246 



Export Trade from Gulf Ports. 



The MarCxArine Industry in Belgium. 



In the report on trade of Antwerp for the year 1897, Mr. de 

 Courcy Perry, C.M.G., H.M. Consul-General at that port, states 

 that the margarine industry is rapidly growing in importance 

 in Belgium. The principal centre of the industry is in the 

 district surrounding Antwerp, where there are some fifteen 

 factories with an annual output of upwards of 22,000,000 lbs. 



Margarine now forms an important article of consumption 

 in Belgium, and the Government supervision over its manu- 

 facture and sale is of the strictest description. The following 

 are some of the principal regulations on the subject : — 



1. Margarine intended for sale shall not contain more than 

 5 per cent, of butter (this stipulation is made in view of the 

 difficulty of distinguishing between pure butter and mar- 

 garine when the latter contains a large proportion of the 

 cream product). 



2. Margarine shall not be exposed for sale in the same 

 place (shop, stall, etc.) as butter, nor shall producers or 

 vendors of cream butter keep margarine, even for their own 

 consumption, in the same place as butter intended for sale. 



Besides the above special regulations there are others of 

 a general nature providing that margarine shall always 

 be sold in the form of cubes ; that all vessels containing 

 margarine shall be clearly marked to indicate their contents ; 

 and that bills of lading or other documents referring to the 

 same shall distinctly state its nature. Further, margarine 

 must not contain preservatives of any kind, or be coloured 

 except with such matters and to such a degree as authorised 

 by the Minister of Agriculture. 



\ Foreign Office Repoi't. Annual Series. A^(?. 2,137. Price id.'] 



United States Export Trade from Cjulf forts. 



In a recent report to the Foreign Office on the im.prove- 

 ment of the entrance to Galveston Harbour, Mr. Nugent, Her 

 Majesty's Consul at that seaport, refers to the deflection of 



