FINING, COLOURING, & SWEETENING. Wine under 42 degrees may be fined in bond with common finings to any extent, so long as the rate of duty is not altered thereby; but if the operation is likely to alter or reduce the rate, or should the Wine be over 42 degrees, the sanction of the Board must be obtained. For common finings, such articles as Spanish earth, isinglass, eggs, milk, or other albuminous substance may be used, but no chemical or unusual preparations can be added. It is the examining officer's duty to examine the finings, to ascertain whether they are in accordance with the above regulations, the operation being carried on under the superintendence of the surveyor. When Fining is mixed with Wine, the operation is to be called a Vatting and the casks marked V.-G. O., 23, 1876. Sweet Finings may also be added, but the quantity must not exceed one per cent. of the quantity of Wine if for home consumption; but if intended for exportation the merchant may on application to the Board be allowed to add more than one per cent.-G. O., 91, 1857. The percentage quantity of Sweet Finings must be shewn on the Red Slip to the tenth per cent., and the quantity of Finings added is taken into account in the ullage, and the whole charged at the Wine duty. Fining can be carried on in any part of the warehouse, and is usually done to leave the Wine clear and bright before it is drawn off from the lees. Foreign Spirits may also be fined in bond, but the Board's sanction must be obtained in each case.B. O., April, 1864. When Foreign Spirits are bulked for the purpose of adding Finings, Colouring, or other matter that may be allowed by the regulations for home consumption, whether in large or small quantities, the operation is to be called a Vatting," and the casks marked “V.”—G. O., 23, 1876. Rotn. 73 EXAMPLE OF A FINING OPERATION. One Cask Red Wine @ Tarragona, under 39 degrees. Landing account. Re-examination. Bung. Wet. Ullage. Loss. 56 1 Sweet-fined per cent. The new ullage and the letter V would be marked on the head of the cask, and noted in the warehouse-keeper's register from the Fining slip. To find the percentage of Sweet-Finings added :RULE.-Multiply the number of Sweet-Finings added by 100, and divide by the quantity of Winc. Thus : × 100 = 50 ÷ 57% (88). COLOURING AND SWEETENING. Spirits that are coloured or sweetened in bond are inadmissible for home consumption, the only exception being British Spirits coloured with Caramel. The quantity of Caramel to be used must not exceed 1 pint to 80 gallons of Spirits, and even this indulgence is only allowed on the understanding that the colouring matter added will not prevent the correct strength of the Spirits being duly ascertained (G. O., 30, 1873). British Spirits coloured with any matter other than Caramel, as well as British Spirits sweetened in bond, cannot be cleared for home consumption (G. O., 62, 1864). When Spirits are to be coloured or sweetened in bond, for exportation, they must be removed into a separate room or compartment having no communication with the other part of the warehouse, except by door under lock (G. O., 62, 1864). When the vatting or bottling compartments are not otherwise engaged either may be used for the purpose of sweetening or colouring. In all cases of removal from an Excise Warehouse to a Customs Warehouse, or from one port to another, it must be distinctly stated on the despatch if the Spirits have been coloured or sweetened, and if so, the consignee enters on his warehousing entries, "for exportation only." When British Spirits have been coloured with Caramel, according to the authorised rate for home consumption only, a note must be made on the despatch to prevent more colouring matter being added at port of destination: “Coloured under G. O., No. 30, 1873," will be sufficient. British Spirits sweetened or mixed in bond may be bottled in imperial or reputed quart or pint bottles, and the whole packed in cases containing not less than one dozen quarts, or two dozen pints, for exportation, or shipment as stores. British Spirits in bottles, sweetened in bond, may be removed from one port to another, or one warehouse to another, for exportation or shipment as stores.-G. O., 16, 1866. British Spirits sweetened in bond, in casks, may be removed to another port for immediate export, under G. O., No. 50, 1857; the remover to give the name of the export ship.G. O., 62, 1864. EXAMPLE OF A SWEETENING OPERATION. One cask British Plain Spirits. Landing account. Re-examination. No. Con. Ull. O.P. Proof. Bung. Vac. in. Ull. Tem. Ind. O.P. Proof. Loss. 16 58 58.2 17.9 68.6 25.7 1.5 57.6 60 47 16.9 67.3 1.3 Sugar, Water, &c., added 20. 1.3 80 Spirits sweetened.......... 77 68.6 Note.-The Spirits in this case would be first drawn off into a larger cask, and then the 20 gallons of sugar and water added. Instructions contained in G. O. 102, 1869, as to the ware. housing British Liqueurs in Customs warehouses. Certain British Compounded Spirits denominated in the Act "British Liqueurs" may hereafter be warehoused in any Customs warehouse approved for the deposit of British Spirits, but in addition to the other particulars required by the 4th section of the Act 28 and 29, Victoria, chapter 98, the Spirits must be specially described in the warehousing entry as "British Liqueurs," and the actual number of gallons at proof of the Spirits from which the Liqueurs contained in each cask were compounded must be stated thereon. After gauging the casks on receipt thereof, the proper officer is to take a sample of not less than a pint from each cask, and after having lablelled the bottle with the particulars indicated in the form of label (F) annexed,* and sealed the same with the official seal, forward it carefully packed and addressed to the "Principal of the Laboratory, Inland Revenue Office, Somerset House, London, W.C.," noting in the Landing Book the fact and the date of forwarding the samples. A letter acknowledging the receipt, in the form D,* is to be forthwith forwarded to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, Somerset House, London, in which it will be necessary to insert the ullage quantity of the Liqueurs in each cask, and the quantity of proof Spirit stated in the warehousing entry to have been used in the manufacture thereof, and a certificate of receipt (form E) is to be given to the compounder or other person who may require the same, in like manner as for British Compounded Spirits under General Order, 62, 1864. The Excise certificate is to be certified and forwarded to the Collector of Inland Revenue in the same manner as Excise certificates for other Compounded Spirits. The officers are to observe that British Liqueurs warehoused with the Customs may not be removed to any other warehouse, or delivered from the warehouse, otherwise than directly for exportation or for ship's stores on board the vessel in which the same are to be exported or used as stores; there is, however, no objection to the removal from one port to another, or one warehouse to another, for exportation or ship's stores, of British Liqueurs bottled in bond, in like manner as was permitted by the Lords of the Treasury in the case of British Spirits sweetened and bottled in bond, communicated in General Order, 16, 1866; but the officers are not to issue the "Certificate (C) of the disposal of British Compounded Spirits warehoused with the Customs" as the allowances on British Liqueurs will be paid by the Inland Revenue Department, on the strength of the Liqueurs being ascertained at the Laboratory, and the strength entered being found to be correct. The required Forms were issued with the G. O. referred to. EXAMINATION OF WINES AND SPIRITS IN CASES. The following are the latest instructions issued by the Board regarding the examination of Wines and Spirits in cases.— G. O., 1, 1875. The Board resuine consideration of the regulations under which Wines and Spirits in cases are allowed to be passed and delivered on partial examination on importation, or to be removed under bond to another port from the port of importation; and the Board now direct that the following regulations be substituted for those at present in force under General Orders, 64, 1866, and 1, 1874, which are hereby cancelled, viz. :— That on importation, provided the merchant endorse on the back of the entry the contents of each package, one case in five be examined when the number of cases of the " same mark" in an entry is twenty, or less than twenty, and only one in ten when the number of cases of the same mark in an entry shall exceed twenty, leaving it to the option of the merchant to have more packages examined should he so wish, and to the discretion of the officer to adopt a similar course should he suspect any fraud or irregularity to have been practised. That in all instances where packages of different marks are included in one entry, one or more packages of each mark, in the proportion above mentioned, be examined. That the same regulations be observed when cases of Wines and Spirits are entered at the port of importation for removal under bond to another port, whether such cases are intended to be warehoused or cleared at once for home consumption at the port to which they are removed; that the cases be passed after removal on a second partial examination, the officers taking care when such second examination is made to select other cases than those which have been already examined at the port of importation, and that a full examination be resorted to when the cases are entered for exportation, or in any instance where the officers have reason to suspect fraud, or irregularity, or should the warehouse-keeper decline to accept the quantity of the goods as stated in the despatch. That whilst opening cases of Spirits to the extent above specified, and making such external examination of the other packages as the officers may deem necessary, the officers are to measure and try the strength of bottles of Spirits to the following extent only, when it is found that there is a near approach to uniformity in the size of the bottles and strength of the Spirit, viz. : When the number of cases of the same mark is 20, or less than 20 5 cases. 1 10 cases. Above 20, and under 100 • In all instances, however, where the size and strength may be found to vary to such an extent as to render this scale in the opinion of the Inspector of gaugers in London, or the surveyors at the outports, objectionable or unsafe, the proportion of one bottle in every five, or one bottle in every ten cases, or a full examination if necessary is to be resorted to. In all instances where the opening of a smaller proportion than one bottle in every five cases, or one bottle in every ten cases, is sanctioned, the inspector of guagers in London, and the surveyors at the outports are to certify in the Red or Blue book, as the case may be, that they are satisfied with the extent of the examination. That the regulations laid down in General Order, No. 57, 1866, in regard to the testing of Wine imported in bottles, be still observed. That the gaugers in London, and the examining officers at the outports, do personally select the cases for examination from the bulk of the goods, taking care that such selection be so varied from time to time-that no settled rule of selection can be inferred from the course adopted-the proportion of cases selected being in no instance less than that above prescribed. And, That the Inspectors of gaugers in London, and the surveyors at the outports, do, in all cases of partial examination, personally select for examination one or more cases which have not been previously opened, in addition to re-examining some of the cases which have been already examined by the gauger or examining officer, recording in the Blue or Red book, as the case may be, their examination of the additional case or cases so selected. EXAMPLES OF HOW LANDING BOOKS SHOULD BE MADE UP. BRANDY, SPIRITS NOT SWEETENED. Transit shed, North Quay. J. DOUGLAS, E.O., 30/8/77. |