THE CUBA REVIEW 



17 



SUGAR TRADE CUSTOMS AND IMPORT 

 REGULATIONS 



Probably not many people apart from those 

 actually engaged in the sugar business are 

 familiar with the handhng of raw sugar after 

 its arrival, the methods employed by the 

 government to ensure the collection of duties 

 and the trade customs governing the purchase 

 and sale of this important commodit}'. These 

 seem highly complicated at first ghmpse, but 

 like estabhshed customs in all trades, they are 

 based on experience and are easUj^ understood 

 after being explained. 



Let it be assumed that a cargo has been 

 shipped, that marine insurance has been 

 covered and that a sale has been effected. 

 Generally, sales are made before the arrival of 

 vessel at discharging port; but sometimes, if 

 conditions so impose, the sale is not made un- 

 til after arrival. The price is, of course, vari- 

 able and is subject to market conditions at the 

 time sale is made. The vessel arrives, enters 

 at the Custom House as quickly as practi- 

 cable and proceeds to the refinery wharf as 

 soon as orders to do so are received. Once 

 there, everything is made ready, the hatches 

 opened and the discharge begins. 



All sugar from foreign countries is dutiable. 

 Cuba, however, has a reciprocal tariff agree- 

 ment with the United States, under which 

 sugar produced on that island is accorded a 

 reduction of twenty per cent from the normal 

 duty. Sugar from Porto Rico, Hawaii and 

 the Philippines is free of duty. On and after 

 May 1st, 1916, unless our tariff law is changed, 

 all sugar will automatically become duty free. 

 At the present time the duty on a cargo of 

 twenty-five thousand bags of Cuban sugar 

 amounts to approximately eighty thousand 

 dollars, so it is not surprising that the govern- 

 ment practically takes charge of the cargo 

 until all its requirements have been fulfilled. 

 Each bag is sampled by government samplers 

 and weighed by government weighers before 

 the buyer or seUer is allowed to handle it. 

 There are also two inspectors assigned to each 

 ship, whose duty it is to see that the govern- 

 ment's interest is fully protected at all times. 

 To this end nothing is allowed to leave the 

 ship without a permit, to obtain which it is 

 necessary to visit the Custom House and pay 

 the duty which is assessed on the commodity 

 imported. A permit is therefore required 

 showing the pajTnent of the approximate 

 amount of duty before the refinery can use 

 the sugar. 



The platforms of the government scales are 

 flush with the dock flooring and the bags are 

 run onto the scales on hand trucks, the weight 

 of which is known and which are weighed with 

 the sugar. At refineries the government has 

 installed electric scales that when operated, 

 show the weight of each draft on an indicator 

 and also automatically record the weight 

 shown. The work of sampling consists of 

 insering a "tryer" into the bag and withdraw- 

 ing a smaU portion of the contents. The tryer 

 resembles somewhat the familiar apple corer 

 in appearance and operation but is larger 

 and is long enough to reach through the bag. 



thus obtaining an average sample. These 

 samples are carefully kept until the whole 

 cargo is discharged. 



After the government has finished, the 

 sugar goes into the hands of the seller who is 

 represented by a private or "city weigher" 

 and a private sampler. Some city weighers' 

 scales are of a type that weigh truck and load 

 together. Others discharge the bags onto a 

 beam and bottom scale and weigh the sugar 

 only. The refinery, which is, of course, the 

 buyer, stations men at the city scales to check 

 the weights as taken by the seller. The sam- 

 ples are taken by govermnent and buyer and 

 seller at the "stool" where the bags are first 

 landed. It may be noted that while duty is 

 paid on the government's weight and polari- 

 scopic test, the buyer and seller settle on the 

 basis of their private weight and test. When 

 the commercial weighing and samphng has 

 been accomplished, the sugar passes into the 

 hands of the refinery. 



During the discharge of the cargo, bag 

 sewers have been busy refilling and mencUng 

 any torn bags. In this manner all loose or 

 spilled sugar is carefully recovered and de- 

 hvered. The sweepings from ship and dock 

 are bagged and handled separately, half price 

 being allowed for them. Another detail of 

 importance is the care of the scales. They 

 must be kept clean of accumulations of sugar, 

 which would seriously affect the total if left 

 unremoved, although the difference might be 

 neghgible on any one draft. Al.so they are 

 tested hourly in order to prevent inaccuracies 

 from creeping into the results. Even the 

 wheels of the hand trucks are scraped from 

 tune to time in order to prevent any accumu- 

 lation of sugar thereon. 



It is obvious that the weights obtained are 

 the gross weights and that the tare must be 

 ascertained and deducted to arrive at the net 

 weights. This is accomplished by weighing a 

 certain proportion of the bags when emptied, 

 the average weight of which is taken as an 

 average on all the bags dehvered. Custom 

 decrees that this proportion shall be five per 

 cent when the discharge is made at the re- 

 fineries and two and one half per cent at other 

 points. The government now uses a fixed 

 tare of two and one half pounds per bag unless 

 the bag varies by more than two per cent from 

 a standard area of 1392 square inches. In 

 such an event the tare is increased or de- 

 creased in proportion. It may be interesting 

 to know that Cuban sugar bags are made in 

 India from jute. They hold about 320 pounds 

 of sugar and are shipped to Cuba in com- 

 pressed bales containing four hundred bags 

 each. 



The samples that have been extracted from 

 the bags are thoroughly mixed and a small 

 quantity is taken and jjlaced in cans holding 

 about two pounds each. In other words, the 

 samples are sampled and the cans hold what 

 purports to be, and is, in so far as human 

 endeavor can make it, a sample of the average 

 entire shipment. Of these cans, which are 

 duly labeled and sealed, buj'er and seller each 

 take two. The buyer hands one can to a 

 chemist to apply the polariscopic test. The 



