No special regulations are in force regarding the marking of commodities for importation into Liberia. All shipments to Liberia by freight or express require consular invoices. There is no prescribed form of invoice, but the invoice. must be in quadruplicate and be written in ink in the English language. It must furnish an exact and detailed statement of the marks and numbers of the packages referred to and the contents of each package, the country of origin, and boat upon which goods are shipped, and must state in jugs, bottles, gallons, pounds, etc., the quantity of the articles contained in each parcel. The following declaration must also be attached to the invoice, signed by a duly authorized member of the exporting firm : I, hereby certify that I am the exporter of the articles specified in this invoice and that the contents of each package are enumerated in detail herein, and that the invoice shows the true price actually paid or to be paid for the goods specified and all charges separately thereon. A fee of 1 per cent of the invoice value is charged for the certification of invoices by a Liberian consul. The usual exporter's declaration required by the United States customs regulations on all goods shipped out of the country is necessary. SANITARY REQUIREMENTS No special food laws have been enacted in Liberia. The Penal Code of 1914, however, prohibits the sale of unwholesome food or food which is damaged or in any way deteriorated so as to cause injury to health. LIBERIAN LAWS APPLYING TO CANNED FOODS PENAL CODE OF 1914 [Extract] CHAPTER IV. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY SEC. 82. Selling unwholesome food. The selling of unwholesome food by any merchant or other person to anyone whomsoever is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor. The sale of * * * any kind of fish, meat, canned provisions, sugar, or any other class of eatables that have become so damaged, rotten, or deteriorated as to be capable of causing injury to the human system is within the meaning and intent of this section. MOROCCO Only limited shipments of American canned foods have been made to Morocco (see map on p. 271) during the past five years, and with the exception of asparagus and, to a lesser extent, peaches and pears there has been little change in the total trade. The" vegetables" in the table which follows were almost wholly canned asparagus. Canned peaches made up approximately one-half of the 1929 exports of canned fruits; the remainder consisted mainly of pears, with a smaller quantity of apricots. With an improvement in economic conditions a small and gradual growth of the trade may be expected. UNITED STATES EXPORTS OF CANNED FOODS TO MOROCCO, 1924-1929 1 Includes "Canned fruits for salad," which previous to 1929 were included in United States export statistics under "Other fruit products" and not under "Other canned fruits." FRENCH ZONE IMPORT DUTIES AND TAXES Imports of canned foods into the French zone of Morocco are subject to the general rate of 122 per cent ad valorem applicable to all products not specified in the Moroccan tariff law. These duties are calculated on the wholesale value of the goods delivered at the customhouse in Morocco. No additional customs surcharges (other than the usual minor handling fees) nor sales taxes are collected. The following consumption taxes, however, are assessed: Sirups and fruit confections with sugar, 95 francs per 100 net Fruit preserves, jellies, and marmalades, 50 francs per 100 net Fruit compotes, 30 francs per 100 net kilos, or 53 cents per 100 Concentrated milks, with sugar added: (a) 50 per cent and over, 45 francs per 100 net kilos, or 70 (b) Up to 50 per cent, 25 francs per 100 net kilos, or 45 cents per 100 pounds. MARKING-DOCUMENTATION It is not necessary in French Morocco to mark imported canned foods to show the country of origin. There are, however, special labeling requirements for certain canned foods as is shown below under Sanitary requirements." 66 Consular documents are not required on shipments to French Morocco. The ordinary commercial invoice and ocean bill of lading suffice. They should be sent under separate cover, not in a parcel of merchandise. The usual exporter's declaration required by the United States customs regulations on all goods shipped out of the country is necessary. SANITARY REQUIREMENTS A dahir (decree) of October 14, 1914, as modified by later decrees, on the repression of frauds in the sale of merchandise and the falsification of foods (spoiled or in a toxic condition) and agricultural products is the basis of food control in the French zone of Morocco. This dahir is along the general lines of the French law on the same subject. Any deception in regard to the nature, the substantial qualities, the composition, and the content of useful principles of any merchandise, as well as its origin, is prohibited; likewise incorrect statements as to weight or measure. Saccharin may not be used in the preparation of foodstuffs. Only those foodstuffs which are not damaged and which have not had foreign substances added to their normal composition may be designated "pure." All others must be qualified by "de fantaisie" or "coloré or some similar phrase; and those which are mixtures must show this fact on the label, together with the name of the basic product and the name of the substitute or surrogate in type of the same size. The net weight of the contents must also be given on the label. The usual prohibition is found against the use of tin plate containing 10 per cent or more of lead or more than one ten-thousandth part of arsenic in contact with foodstuffs. The tin itself used for tinning must not contain less than 97 per cent of tin nor more than one-half of 1 per cent of lead nor more than one ten-thousandth part of arsenic. Soldering on the inside of cans must be done only with fine tin. Similar provision is made against the use of harmful varnishes unless they are not attackable when cold by concentrated nitric acid. Special regulations have been issued in regard to preserved meats and meat products and condensed milk, with special stipulations as to labeling. All tins containing preserved foods of any kind must be marked to show the country of origin. FRENCH MOROCCAN LAWS APPLYING TO CANNED FOODS DAHIR OF OCTOBER 14, 1914 REPRESSION OF FRAUDS AND FALSIFICATIONS TITLE I ART. 1. It is forbidden to deceive or attempt to deceive a buyer, whether upon the nature, the substantial qualities, the composition, the content of useful principles of any merchandise; or upon their kind or origin when, according to convention or usage, the designation of kind or of origin falsely attributed to the merchandise may be considered as the principal cause for the sale; or upon the quantity of things delivered by use of weights, measures, or other instruments false or inexact; or upon their identity, by the delivery of merchandise other than the particular thing which was the subject of the contract. 28132-31-23 Consequently the following are prohibited [amended by decree of March 26, 1919; see p. 342]. ART. 2. [Amended by decree of March 26, 1919; see p. 342.] ART. 3. The addition of the following to foodstuffs and beverages is forbidden: (1) Any products for the purpose of their conservation or coloring, other than those which may be declared lawful by order of the Grand Vizier; (2) saccharine and all other artificial sweetening substances with a view to their sweetening. The importation, sale, placing on sale, or holding with a view to sale of foodstuffs or beverages with the addition of the products mentioned in the preceding paragraph is prohibited. ART. 4. Merchandise or commodities intended as food should not, in any case, be in direct contact with metals or matters dangerous to public health. The following are not considered as harmful to public health: (1) The metallic alloys of tin, of antimony, or lead containing less than 10 per cent of this last-named metal or one ten-thousandth part of arsenic; (2) Copper and brass, but only for the cooking of foods and not for their conservation; (3) Alloys containing more than 10 per cent of lead, but only for packing and conserving dry products such as tea. ART. 5. Tin utilized for tinning must not contain less than 97 per cent of tin, nor more than 0.5 per cent of lead, nor more than one ten-thousandth part of arsenic. ART. 6. Varnish containing harmful elements, with the exception of varnishes which are not attackable cold by concentrated nitric acid, must not be utilized for varnishing the interior of cans for preserved foods. Colors and varnishes containing harmful elements and susceptible of being detached by fragments when the tins are opened must not be utilized for painting the exterior of containers of conserved foods. ART. 7. The solder on the interior of containers for conserved food must be made only of fine tin, corresponding to the standards of purity provided in article 5 of the present dahir. The seams arising from exterior lead-bearing solders are not considered as interior solders, but upon the condition that these seams be only accidental and do not result from the mode of manufacture. The closing of the containers of food preserves with the aid of joinings formed by a lead-bearing substance is prohibited. ART. 8. The provisions of this present dahir and of vizierial decrees made for their execution are applicable even when the alteration or the falsification may be known to the purchaser or consumer. ART. 9. The dispositions of the present dahir and of the vizierial orders for their execution are not applicable to fresh fruits or vegetables fermented or spoiled, which shall be made the object of a municipal order. ART. 10. For the application of article 1. the pashas and the caids (governors of villages and provinces) shall establish by order, for each town or region of Morocco, a table of equivalents of weights and measures to be in use in the said town or region. TITLE II ART. 11. Whoever shall have committed or have attempted to commit acts prohibited by this present dahir or by the vizierial orders made for their execution shall be punished by a fine of from 500 to 10,000 francs and by imprisonment of from three months to two years, or by one of these penalties only. In case of a second offense within five Gregorian years which shall follow the date on which the first condemnation shall become final, imprisonment and fine may be imposed up to double the maximum and posting should be applied. ART. 12. In addition to the fine provided in article 11, those who sell or place on sale meat coming from animals known to be dead from contagious diseases, whatever they may be, or those slaughtered as sick from bovine pest, anthrax, glanders, farcin, or rabies shall be punished by imprisonment of from six months to three years. ART. 13. When it is a question of products harmful to the health of man or of animals, the penalties provided in articles 11 and 12 should be raised to double the maximum. ART. 14. Infractions of municipal orders made in execution of the present dahir shall be punished with penalties provided in article 1 of the dahir of March 26, 1914. · ART. 15. The tribunals may always pronounce the final confiscation of the products which shall have been made the object of fraud or of falsification and order their destruction if they are dangerous to public health. They may equally assure the publicity of judgment by posters in the places which they shall designate and by any other means which appear to them to be efficacious. ART. 16. Whoever shall have placed an obstacle to the application of this present dahir or of vizierial orders made for its execution, by placing agents charged with their execution in a position where it is impossible to exercise their control, will be punished with a fine of from 50 to 500 francs. In case of new infraction proved within the year which follows the first condemnation, the fine will be from 500 to 1,000 francs and an imprisonment of from 6 days to 15 days will be pronounced. ART. 17. Article 463 69 of the French Penal Code will be applicable, even in a case of second offense, to infractions foreseen by the present dahir or the orders which arise from it. In extenuating circumstances, the tribunals may not order the posting and may not apply imprisonment. Suspension of execution of the penalties of fine ordered by this present dahir may not be pronounced by virtue of the dahir of May 25, 1914, carrying application of the French law of March 26, 1891, called "Loi Berenger" (Berenger law). ART. 18. Infractions of the present dahir or of the orders issued with the view of assuring its execution shall have the competence of French jurisdictions. TITLE III ART. 19. The trade names applied to food products or commodities must be established in such way that they may not, in any way, create in the mind of the buyer any confusion as to the nature, the 69 See p. 117 of Trade Promotion Series No. 85, Canned Foods in Europe. |