17“
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
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ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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The last item may require a word of explanation. The package, being necessary to the protection of the goods, resolves itself into a portion of the labour expended in placing them before the consumer, and thus becomes a part of their value. There may, however, be exceptions to the rule. Cases may arise in which the value of the package is out of all pro- portion to that of the article itself, e.g., ornamental jars containing sweetmeats; and the Customs autho- rities should be free to regard such cases as instances of two commodities packed together for convenience of transit, and to separate them in their returns accordingly.
In accordance with the rule we propose, shipping charges, such as landing charges, commission, &c., should not be reckoned in the value.
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III. The value should be obtained from a declara- tion of the consignee, which it should be obligatory on him to furnish in each instance.
It will be seen from Appendix E. that in most foreign countries the values are calculated from ave- rage prices fixed officially once a year; and prior to 1871 the system of computed values was followed in the British Custom House. The relative accuracy of the two methods has been warinly debated, but we are of opinion that the principle we advocate is the better, for two reasons. In the first place, if the declaration is correctly made in each instance it is evident that the totals must be accurate; and in the second place, where there are fluctuations in prices the official value is always behind the true value, prices being under estimated in a rising market and Nor do these oppos- over-estimated in a falling one. ing sources of error necessarily balance themselves in a given period of time, for the experience of the British Custon House, in the cases referred to below in section IV., where it is necessary to use computed values, has shown that very considerable errors may arise in this way.
Under this system the correctness of the returns will be dependent on the accuracy of the declarations, which is to be secured in two ways: (a.) by a Customs check, and (6.) by a penalty on the consignee for inaking an incorrect declaration.
(a.) The Customs officials in abstracting the entries into their books will, from the experience they thus gain as to the normal prices of commodities, be able to detect at once any departure from current values. They should query such cases and refer them to the bead of the department, who would then call on the importer for an explanation, to be accompanied, if necessary, by production of the invoice.
(6.) If the explanation is unsatisfactory, as showing either wilful carelessness or an intent to deceive on the part of the importer, the latter should be punish- able by fine.
We consider the power of enforcing regulations by fine to be of so much importance to the proper com- pilation of these statistics that although we have al- ready explained the practice of the imperial Customs, we think it right to set out here in full the provisions
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of the British law on the subject. follows:-
They are as
Consolidation of Customs Laws and Tariff Act,
1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 36).
"The importer of any goods not subject to duties Section 64 of Customs, or his agent, shall deliver to the collector Imports.
or other proper officer an entry of such goods in the Forin No. 5 in Schedule B. to this Act, and contain- ing the several particulars indicated in or required thereby, or in such other form and manner as the Commissioners of Customs may direct; and such entry, when signed by the collector or other proper officer, shall be transmitted to the examining officer, and be his warrant for the delivery of the goods men- tioned therein, and if such entry shall be incorrect in any particular, the importer or his agent shall within fourteen days after the landing of the goods deliver to the proper officer of Customs a full and accurate account thereof.
H
Upon the entry of any goods the importer, his Section 654
agent, or the consignee of the ship, as the case may Imports.
be, shall deliver two or more duplicates of the entry thereof, as the case may require, in which duplicates all sums and numbers may be expressed in figures; and the number of duplicates shall be such as the collector or other proper officer may require; and the importer or his agent shall produce to such officer, if required by him, the invoice, bills of lading, and other documents relating to the goods."
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Every importer, agent, or other person entering Section 72 any goods, who shall fail to comply with the foregoing Imports. regulations so far as they are respectively applicable
to the goods entered by him, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty pounds, and such goods shall be liable to forfeiture.'
Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 12).
"The exporter of goods for which no bond is Section 11. required shall (except as herein-after provided), within Exports. six days after the final clearance outwards of the exporting ship, or within such other period as the Commissioners of Customs may direct, either by - himself or his agent, deliver to the proper officer of Customs at the port of shipment a specification in the Form No. 8 or No. 9 in Schedule B. to the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, according to the nature of the goods, and containing the several particulars indicated in or required thereby, or in such other form and manner as the Commissioners of Customs may direct, and shall subscribe the declaration at the foot thereof, and on the demand of the proper officer of Customs shall produce the invoice, bill of lading, and other documents relating to the goods, to test the accuracy of such specification, and on failure to comply with any of the foregoing requirements the exporter or agent shall for every such offence forfeit five pounds; and in case any of the particulars con- tained in any such.specification shall be incorrect or inaccurate, the person subscribing the declaration shall forfeit the like penalty."
U 66076.
Ᏸ .
• See PP.
8 and 9.
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