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Inclosure 14 in No. 1.
Revised Draft Rules for regulating the Transport in Bond of Yünnan Opium from Tengyuch to Hong Kong and Shanghae.
Rule 1. The opium shall be packed in cases or boxes of the pattern prescribed by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh.
Note. It is of considerable importance that the boxes should all be of a uniform size and appearance.
Of a uniform size, so that the rates of freight may be agreed upon with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and the British India Steam Navigation Company, and that these Companies may adopt or build strong-rooms to suit the size.
The appearance of the box should be distinct from that used for Indian opium. The size will probably be such that two boxes will constitute a full load for a mule; this is also a convenient weight for handling by coolies.
2. Each box is to contain the standard weight of opium prescribed by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh.
Note. It is not necessary to point out the necessity for adopting a fixed weight as is done in India.
3. Each box shall, after examination of its contents by the Collector of Customs at Tengynch, be closed in his presence and secured with wire and leaden seals and be numbered on one end. The figures to be 14 inches high. The gross weight shall be painted on the box in catties and taels and also pounds and ounces.
4. The pattern of these scals shall be varied from year to year.
5. The particulars of each box shall be entered against its number in a register be kept by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh in the form shown in Appendix (A.)
6. The name and address of the consignee shall be marked on the top or bottom of the box. The ends of the box shall be kept free for Customs marks.
7. On dispatch of a consignment to Bhamo the Collecter of Customs at Tengyueh shall forward a copy of the entries concerning it in his Register A, to the Customs officers concerned at (a) the ultimate port of destination, (b) Rangoon, (c) Bhamo.
8. Three copies of a way-hill showing the total number of cases and the number of each case will be made out. One will be given to the headman of the mule caravan, who will deliver it with the opium at Bhamo, where the Customs officers will, when satisfied that every box has arrived, write on its acquittance in full or in part, and retura it to the headman of the mule caravan. A second copy will be sent by post to the Cu-toms officer at Bhamo for comparison with the copy handed to him by the headman of the mule caravan. The third copy will be signed at Tengyueh by the headman of the mule caravan, and will be retained by the Customs there as the receipt of the headman of the mule caravan for the opiam taken.
The way-bill will be in the form shown in Appendix (B).
9. The consignor and the headman of the mule caravan shall execute a bond with the Customs officer at Tengyueh, in treble the value of the opium, to deliver the same (in the original chests, with all the seals and fastenings intact, and to be of the same gross weight as is recorded in Register A) to the Customs officer at Bhamo within a period to be named in the bond. A joint bond to the same effect shall also be executed by one or more firms well known in Burmah as sureties for the consignor.
10. On receipt of an acknowledgment of the opium from the Customs officers at Bhamo the Customs officer shall cancel the bonds by defacing them, and shall return them to the consignor if resident at Tengyueh; if he is not resident the bonds shall be destroyed.
11. If on arrival at Bhamo the full tale of chests of opium of correct weight is not delivered to the Customs officer, the latter shall at once report the matter to the senior Civil officer present, who will have power to detain the mules of the caravan until the head of the caravan clears himself of all blame.
The Customs officer at Bhamo shall have power to open and examine any box if he considers this necessary.
12. If the head of the caravan is found responsible for the loss he shall be fined by the Deputy Commissioner of Bhamo a sum not exceeding three times the value of the missing opium, and his mules shall be detained until this fine is paid.
13. If the Deputy Commissioner is unable to obtain three times the amount of the missing opium from the head of the mule caravan, he shall inform the Customs officer at Tengyuch of the balance remaining due, which shall be recovered by the Customs officer from the consignor and his sureties, and after it is recovered the bonds may be cancelled.
14. The money so collected by the Deputy Commissioner and by the Collector of the Customs at Tengyueh shall be credited to Excise receipts.
Procedure at Bhamo.
15. The Customs officer at Bhamo, having received the full tale of correct weights
of chests of opium, will file the page of Register A received from Tengyueh in a book- file, and will give each case a serial number, which he will mark against the entry in red ink, and he will also initial the last entry with the date.
16. He will then stencil on one end of the chest, in red paint, the letters "B. H. Q.,” followed by the serial number.
17. When he forwards a consignment to Rangoon he will prepare a way-bill in duplicate, in the form shown in Appendix (C).
18. One copy of this way-bill will be filed at Bhamo, and the other sent, with the mate's receipt, to the Chief Collector of Customs, Rangoon.
Procedure in Rungoon.
19. The Manager of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company will give notice to the Chief Collector of Customs, Rangoon, of the day and hour at which the opium may be expected, and an Inspector of Customs will, if the tale and weight of the boxes is correct and the seals are intact, take delivery and place the chests in the bonded ware- house.
The Chief Collector of Customs shall have power to open and examine any box if he considers this necessary.
20. Upon receipt of a consigument in Rangoon the Chief Collector will inform the consignee and call upon him to pay the charges incurred, which will include the cost of handling at Bhamo and Rangoon, the freight charged by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, and a registration fee of 1 rupee a chest. It will include also the cost of putting the opium on board the British India Steam Navigation Company's steamer, under Customs supervision, and the freight to Hong Kong or to Shanghae.
21. The Customs authorities at Rangoon will stencil a consecutive number in blue paint after the letters R. G. N.," which number will be entered in a register, to be kept in the form shown in Appendix (D), in which will be kept a complete record of each chest of opium which leaves Tengyueh.
22. The consolidated rates shown in the thirteenth column of Appendix (D) will be the total of all the charges mentioned in Rule 20, and will be calculated by the Chief Collector of Customs and declared and published by him to be the rate for a fixed period-preferably for six months. The rates with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and British India Steam Navigation Company may, if necessary, be revised every six months.
23. When all charges have been paid on a consignment, or part of a consignment, it will be shipped by the Chief Collector of Customs and the bill of lading handed to the consignor at Rangoon. At the same time a copy of the entries in Appendix (D) relating to that consignment will be sent to the Chief Officer of Chinese Customs at the port of destination.
[For Appendices, see Inclosure 10.]
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