§ MR. WILLIAM ALLAN (Gateshead)On behalf of the hon. Member for the Chester-le-Street Division of Durham, I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Customs authorities at Sunderland are requiring stamped bonds from colliery owners who are shipping under f.o.b. contracts, and are stopping shipments until the bond is given, and that this is considered by experienced lawyers to be illegal; and whether the effect of this action is to relieve the foreign buyer (who actually is the exporter and employs the ship) from payment of the coal tax.
§ SIR M. HICKS BEACHThe practice at Sunderland seems to be correctly described in the question. The liability to give the bond and pay the duty attaches to the person who enters the coal for shipment. When a contractor, as in f.o.b. contracts, is under an obligation to ship, it would naturally follow that the entry is put in by him. In regard to the obligation of the foreign buyer to repay duty to the giver of the bond, this will be entirely a matter of contract in the future.
§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydfil)Does the right hon. Gentleman mean that the colliery owners are liable although other firms clear the ships?
§ [No answer was returned.]