146
Report on an Ordinance intituled
An Ordinance to provide for certificates of origin in respect of goods wares and merchandise sought to be imported from certain places and to provide for the furnishing of import manifests.
The object of this ordinance is to prevent the importa-
tion into the Colony of goods produced or manufactured in
enemy territory.
It was originally drafted in 'December, 1914, and was
based on the Board of Trade Notice of the 9th October, 1914.
It was afterwards altered in accordance with the Board of
Trade Notice of the 7th November, 1914, and was in course
of passage through the Legislative Council when the Secretary
of states telegram of the 3rd arch 1915 arrived directing
the introduction of the legislation.
The differences between the provisions of the ordinance
and those of the regulations in force in the United Kingdom
are due to the absence of any general customs organisation
in this Colony. These differences are shortly as follows:-
(a) The Ordinance is cast in the form of a prohibition
of unlicensed importation, instead of in the form
of a power to refuse delivery of uncertificated
goods.
(b)
It imposes on shipowners a duty to furnish import
manifests to the Superintendent of Imports and Ex-
ports, and makes such import manifests prima facie
evidence es to the cargo imported.
(c) It provides that shipowners who are interested in
goods only as carriers shall not be deemed to have
imported the goods unless they have discharged them,
and it gives power to allow goods to be discharged
by shipowers into approved warehouses where the
goods will be held subject to the directions of the
Superintendent of Imports and Exports.
The Schedule of places in respect of imports from which certificates of origin will be required, the form of certificate, and the list of goods exempted from the operation of the Ordi- nance by an Order of the Governor-in-Council made on the 11th March 1915, all follow the Board of Trade Notice of the 7th
fovember, 1914.
All the procedure at the port of shipment is therefore the
same as that for imports into the United Kingdom, according to
the latest information available, and it is intended if possible,
to follow here any changes made in the latter procedure, using
for that purpose the powers given to the Governor-in-Council
by section 10 of the Ordinance.
Section 1 is formal.
Section 2 contains definitions,
Section 3 prohibits importation without a permit from the
places specified in the First Schedule, and provides that ship-
ownere shall not be deemed to import unless they land the cargo,
The places in the First Schedule are the same as those in the
Board of Trade Notice of the 7th November, 1914.
mit.
Section 4 prescribes the form of permit.
Section 5 lays down the conditions for the issue of a per-
The general condition is the production of a certificate
of origin, but power is given to issue an importation permit on
a deposit on bond, and power is also given to issue a permit
for the temporary deposit of the cargo in an approved warehouse,
The provisions relating to the deposit and bond are taken from
the Board of Trade Notice of the 7th November, 1914.
Section 6 prescribes that the certificate of origin shall
be in the form contained in the Second Schedule, and the form
in the Second Schedule follows that contained in the Board of
Trade Notice of the 7th November, 1914.