satisfied as respects any class of goods to which the preferential rates apply that those articles are to a considerable extent manufactured in the British Empire from material which is not wholly grown or produced in the Empire, the Board may by order direct that the preferential rate shall be charged only in respect of such proportion of those goods as corresponds to the proportion of dutiable material used in their manufacture which is shown to have been grown or produced in the Empire.
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