COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 135

The Government has, on the other hand, established two cartel
organizations, one in the sulphur and the other in the citrus-fruit
‘ndustry.
Citrus fruits.—By the law of July 5, 1908, a commission was
established for the promotion of the citrus-fruit industry. This
body furnishes certificates of analysis for shipments of such fruits,
no shipment being allowed without the certificate; it sells for the
producers, and advances money to them; it fixes a minimum price
2ach year, and levies a tax on the products analyzed by it. It is
not compulsory that sales be made through the commission, but
the Government analysis is required.
Sulphur.—CAUSES THAT LED TO FORMATION OF COMPULSORY SYNDIcATE.—As
 a result of the great crisis which in 1895 befell the Italian
sulphur industry, the Anglo-Sicilian Sulphur Co. was formed. In
1905 another crisis ensued, due to the Union Sulphur Co., of Louislana,
 shipping sulphur to .Europe. This American competition,
together with a large overproduction, caused the collapse of the
Anglo-Sicilian Sulphur Co., leaving stocks of sulphur amounting
to about 360,000 tons.
In 1902 the Sicilian production represented 90 per cent of the
world production. In 1905 it fell to 60 per cent, as a result of the
increased production in the United States.?
To safeguard this, the leading industry of Sicily, against ruin
through competition and overproduction, as well as to protect the
interests of the Sicilian laborers, the Italian Government intervened,
 and by a special law established a compulsory sulphur syndicate,
 of which all producers became members by operation of the
statute.

Law of July 15, 1906. —The law of July 15, 1906,% combines the
sulphur producers under the name of Compulsory Association for the
Sicilian Sulphur Industry (Consorzio obbligatorio per l’industria
solfifera siciliana) for a period of 12 years. The purpose of the
syndicate is to sell crude sulphur on joint account and in the mutual
interest of all members. The law provides that the syndicate shall
fix a uniform selling price for definite periods of time, and it may
also limit the production, providing the market conditions require it,
and subject to approval by the Minister of Agriculture. The syndicate
 is also authorized to establish a separate organization for the
purpose of erecting and maintaining warehouses for storing sulphur,
and provisions are made for the taking over by the syndicate of
stocks of sulphur on hand at the time when the law went into effect.
se iit, pur se —— i ————————————— ————
1 Report of the Commissioner of Corporations on Trust Laws and Unfair Competition,
Washington, March 15, 1915, p. 277.
* Rivista Internazionale, Genn.-Apr., 1914, p. 208; Kartell-Rundschau, 1907, p. 817.
'L. p. 333, 15 luglio 1906, of. Collezlone celerifera delle leggi, etc., I .ma, 19086,
p. 1348 fol. A translation is given in the Report of the Commissioner of Corporations
on Trust Laws and Unfair Competition, March 15, 1915, pp. 781-789.