CLEARANCE OF IMPORTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1015, 4 July 1930, Page 12

CLEARANCE OF IMPORTS

CUSTOMS REFUSAL UPHELD BY PRIME MINISTER STATEMENT IN HOUSE Press Association Replying to the Hon. "W. Downie Stewart (Reform —Dunedin West), who in conjunction with Mr. A . E. Ansell (Reform —Chalmers) and Mr. J. XV. Munro (Labour — Dunedin North), raised the question in the House last evening of accepting payment of duty on goods for Dunedin which arrived at Auckland, the Prime Minister and Minister of Customs, the Hon. G. XV. Forbes, said that there were two questions involved: (1) The time at which the goods could be cleared In anticipation of alterations in the tariff, and (2) the incidence of any new duties which might be imposed. In the first place, all that had been done so far was to exercise the discretion granted by Parliament under the Customs Act, 3913, by refusing to accept entries until the goods had arrived at their port of discharge. As to the other point, he stated that the discretion was preserved in the Act for Parliament to deal with the matter of altered duties. In his opinion it was the duty of the Customs Department so to exercise the discretion granted to it by law. No scheme had yet been devised which would satisfactorily meet all the complicated situations that might arise at the time of a change of tariff. The decision which had been arrived at with regard to the clearance of goods had the great advantage that it placed as far as possible all importers at the one centre on a similar footing. In the circumstances he regretted that he could not see his way to accede to the request of the Otago Importers’ and Shippers’ Association that goods should be allowed to be cleared at the Customs at any* port in New* Zealand as soon as the importing ship arrived at her first port of call in the Dominion.