A.—2

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will again be prepared to nominate a representative who will be willing to afford assistance as a member of the new committee. 4. I shall be glad to receive a reply by telegraph to this despatch, as it is desired to reconstitute the committee at an early date. I have, &c, L. HARCOURT. Governor His Excellency the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, K.C.M.G., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Board of Trade Commercial Intelligence Committee.—Proposed Terms of Reference. " To he a committee to advise the Board of Trade— (a) On the work of their Commercial Intelligence Branch, and with regard to commercial missions abroad, or other means of ob'aining and diffusing information for the benefit of Biitish trade; and (6) on such matters relating to foreign tariffs and to commercial questions generally as the Board of Trade may refer to them from time to time." No. 30. New Zealand, No. 191. My Lord,— Downing Street, 23rd May, 1913. I have the honour to transmit to you, for the information of your Ministers, the paper noted below on the subject of the importation of New Zealand meat into the United States. I have, &c, L. HARCOURT. The Officer administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 30. New Zealand, No. 191. My Lord,— Downing Street, 23rd May, 1913. I have the honour to transmit to you, for the information of your Ministers, the paper noted below on the subject of the importation of New Zealand meat into the United States. I have, &c, L. HARCOUBT. The Officer administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosures. Sir,— British Embassy, Washington, 30th April, 1913. With reference to previous correspondence, I have the honour to forward herewi'h copy of a note from the Secretary of State informing me of the conditions in which meat from New Zealand will be admitted into this country in accordance with the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act.| I have, &c, The Right Hon. Sir Edward Grey, Bart., K.G., &c. Cecil Spring Rice.

Excellency, — Department of State, Washington, 22nd April, 1913. Replying further to the Embassy's note, No. 56, o' : 6th March, 1913, in reference to the importation of New Zealand meat, I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that the Department is now in receipt of a letter on this subject from the Department of Agriculture. The laws and notes on the system of meat-inspection in New Zealand accompanying the abovementioned note have been carefully ex imined by the Department of Agriculture, and found acceptable. In reference to the system of attaching a meat-inspection tag to each carcass, I have been infoimed that recent experience has raised a doubt as to the efficacy of this method of showing that the meat has passed inspection. Australian exporters have recently been sending laige quantities of meat to the Poit of San Francisco. In a recent shipment it was found that the meat-inspection tags had been lost off a certain portion of the carcasses, and the meat was seized by the San Francisco Board of Health. The Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture considers this method of marking meat an improper one, since the tags are frequently lost off, or may be removed and placed on other meat. Assurance, however, has been given to the Board of Health at San Francisco that future shipments of Australian meat will be stamped on the primal parts in a manner similar to that now used by the United States Government. The Department of Agriculture suggests that meat imported into this country from New Zealand be stamped on each quarter with indelible ink, to show that it has passed inspection. If the meat is so stamped, that Department has no objection to accepting the meat-inspection tag in the place of meat-inspection certificates, provided the tags are changed to a form similar to that furnished by

Date. Description. iOth April, 1913 From H.M. representative, Washington.