20 FOOD LAWS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



has been the practice of persons engaged in the adulteration of butter to call their 

 premises margarine factories. 



In the United Kingdom, inspectors have had power to enter margarine factories, 

 but no corresponding power as regards butter factories. 1 Consequently persons 

 engaged in adding foreign fats to butter in this country have described their premises 

 as butter factories. 2 



One of the difficulties under which the customs authorities labor 

 is the lack of power to detain shipments pending the return of the 

 results of analyses. By the time the analytical results are received 

 by the customs officials the shipments are ordinarily all distributed 

 and have gone into consumption. It was also the practice for the 

 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to communicate to the consignees 

 and to the local authorities of the district in which the consignee 

 lived that samples had been taken by the customs officials. This 

 practice has been abandoned, as it did not yield satisfactory results. 



LABELING OF IMPORTS UNDER THE MERCHANDISE MARKS ACTS, 1887- 



1891. 



Under the merchandise marks acts, 1887-1891, the customs 

 authorities have the opportunity to control the labeling of imported 

 goods, including foods and drugs. Briefly summarized, their powers 

 are limited to the detention of: 



1. Any imported goods bearing marks or descriptions which are misleading as to 

 the character, composition, or origin of the goods so marked or described, and, 



2. Any imported goods of foreign manufacture bearing a name or trade-mark which 

 is, or purports to be, the name or trade-mark of any manufacturer of, or dealer in, 

 goods of the same description in the United Kingdom, and is unaccompanied by a 

 definite indication of the country of origin of the goods. 3 



That the merchandise marks acts can be made to serve a very 

 useful purpose so far as the labeling of foods is concerned is evident 

 from the fact that, for example, consignments of spirits, distilled 

 in European countries, in bottles labeled " finest old Scotch whisky," 

 "vieux Cognac/ 7 "fine champagne/' and "fine old Jamaica rum/' 

 were seized. 



In this connection it is of interest to note the attitude taken by 

 the customs authorities with respect to the labeling of port and 

 sherry, as indicated by a general order issued on January 1, 1906: 



Entries in which wine from countries other than Portugal is described as "port,'* 

 unaccompanied by satisfactory evidence that the wine is the product of that country, 

 should not be accepted unless the word "port" is qualified by an unmistakable indica- 

 tion of the country in which the wine was produced, such as Spanish port, French 

 port, or German port. Such descriptions as Tarragona port, Catalonia port, Roussillon 



1 This defect has been remedied by the butter and margarine act, 1907. 



2 Annual Report of Proceedings under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875-1899, etc., for the year 1906. 

 a Fiftieth Annual Report of Commissioner of His Majesty's Customs for the year ending 31st of March, 



1906, p. 33. 



