MR. NASH ANSWERS QUESTIONS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 94, 14 January 1939, Page 10

MR. NASH ANSWERS QUESTIONS

Licensing Procedure

POINTS RAISED BY DEPUTATION

Special Cases To Receive Consideration,

Questions about import licensing procedure, raised by a deputation from the New Zealand Importers’ Federation, were answered this month by the Minister of Customs, Mr. Nash, in a letter, which has now been released for publication. Mr. Nash says : —

“Goods which were on order on or before December 5 and which are imported after December 31: These will be admitted under licence issued at time of importation on' application being lodged at that time with the collector of Customs, unless they are included in a licence previously issued in respect of the period during which such goods are imported. “As I explained to Jthe deputation it would be understood that this dispensation would apply to goods the orders for which called for shipment within a reasonable period and it may be necessary to consider further any individual cases where long-term contracts were involved. It was understood, also, that the quantities imported under such orders would not be abnormal and that copies of particulars of the orders would be furnished forthwith to the collector of Customs at the port of intended importation. “Applications in respect of the first licensing period (January 1 to June 30, 1939) should include all goods to be imported during that period, whether or not they were ‘on the water’ on December 5 or were on order on or before that date. Urgent Orders. “Urgent orders for essential requirements: Pending the issue of licences in respect of the first licensing period collectors of Customs have been authorized to deal with special applications in respect of urgent orders covering essential requirements. “Orders dispatched on December 6: Consideration will be given to any representations in respect of individual cases where orders were dispatched on December 6. Such representations should be addressed to the Comptroller of Customs and should include evidence relating to the date on which the order was booked (if the goods were ordered through an agent) and any other information as to the reason why the order was not dispatched earlier. “Descriptions of goods on applications: As indicated in a statement made by me in the Press, it will be satisfactory if goods are grouped in applications according to tariff items. In a few cases information will be necessary respecting particular classes of goods included under a comprehensive tariff item, and in such cases collectors of Customs will advise the applicants if the information has not tilready been furnished on the application.

“Applications in respect of new avenues of business: As full information as possible should be submitted in support of any such applications, each of which will be carefully considered.

"Payment for goods imported on consignment: No difficulty should be experienced in obtaining foreign exchange required in respect of payment for goods imported before the licensing system came into operation. Any further shipments on a consignment basis will be subject to an import licence similarly to other importations, and application will require to be made to a trading bank in respect of any remittances in excess of the amount shown in the import licence. “Facilities for payment of royalties, etc.: Applications in respect of such payments not covered by a licence in respect of imported goods may be submitted in the prescribed form through a trading bank for consideration of the Reserve Bank. A similar procedure should be followed regarding remittances in respect of salaries and expenses of overseas buyers.

“Import licences; who should apply?: The person in whose name the goods are entered through the Customs on importation should be the applicant for a licence. If an indent agent places an order overseas on behalf of clients and the clients enter the goods then the clients should be the holders of the licences. On the other hand, if the indent agent enters the goods in his own name and sells them on a duty-paid basis he should be the holder of a licence. It will be noted that, particulars regarding the manner of payment, for the goods is required to be shown on the form of application for a licence, and such information will also be shown on the licence which is issued in duplicate. If, therefore, a client who enters the goods indicates on his application for a licence that payment is to be made b.v him to the indent agent (assuming that payment is effected in this mannerl and makes available a copy of his licence to the indent agent the latter will he in a position to present it to-his hank in support of a request for foreign exchange to pay for the goods. Term of Licence. “Term of licence: hull consideration will be given to special applications in respect of licences covering a longer period than six months where the circumstances (e.g., seasonal goods) justify some departure from the ordinary procedure in I hat regard. “Manufacturers’ samples: These should be made the. subject of special application to the collector of Customs til lime of importation. ""As I indicated to the depuration. it is not possible to give effect to the suggestion regarding Hie publication of lists of prohibited goods, those subject to licence and those for which no licence is required. Certain exempt ions have already been created and copies of the notice containing these are available. but it is improbable that any further exemptions will be granted in respect of commercial goods. 1 think, however, that the information already disseminated should give importers a fair indication of what is required in the matter of lodging applications, and advice on any particular points can. of course, lie obtained on application at Hie Customs offices throughout New Zealand. I may say that the High Commissioner in London and the Customs representatives in London and New York as well as the New Zealand Trade Commissioners abroad are also being kept advised as to the position.” I