213073-1934-Supplementary-Draft-Bills--Printers-and-Publishers-Amendment-Dangerous-Goods-Amendment — Page 3

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control, or in the possession, custody or control of any servant, agent, or warehouse owner, any dangerous goods except in pursuance of licence granted by the Inspector General of Police.

(5) If any person has dangerous goods in his possession, custody or control, or in the possession, custody or control of any servant, agent or warehouse owner, in contravention of this section, such dangerous goods shall, together with the drums, tins, cases or other packages containing the same, be liable to forfeiture, and in addition such person shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months and to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, and further such person shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars a day for each day after the first day during which such goods are proved to have been in his possession, custody or power or in the possession on his behalf of any servant, agent of warehouse owner,

Objects and Reasons.

1. The amendments to be enacted by this Ordinance are necessitated in the main by the recent drafting of a new and complete code of "dangerous goods" regulations to which the Chamber of Commerce has agreed and which are to be made by the Governor in Council under section 5 of the principal Ordinance.

2. Clause 2 omits as redundant the words "an order of” from section 2 of the principal Ordinance. It is quite sufficient to require no more than a declaration by the Governor in Council to make any goods "dangerous".

Cf. the amendment to section 40 (2) of the Interpretation Ordinance, 1911, effected by the Interpretation Amendment Ordinance, 1927.

3. Clause 3 adds to section ō (1) a new paragraph (ff) empowering the Governor in Council to make regulations for the labelling or marking by other means of dangerous goods. Such labelling is a feature of the new regulations.

4. Clause 4 substitutes a new section for section 9, since some of the old provisions will be no longer necessary when the new regulations come into force.

5. By clause 5 sub-sections (1) and (5) of section 10 have been redrafted.

The effect of the additional words added at the beginning of sub-section (1) is to exempt the masters of ships that enter the harbour carrying dangerous goods from the licensing pro-

visions of this section.

In both sub-sections the words "or warehouse owner" have been inserted after "servant or agent' in order to make it quite clear that the owner of dangerous goods who deposits them in another's godown is not thereby relieved from personal liability to take out a licence in respect of such goods.

One or two slight alterations of wording have also been made.

R. E. LINDSell,

Attorney General.

July, 1934.