CUSTOMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1512, 7 August 1912, Page 5

CUSTOMS.

NO TARIFF BILL THIS SESSION. EXTERNAL TRADE. The Government has decided that, owing to the-short time at its disposal, there is no likelihood of its being able to introduce into the House tins session any proposal to revise the Customs tariff. Whilst iully sensible to the many anomalies that exist at the present time, and of the necessity of stimulating-the engineering, ironworking, and other manufacturing enterprises of the Dominion, the Government believes .that the subject is too intricate and of too far-reaching importance to be dealt with hurriedly and without due caution. Negotiations between the New Zealand Government and the Prime Minister of. the Commonwealth of Australia will be continued with a vieiv to bringing about, if possible, .a closer trade relationship between the two countries. The. Canadian Minister for Trade and ■ Commerce will be visiting Australia in March of next year, and the' New Zealand Government will propose that at the tinif of His visit the Ministers lor Trade, and Customs of .the lour oversea Dominions— Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand—should hold a conference to discuss the question of inter'-trnde relations. Shoddy Goods. From information in possession of the Cu-tom=, Department it would seem tu w>; both necessary and desirable that an officer of the, Department should be sent Home for the purpose of safeguarding the . ■ interests of New Zealand. The Commonwealth of Australia- has three -officers to represent it in London, and it is felt that' great saving would be ell'ected if we followed its example. The Customs Department has reason to believe that fqroisn-" wade, shoddy goods are' being imported into New Zealand ai British; hence in addition to iuii'guards rill'orded by tho ad--vice'that such an officer might be ib.'o to tender to. the New Zealand Govcrmr.i-ut, if is proposed to introduce a Trade Du--criptions Bill which shall effcctiiaiiy pra,.vent, the importation of shoddy gooiU un-Je-is s-adi.pc-jds Ihivo r.n arair»to trade description disclosing, if ■ ncrewarv, tho . quality cf the material of which tlio SOOih are mode and the country cl origin. Oil-Boring Machinery, I Iβ the -Financial [Statement of". 1)11 the I Government promised to admit frw uf ' duty .machinery for tho development of I the oilfields, or to make provision ou the "j Estimates for the remission of -.ho duty mi such machinery. No definite indication was given as to the time during which free admission was to o.iuthwe, / nor .was-the nature of tho articles to be embraced by the term "plant" specified. This promise tho flflvcrntnun't desires to announce will bs carried out so fax as it relates . to. all machinery and (ill plant declared for nil-boring purposes, provided it can be shown to the satisfaction of the Collector of. Customs to have been ordered since fenteinber 8, 1911. and prior to July 26, 1912. Preference to British Manufactures. •As no duty is paid upon goods import- ,. eel by the Government, or supplied by tenderers to-tha Government at the ship's side the advantage to British manufacturer 9 which it was intended '•o afl'ivil by. the rates of duty prescribed in the Customs Duties Act caii, in the ca=e of ■ Government contracts for goods to be

iniported, only be provided'by the establishment o£ a special'rule applicable to all Departments. It has already become the practice in some Departments, when deckling ujioa the acceptance of tenders for Government supplies, not necessarily to accept thOj lowest tender if offering goods oi foreign manufacture where the amount of such. tender, with tho addition of the extra duty payable upon the senile goods imported lor private purchasers, would not be less than the lowest tender offering goods of British manufacture. The Government now thinks it advisable t'O lay down a general rulo governing all purchases of Government supplies- and tho acceptance of all Government tenders. A direction lias been issued that in all such.cases there shall be added the equivalent of the excess duty to the price of ali goods of foreign, manufacture, and unless the price to be pahl for the goods of British manufacture then considerably exceeds the price for the foreign goods the British tender is to be accepted. AVhere there are special advantages in the quality or character of tho foreign goods the rule may be departed from; but in such cases, before the tenj der is accepted or the purchase is completed, a report is to be made to the Minister detailing the special reasons for the departure.