U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Daniel C. Roper, Secretary BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE THIS INFORMATION IS PERISHABLE How to keep it up to date The customs and other regulations of countries governing the admission and sale of foreign goods are liable to be altered at almost any time, hence the information presented in this handbook can be relied on for guidance only if there is assurance that no change has taken place since the date of preparation, August 1934. Such assurance can be had in two ways-by making direct inquiry of the Division of Foreign Tariffs or of the nearest district office of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, or by following regularly the section on "Tariffs and trade regulations" in Commerce Reports where changes in foreign tariffs and conditions of admission are announced week by week. III FOREWORD This handbook is an effort to bring together in brief form the essentials regarding the documentary requirements and customs regulations of the many and widely dispersed areas constituting the British Empire, for the guidance of the American exporter in preparing his shipments to those areas, so as to minimize uncertainty at this end and to avoid extra expense and trouble to the customer at the foreign destination. While it does not carry the official approval of the countries concerned, what is here embodied is believed to be the most reliable information available regarding the requirements of the various countries as of August 1934. It is the result of most careful study of the original customs laws and regulations of each country dealt with, supplemented by reports from American consuls and commercial attachés abroad and correspondence with them. Our obligation to these officials for their helpful cooperation is hereby cordially acknowledged. The reception of a similar handbook several years ago on Prepar ing Shipments to Latin America was exceedingly encouraging, and indicated the need for studies of this character. The many changes in their consular and customs regulations made by those countries in recent years have, unfortunately, rendered that volume no longer reliable for guidance in current transactions, and it is now out of print. The difficulty of keeping it up to date is a drawback to any published volume of this character. However, any changes made from time to time in the regulations of the countries here covered will be announced in Commerce Reports, the weekly publication of this Bureau, so that owners of this manual may have it kept up to date by annotations. Moreover, any questions regarding the official costs and conditions of getting American products into the areas of the British Empire, or of any other part of the world, may be taken up with the Division of Foreign Tariffs, or with the nearest District Office of the Bureau. The essential information here embodied has hitherto been supplied in day-to-day correspondence and otherwise by the Division of Foreign Tariffs; the material has now been reworked and brought up to date, and has been considerably amplified in scope. The volume is built on the general plan worked out by Mr. Chalmers in the first handbook in this series, with special attention to certain aspects, particularly regarding dutiable value and antidumping provisions, which are more important in the British areas than in those of Latin America. A third study in this series, covering the countries of Continental Europe, is in preparation. AUGUST 1934. CLAUDIUS T. MURCHISON, Director, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. PREPARING SHIPMENTS TO BRITISH COUNTRIES INTRODUCTION It is regrettable that there are still too frequent instances of customs difficulties; delays, and unanticipated charges that American shipments are reported to be encountering abroad, largely arising from failure on the part of the exporter's agent to conform in some respect to the precise requirements of the particular country or from unfamiliarity with its customs regulations. When notified of the imposition of fines or extra charges, or of delays in clearance of his goods through foreign customs, he may become discouraged, especially if he is a new or only occasional shipper to the given market, over what he regards as arbitrary attitudes of foreign officials or unnecessary complicated regulations of the foreign customs. Particularly in the case of the large number of areas under the British Crown, with almost every area-and often every island in a group-maintaining a separate and slightly different custom regime, there is ground for some confusion. The documentary requirements and customs regulations of the many British areas do indeed vary considerably, often in details that seem immaterial to the foreign shipper but which the various local customs authorities regard as important to them and insist on being fulfilled to the letter. It is unsafe to reason that what is acceptable to the customs in one British area will apply to another. However, the great majority of such cases of customs difficulty are entirely avoidable, since the precise requirements of each dominion, colony, or other British area can be definitely known in advance. Because the customs regulations and documentary requirements of these various British areas may not be otherwise readily or fully available to American exporters, the present manual has been prepared. The effort has been to answer briefly the questions that an exporter may need to be informed on, in the various stages of the actual preparation of documents and goods for shipment to these areas, including the conditions of their entry or other disposition at the receiving end, so that he may proceed with confidence and incur the least cost or trouble to his customer at destination. SPECIAL IMPORTANCE OF DOCUMENTATION Chief among the sources of trouble is the failure on the part of the exporter to send the proper documents, or to include the complete details on the forms of invoice prescribed by the foreign government, which are necessary also to the foreign importer when preparing the declaration of the goods for entry. Except in the matter of declaration of price and of the values acceptable for duty purposes, the 1 |