Finance Act, 1919

Imperial preference.

8.—(1) With a view to conferring a preference in the case of Empire products, the duties of customs onthe goods specified in the Second Schedule to this Act shall, on and after the dates provided for in that schedule, be charged at the reduced rates (hereinafter referred to as “preferencial rates”) shown in the second column of that schedule, where the goods are shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise to have been consigned from and grown, produced or manufactured in the British Empire.

For the purposes of this section—

The British Empire” means any of His Majesty's dominions outside Great Britain and Ireland, and any territories under His Majesty's protection, and includes India:

Provided that, where any territory becomes a territory under His Majesty's protection, or is a territory in respect of which a mandate of the League of Nations is exercised by the Government of any part of His Majesty's dominions, His Majesty may by Order in Council direct that that territory shall be included within the definition of the British Empire for the purposes of this section, and this section shall have effect accordingly.

Goods shall not be deemed to have been manufactured in the British Empire as aforesaid unless such proportion of their value as is prescribed by regulations made by the Board of Tradeis the result of labour within the British Empire.

(2) Where the Board of Tradeis satisfied as respects any class of goods to which the preferential rates apply that those articles are to a considerable extent manufactured in the British Empire from material which is not wholly grown or produced in the Empire, the Board may by order direct that the preferential rate shall be charged only in respect of such proportion of those goods as corresponds to the proportion of dutiable material used in their manufacture which is shown to have been grown or produced in the Empire.

(3) Where goods are manufactured in a bonded factory in Great Britain or Ireland from dutiable material shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise to have been consigned from and grown or produced in the British Empire,the duty on the manufactured goods shall, to the extent to which they are shown to have been manufactured out of such material, be charged at the preferential rate.

(4) Any Order in Council or regulations made under this section shall be laid before each House of Parliament forthwith, and, if an Address is presented to His Majesty by either House of Parliament within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat next after the Order or the regulations are laid before it, praying that the Order or regulations may be annulled, His Majesty in Council may annul the Order or regulations, and the order or regulations shall thenceforth be void, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.