A TABLE OF THE DUTIES PAYABLE ON SPIRITS AND WINES, &C. COLLODION, ETHYL, IODIDE OF £ s. d. 1 4 0 1 5 0 0 13 0 FRUITS preserved in Spirits-the Spirits per gallon,.... 0 10 5 (The Fruit being passed duty free.) SPIRITS AND STRONG WATERS, viz.:-Spirits or Strong 10 10 5 5 0 10 0 10 .the gallon 0 10 2 RUM AND SPIRITS, of and from a British Posses OTHER SPIRITS, being sweetened or mixed so that the degree of strength cannot be ascertained as aforesaid, viz. : RUM SHRUB, LIQUEURS, AND CORDIALS, of and from a British Possession.. PERFUMED SPIRITS & COLOGNE WATER (Thus the duty on Wine under 46 degrees would be 3/6) BRITISH SPIRITS-DUTY TABLE. Gills. Duty. Gills. Duty. Gills. Duty. Gills. Duty. GENERAL ORDERS ON WET GOODS ISSUED BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF CUSTOMS SINCE 1st JANUARY, 1876. G. O. 10-1876. The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury having been pleased, with a view to establish uniformity of practice in the Customs and Inland Revenue Departments in respect of General Export Bonds given for the exportation of Foreign and British Spirits, to authorize this Board to dispense, so far as Spirits are concerned, with the Stamp hitherto required under the 14th Section of the Act 34 and 35 Victoria, chapter 103, to be affixed to the Notice of Exportation given by the Exporter or his Agent: The Board direct that for the future, upon the exportation ofSpirits, Foreign or British, under the security of a General Export Bond, no Stamp duty be required on the Notice to Export mentioned in the 14th Section of the Act above quoted. The Collector is to govern himself accordingly, and to take care that a note of this alteration be recorded against the 14th Section of the Act, as well as upon that part of the General Order No. 97, 1871, which has hitherto required a Stamp to be affixed to the Notice. G. O. 23-1876. The Board have had under consideration the general question of Blending, or Vatting, Wines and Foreign Spirits in Bond; and, having regard to the similarity of the operations and to the fact that they are subject to the same general regulations : The Board allow the merchant, after performing the operation of putting Wines or Foreign Spirits of the same sort together, whether in large or small quantities, to call the operation by either name, " Blending" or "Vatting," and to mark the Casks by cutting either of the letters B or V, at his option, on the head, whether they be new Casks or form part of the original Packages. In the following cases, however, viz. :— When Spirit is added to Wine for the purpose of fortifying it; When any other article, such as Fining, Coloring, &c., is mixed with Wine; or, When Foreign Spirits are bulked for the purpose of adding Finings, Coloring, or other matter that may be allowed by existing regulations, for Home Consumption, whether in large or small quantities; the operation is to be called a Vatting, and the Casks are to be. marked V. G. O. 31-1876. The Board have considered representations from Importers of Naphtha into this country requesting that 'some specific test may be fixed" for the purpose of enabling them to ascertain beforehand whether Naphtha has or has not been subject to a process of purification which will render it subject to duty under the provisions of the Act 30 and 21 Vict., cap. 82, sec. 8. It is not in the power of the Board to define by any specific test Naphtha which would be admissible free of Duty, as crude Naphtha; whilst it is admittedly in the power of Manufacturers of the Article to purify it sufficiently to render it liable to Duty under the provisions of the Law quoted above. The Board, however, direct the Officers that in cases where Naphtha retains the disagreeable odour and flavour natural to it in its crude state, and is totally unfit for use as a potable spirit, or for admixture with a potable spirit, it be delivered free of Duty, the special authority of the Surveyor for such delivery being obtained in each instance, and a record of that officer's Examination of the Goods being made upon the Entry. In the exceptional cases above described a Sample of the Article is to be sent to the Board for their decision. The General Order No. 117, 1865, is cancelled. G. O. 61-1876. The Board resume the consideration of their General Orders Nos. 111, 1864, and 97, 1871, in reference to the Amount of Security to be given to the Crown by Exporters of Goods under a General Export Bond. By the 1st Article of the Order 114, 1864, it is required, in respect to the Exportation of British Plain Spirits, "that Bond "be taken in a penalty equal at least to the amount of Excise "duty, together with the allowance of two pence per gallon "granted by the Act 23 and 24 Victoria, cap. 129, section 4 on the largest quantities of Spirits which may have been exported by the Person or Firm giving the Bond in any month in the previous year, or in such penalty as may be approved by the Board; but should the penalty of the Bond be subsequently "found to be insufficient to cover the transactions of the Ex'porter, additional security is to be required." And, by the Order No. 97, 1871, in regard to the exportation of any Warehoused Goods liable to any duty of Customs or Excise, British Wrought Plate, or Goods entitled to any Customs Drawback on Exportation, it is required that Bond be given by the Exporter "in a penalty of not less than £10,000 if "intended to cover the exportation of Tobacco, Tea, or Spirits ; "and of not less than £5,000 if intended to cover the Exporta"tion of Goods other than Tobacco, Tea, or Spirits." The Board consider that uniformity of practice should exist as far as possible in reference to the amount of security taken for the due Exportation of Spirits (whether British or Foreign) as well as for all dutiable Goods from Bond; and as it J appears that the regulations of the 1st paragraph of the General Order No. 114, 1864, above recited have been found sufficient : The Board direct that in future the Penalty to be inserted in a General Bond for the Exportation of Foreign Spirits or other Goods be determined on the same principle as that in a General Export Bond for British Spirits, and that Security be taken to the extent of at least the amount of Customs duty on the largest quantity of Goods exported by the Person or Firm giving the Bond in any month in the previous year, in lieu of the penalties prescribed in the General Order No. 97, 1871. G. O. 71-1876. The Board are of opinion that when Blended Spirits are delivered for Home Consumption the word "Blended" which is inscribed on the Cask should be inserted in the Copy of the Entry which accompanies the Goods in lieu of a Permit, and they direct that the word "Blended" be endorsed on such Copy accordingly by the Clerk in the Warehousing Department before he passes the document on to the Out-door Officer at the Bonded Warehouse. G. O. 83-1876. The Board resume the consideration of their Minutes dated 8th December, 1875, and 5th August, 1876, General Orders 123, 1875, and 72, 1876; the first dispensing with the examination by the Revenue Officers at the Port of arrival of Goods removed under the Warehousing Regulations from another Port, upon which the Merchant may pay Duty within a certain time according to the weight or quantity specified in the Despatch; and the second prescribing the mode of recording such transactions in the Official Books. The Board now withdraw the restriction contained in the first named Order, viz. :-That the duty be paid within 24 hours of the arrival of the Goods; and direct that the proper Officers in London and the Collectors of the several Out-Ports to whom the General Order 123, 1875, was transmitted do correct the same by drawing a line with ink through the words "within 24 hours of the arrival of the Goods, and" in the second paragraph of the Order, and do thenceforward read and act upon the Order as if those words were not contained in it. And with a view t giving further relief in the clerical work at Ports of Destination, the Board hereby cancel their Order No. 72, 1876, and direct that in all cases in which the provisions of the Order 123, 1875, as now amended have been compiled with, no record of the transaction be made in the Warehousing Registers, but that in lieu thereof a Rotation Number be assigned to each Account of this description as at present, and entered in its proper order in the Book known as the "Numerical List of Ships," and that in lieu of the particulars required to be given under the headings of the last five columns of that book, an entry |