§ MR. H. J. WILSON (Yorkshire, W.R., Holmfirth)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India if he can state whether, in the new treaty arrangements recently concluded with Tibet, opium is made an article of commerce; if so, under what tariff or other regulations; and where the details can be found.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. BRODRICK, Surrey, Guildford)The Tibetan Convention of September 7th, 1904, provided for an amendment of the Regulations of 1893 as to trade, but the question of such amendment has not yet been discussed with the Tibetan government. The Regulations of 1893 provided that the import and export trades in certain articles, including narcotic drugs, "may, at the option of either Government, be entirely prohibited, or permitted only on such conditions as either Government on their own side may think fit to impose." The trade returns of the Government of India and those of the Chinese Imperial Customs Department show that there is no traffic in opium between India and Tibet.