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70
away, and it was found that the colour had penetrated through the
material to the rice. On analysis the colour was found to be red lead.
This discovery increased the difficulty of examination and the final
disposal of the rice. The parcel is at present under detention.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
The Ad Valorem Duty.—This duty, imposed during 1932, has
increased the work of the Inspectors by reason of the fact that to enable
importers to apply for a refund of the duty on unsound food, a voucher
is required from the Health Department stating that it has been condemned
and destroyed. This voucher is delivered to H.M. Surveyor
of Customs. A slight difficulty arose when this duty was first imposed
on imported fruit at the "Grand Vitesse Depot" of the Southern
Railway. During the season many thousands of packages of soft
fruit arrive daily at this depot from the Continent. The original
practice was to label all packages "to be sold for sorting" if they
were not sufficiently unsound to be destroyed, but the merchant refused
to accept such goods on the ground that they were not worth the
amount of duty. The Officer of Customs then required a voucher from
the Medical Officer of Health stating that the whole of the goods were
unsound ; this placed the Health Department in a difficult position, and
it was eventually arranged that the Crown should take over the goods
and sell them through an agent for sorting under supervision. By
this means the sound fruit was saved and the Crown collected a part
of the duty. In this connection the provision of a sorting room at
the railway depot seems worthy of consideration, where fruit could
be rapidly sorted under the supervision of your inspectors in cooperation
with H.M. Customs.
DISPOSAL OF UNSOUND FOOD.
A large quantity of unsound food after condemnation is released
under suitable guarantees for animal food and technical purposes.
This arrangement has been working satisfactorily for over 20
years without any complaint having been received of a parcel being
misused.
This system allows the owner to recoup a little of his loss.
In conclusion, I should like to point out that the examination of
food is not only systematic, but is standardised at all the large ports
throughout the country.
The standards adopted are agreed upon by the Ministry of Health
and the Port Medical Officers after consultation.
The following table shows the quantity of food examined and
destroyed during the year at the various wharves, etc., on the riverside.