GOLD DUTY

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21420, 12 March 1935, Page 8

GOLD DUTY

I > 11-1' I; RENTJ AT 10 N BET W EEN TWO ISLANDS A long-standing difference between the conditions of gold export from the North and South Islands is revealed by a proclamation in the latest Gazette. The proclamation provides that no gold shall be shipped from any port in the North Island to the South Island unless gold duty has been paid to a Collector of Customs in the North. Gold exporters in the North Island have been at a disadvantage compared with southern exporters ever since the early days of gold mining in the Dominion. Until recently no duty -was charged on gold exported from the south, but from the 'eighties a charge of 2s an ounce was made for gold exported from the North Island. When the new gold duties were introduced a few years ago the relative difference was maintained, the duty for export from the North Island being about 2s more than for the South Island. The duty on North Island gold produced by other than alluvial or dredging methods is 15s an ounce, that for alluvial or dredged gold being 14s 6d an ounce. .The duty for the South Island is 2s less for each class. The reason for the original imposition of the 2s duty for North Island gold, while the South Island export went free of duty, is not clearly understood, although .it is said by .some to have been made to provide funds to meet the pension claims of ipiners who contracted diseases during their work in the North Island mines'. The gold duty represents, according to customs officials, the only discrepancy in duties between the two islands. Regulations have existed for some time to prevent gold from being shipped from northern ports to the South Island in an attempt to avoid paying the higher duty. South Island gold exported ultimately from northern ports has to be shipped to the North Island "under- identity."