SEC. 91. Purchase of stamps. Stamps for the tax payment of imported oleomargarine will be sold to the owner or consignee of such merchandise by the collector of internal revenue of the district in which is located the office of the collector of customs where the customs entry is filed, and only upon requisition therefor (Customs Cat. No. 3493) duly executed by an authorized customs officer. SEC. 92. Stamping and cancellation of stamps.-Oleomargarine imported from foreign countries is not required to have the internalrevenue stamps affixed to the packages thereof and canceled unless and until such product is to be released from customs custody for consumption or sale in the United States. Such stamps shall be affixed and canceled by the owner or consignee while the product is in the custody of the proper customs officer, and such product shall not pass out of the custody of said officer until the stamps have been affixed and canceled. The mode of affixing the stamps to packages of domestic manufactures prescribed in section 47 is hereby made applicable to imported oleomargarine. Each stamp so affixed shall be canceled by the owner or consignee writing or imprinting on the face thereof in distinct and legible letters and figures his name and date of cancellation, name of port, and customs entry number. SEC. 93. Liability of owners or importers.-The owner or importer of oleomargarine imported from a foreign country is liable to all the penal provisions prescribed by law for manufacturers of oleomargarine manufactured in the United States. SEC. 94. Liability of customs officers.-Every customs officer who permits any imported oleomargarine to be removed from customs custody without compliance by the owner or importer thereof with all provisions of law is liable to fine and imprisonment. REIMPORTATION. SEC. 314 [Act Sept. 21, 1922]. That upon the reimportation of articles once exported, of the growth, product, or manufacture of the United States, upon which no internal tax has been assessed or paid, or upon which such tax has been paid and refunded by allowance or drawback, there shall be levied, collected, and paid a duty equal to the tax imposed by the internal revenue laws upon such articles, except articles manufactured in bonded warehouses and exported pursuant to law, which shall be subject to the same rate of duty as if originally imported, but proof of the identity of such articles shall be made under general regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. SEC. 95. Reimported oleomargarine. When oleomargarine produced in the United States, which has been duly exported without the payment of tax, is reimported it is liable to customs duty equal to the tax imposed by the internal revenue laws upon such product. All packages of reimported oleomargarine must have customs inspection stamps affixed to denote payment of duty thereon. Such packages are not required to have internal-revenue stamps affixed. (Customs T. D. 38673.) EXPORTATION. SEC. 16 [Act Aug. 2, 1886]. That oleomargarine may be removed from the place of manufacture for export to a foreign country without payment of tax or affixing stamps thereto, under such regulations and the filing of such bonds and other security as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may prescribe. Every person who shall export oleomargarine shall brand upon every tub, firkin, or other package containing such article the word "Oleomargarine," in plain Roman letters not less than one-half inch square. SEC. 96. Exportation. The regulations relating to exportation of oleomargarine without the payment of tax under the above section of law are prescribed in Regulations 29, revised August, 1914, as amended. Copies thereof may be obtained from collectors of internal revenue or from the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Oleomargarine delivered to a vessel in a port of this country for consumption either in port or en route to a foreign country must be tax paid and can not be removed from a factory without payment of tax, since such oleomargarine is not exported within the meaning of the act. (See Swan & Finch Co. v. U. S., 190 Fed. Rep. 143; T. D. 657.) No provision has been made by law for allowance of drawback on tax-paid oleomargarine exported. Every tub, firkin, or other package containing oleomargarine to be exported without payment of tax, must, before removal from the factory, be branded on the side with the word "Oleomargarine" in plain roman letters not less than one-half inch square. Any inner packages, which may be of wood, tin, or other material, shall contain not less than one-half pound each, and each shall also be marked, stamped, or branded on the top, side, or end thereof with the word "Oleomargarine" in letters of the same character and size as provided in respect to inner packages for domestic sale in section 44 (d). In the case of inner packages made of tin the foregoing requirements may be either lithographed thereon or printed on a label affixed thereto. SEC. 97. Definition of manufacturer of adulterated butter.—A manufacturer of adulterated butter is one who engages in the production of adulterated butter as a business. (See section 101 for definition of adulterated butter.) SEC. 98. Registry and payment of special tax.-Every manufacturer of adulterated butter must make return on Form 11 and pay special tax and otherwise comply with the provisions relative thereto in sections 12 to 28. * # * SEC. 4 [Act May 9, 1902]. * And every manufacturer of adulterated butter shall file with the collector of internal revenue of the district in which his manufactory is located such notices, inventories, and bonds, shall keep such books and render such returns of material and products, shall put up such signs and affix such number of his factory, and conduct his business under such surveillance of officers and agents as the Commission of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may by regulation require. But the bond required of such manufacturer shall be with sureties satisfactory to the collector of internal revenue, and in a penal sum of not less than five hundred dollars; and the sum of said bond may be increased from time to time and additional sureties required at the discretion of the collector or under instructions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. * * * SEC. 99. Manufacturers' bonds, notices, inventories, etc.-The provisions of these regulations in respect to oleomargarine manufacturers' bonds (sec. 31), notices (sec. 32), factory numbers (sec. 33), signs (sec. 34), inventories (sec. 35), Government records (sec. 36), monthly returns (sec. 37), and premises (sec. 55), so far as applicable are hereby extended and made to apply in the case of manufacturers of adulterated butter. The penal sum of the bond required of a manufacturer of adulterated butter shall be not less than $500. Sec. 100. Butter defined.-Butter is hereby defined to mean an article of food as defined in an act defining butter, also imposing a tax upon and regulating the manufacture, sale, importation, and exportation of oleomargarine, approved August 2, 1886. (Sec. 4, Act May 9, 1902. See sec. 38 for definition of butter in Act of Aug. 2, 1886.) SEC. 101. Adulterated butter defined.— (a) Adulterated butter is hereby defined to mean a grade of butter produced by mixing, reworking, rechurning in milk or cream, refining, or in any way pro ducing a uniform, purified, or improved product from different lots or parcels of melted or unmelted butter or butter fat, in which any acid, alkali, chemical, or any substance whatever is introduced or used for the purpose or with the effect of deordorizing or removing therefrom rancidity, or any butter or butter fat with which there is mixed any substance foreign to butter as herein defined, with intent or effect of cheapening in cost the product or any butter in the manufacture or manipulation of which any process or material is used with intent or effect of causing the absorption of abnormal quantities of water, milk, or cream. [Sec. 4, Act May 9, 1902.] (b) Under the definition of adulterated butter there are, broadly speaking, three methods by which adulterated butter is produced, namely: First. Butter in any way produced from different lots or parcels of melted or unmelted butter or butter fat in which any substance whatever is introduced or used for the purpose or with the effect of deodorizing or removing therefrom rancidity. Butter manufactured from sour cream, the acidity of which has been reduced by lime water before churning, is not adulterated butter. (T. D. 3213.) Second. Any butter or butter fat with which there is mixed any substance foreign to butter as in the Act defined with intent or effect of cheapening in cost the product. In other words, butter cheapened in cost by admixtures. Third. Any butter in the manufacture or manipulation of which any process or material is used with intent or effect of causing the absorption of abnormal quantities of water, milk, or cream. Emulsified or milk-blended butter falls in this class. (T. D. 1649.) Butter in the manufacture or manipulation of which any process or material is used whereby the product is made to contain "abnormal quantities of water, milk or cream," is adulterated butter under the statute. Since the law does not specify what are abnormal quantities of water, milk or cream, it becomes necesssary for the purposes of administration of the law to adopt a moisture standard. The analyses of thousands of samples of butter since the passage of the Act of May 9, 1902, shows conclusively that the normal moisture content of butter is less than 16 per cent. Therefore, butter having a moisture content of 16 per cent or more will be regarded as adulterated butter within the meaning of this subdivision of the statute. The expression "any process" as used in the definition does not necessarily mean that there has to be some special fraudulent process of making butter, but if the process of making, whether by too little washing or too much washing, or too little churning or too much churning, or churning or washing at too high a temperature, or whatever it is that has the effect of leaving an abnormal quantity of water in the butter, it is within the statute and within the prohibition of the statute. It is immaterial whether there was intent to leave an abnormal quantity of moisture in the butter if the process employed had that effect. (Coopersville Cooperative Creamery v. Lemon, 163 Fed., 145; T. D. 1371.) (c) Ladled butter; when taxable.-The product commonly known as "ladled butter" is taxable as adulterated butter if any acid, alkali, etc., is used to deodorize or remove rancidity or if any substance foreign to butter is mixed with it or if it is made to contain 16 per cent or more of moisture. (In regard to when "ladled butter" is taxable as renovated butter, see sec. 117.) (d) Foreign fats or oils in butter.-The addition of small quantities of a foreign fat, lard, or oil to butter renders the resultant product subject to tax as oleomargarine. (e) Preservatives in butter.-The use of harmless preservatives in butter for the purpose and with the intent of preventing or postponing usual and natural changes in the product does not render it subject to tax as, adulterated butter notwithstanding the preservative used is a substance foreign to butter. However, the quantity used must not be more than necessary for the purpose of preservation, and if added in larger quantities or when used as a bath or wash in the working or renovation of butter the product will be held subject to tax as adulterated butter. (T. D. 580.) * * * SEC. 4 [Act May 9, 1902]. That upon adulterated butter, when manufactured or sold or removed for consumption or use, there shall be assessed and collected a tax of ten cents per pound, to be paid by the manufacturer thereof, and any fractional part of a pound shall be taxed as a pound. * * * SEC. 102. Rate of stamp tax on adulterated butter.-The tax upon adulterated butter is 10 cents per pound. Any fractional part of a pound is taxable as a pound. The tax on adulterated butter accrues upon removal from the place of manufacture or upon sale prior to such removal, and is to be paid by the manufacturer thereof, by the affixing of stamps before removal. Adulterated butter may be removed from the place of manufacture without the payment of tax, for export. (See sec. 108.) * * * SEC. 4 [Act May 9, 1902]. * * That the provisions of sections * * fourteen * * of "An act defining butter, also imposing a tax upon and regulating the manufacture, sale, importation, and exportation of oleomargarine," approved August second, eighteen hundred and eighty six, shall apply to manufacturers of "adulterated butter" to an extent necessary to enforce the marking, branding, identification, and regulation of the exportation and importation of adulterated butter. SEC. 14 [Act Aug. 2, 1886]. * And such Commissioner [of Internal Revenue] is authorized to decide what substances, extracts, mixtures, or compounds which may be submitted for his inspection in contested cases are to be taxed under this Act; and his decision in matters of taxation under this Act shall be final. * * |