§ Mr. SEAVERNS (Lambeth, Brixton)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to The Commerce (Trade 721 Descriptions) Act, 1905, of the Commonwealth of Australia; is he aware that the Act contains provisions for the marking and description of British goods which will hamper British export trade to Australia, and which are in all cases onerous and in some quite impossible of accomplishment; and will he make representations to the Commonwealth Government on the subject.
(Answered by Mr. Churchill.) The Secretary of State has received representations from the London Chamber of Commerce to the effect that the regulations under the Act referred to will hamper British trade to Australia, and he will communicate with the Common-wealth Government on the subject. In the meantime I understand that the Minister for Trade and Customs of the Commonwealth has given instructions that, in the administration of the regulations, every consideration will be given to those merchants or traders who may inadvertently not strictly comply with the regulations in the first instance through mere want of knowledge, or the difficulty attendant upon the first working of the regulations.