CO129-421 - Governor Sir May - 1915 [3-4] — Page 435

Report on an Ordinance intituled

An Ordinance to provide for declarations of ultimate destination in respect of goods wares and merchandise to be exported to certain places and for the furnishing

of export manifests.

The object of this ordinance is to prevent the

exportation to ostensible destinations in neutral

countries of goods intended to be forwarded to enemy

territory.

It was originally drafted in December, 1914, being 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 about to be introduced into the Legislative Council when the Secretary of State's telegram of the 3rd March,

1916, arrived.

Section 1 is formal,

In section 2 the term "to export" is defined as in the Military Stores (Exportation) ordinance, 1915. It was

thought advisable to have power to deal if necessary with

cargo passing through the waters of the Colony without

transhipment, but it is not proposed to require declaram tions of ultimate destination in respect of any such cargo

without further consideration of the matter, and accord-

ingly immediately after the passing of the Ordinance an

Order-in-Council was made under section 11(c) exempting such

cargo from those sections of the Ordinance which relate to

declarations and permits. One reason for defining the term

"to export" in the above wide sense was for the purpose of

sections 9 and 10 of the Ordinance. These two sections

for the first time threw an obligation on ship owners to

furnish manifests of the cargo carried out of the colony

on their ships. Inspection of such manifests is most

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necessary for the purposes of the Military Stores (Exportation)

Proclamations, and though ship owners have been furnishing such

manifeste voluntarily since the outbreak of war there has been

no definite legal obligation on them to do so, though probably

they might have been required to do so under the Order-in-

Council of the 26th October, 1896.

The Order-in-Council

exempting transit cargo does not exempt it from the two sections

which deal with export manifests.

t

Section 3 prohibits exportation without a permit to the

places included in the first schedule, This schedule is the

same as the list of places in the Board of Trade notice of the

7th November, 1914, except that places situated in the United

Kingdom or in any British possession or Protectorate are ex-

cluded from the places to which the Ordinance will apply.

Section 4 provides for the form of permit, which is given

in the second schedule.

Section 5 provides that no permit shall be issued until

a declaration of ultimate destination has been presented, and

the applicant has satisfied all enquiries.

destination.

Section 6 provides for the form of declaration of ultimate

This appears as form 2 in the second schedule,

and is copied from the form in the Board of Trade notice above

referred to.

Section 7 is taken from paragraph 8 of the above Board of

Trade notice, the variation in the clause relating to carrying

agents being introduced to meet the case of firms which are

both carriers and exporters.

Section 8 makes the issue of the permits discretionary.

This of course is a

widepower

.depower but it was thought advisable

to take it.

Section 9 requires ship owners to furnish export manifests

to the Superintendent of Imports and Exports. The particulars

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