IMPORT LICENSES

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21192, 15 August 1940, Page 11

IMPORT LICENSES

TRANSFER OF INTERESTS WARNING BY MINISTER (By Telegraph.—Press Association) WELLINGTON, Wednesday “My attention has been drawn,” said the Hon. W. Nash, Minister of Finance, today, “to what is regarded as ‘trafficking’ in import licenses, a practice whereunder the holder of a license makes it available for the importation of goods by another party.” Mr Nash emphasised that such a transfer of interests in licenses was not approved of. A license was granted to an applicant to import goods, he said, and if he had no occasion to exercise the license for that "purpose on his own behalf it should be surrendered. Particularly was this necessary at the present time when the need to conserve overseas funds for essential requirements was so urgent, the Minister continued. He understood it was the practice in certain cases for the goods to be purchased on a delivered free into store basis. In such cases importers entered goods through the Customs and delivered them to the purchaser in terms of their contract Entry Not Permitted It was not desired, he said, to upset business of that nature and it accordingly had been decided that, in such cases, the goods concerned, although entered by the importer, might be written off the license held by the purchaser, provided that evidence, satisfactory to the Collector of Customs, was produced that the goods were imported in fulfilment of an

order placed by a license holder and also that a declaration under the Customs Act was furnished by the importer that the goods had been imported, pursuant to the order received from the license holder. Except in those circumstances, the entry of goods would not be permitted under a license unless they were actually imported by the license-holder pursuant to an order placed either directly with a supplier overseas, or through a suppliers’ local agent.