§ Major ARCHER-SHEEasked the President of the Board of Trade if the Board of Trade Returns of Imports into India discriminate between country of origin and country of shipment; and whether Continental goods shipped to India in British bottoms are described as imports from the United Kingdom?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (Mr. Montagu)The Trade and Navigation Returns of British India have 1582 hitherto shown imports according to the country of direct shipment to India. From 1907–8 a supplementary volume has been issued classifying them according to the country of consignment. It has now been decided that, with effect from 1911–12, the ordinary returns shall be prepared according to the latter system, and the supplementary volume discontinued. Under neither system is the nationality of the ship taken account of. The country of consignment is virtually the country of origin in all cases in which there has been no interruption of transit, though there may have been transhipment or transfer from one means of conveyance to another.