PART II. El
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CHAPTER VIII—-MISCELLANEOUS. J; spk @
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ADULTERATION OF FARM PRODUCTS AND Shih Hike a
PREVENTION OTHER THAN COMPULSORY INSP » Ns
AND GRADING. Kiel x
Mr. KIRBY said that in a country with many inland centres o1
production and many ports, a system of inspection and grading was
foo costly, and, if the cost was to be borne by the industries
concerned, it would prove too great a burden wherever the local
production was not large. . In Tanganyika there were five important
ports, including two on Lake Victoria (which, however, might be
faken ‘as one for purposes of port inspection, since the port of
consignment from the coast was at present Mombasa, and later, for
Mwanza, would be either Mombasa or Dar-es-Salaam). Some other
means of preventing the consignment of adulterated produce was
necessary. The most important crop in this connection in Tanganyika
was ground-nuts. Machine cleaning and re-bagging at the ports
would mot, it is thought, be expensive and, if made compulsory
and operated as a (self-paying) Government service, would be effective.
This method was in use in the Gambia, which was a large exporter of
ground-nuts, with, however, a single port. Enquiries were in progress
to ascertain its suitability for shelled ground-nuts (which was the form
m_ which this product was exported from the= Territory) and its
suitability also in respect of cost. The problein of cost with any crop,
or by any method, had less importance for other East African
Dependencies, since in those the points of egress were confined to one
(except, possibly, in Northern Rhodesia). The methods to be evolved.
however, would have interest for them.
(The above was circulated in the form of a note under T.C.(C)Ag.9.)
Mr. KIRKHAM stated that the Agricultural Produce Adulteration
Decree came into operation in Zanzibar on the 1st of January, 1926,
and was directed particularly to avoid export of adulterated cloves, or
cloves containing more than a certain percentage of moisture. It
was hoped to inspect all shipments, but the machinery necessary to
perform this would have increased the staff greatly and would have
interfered’ unduly with exporters who attempted to catch a fluctuating
market. . , The compulsory inspection was abandoned, and it was
simply lpid down that it was an offence to sell, export or deal in cloves
below the standard. Check inspections resulting in prosecution were
made. An improvement in the quality of the produce had resulted.
It was a choice between that method and full inspection and grading,
In the case of Tangnayika, possibly a similar result would be obtained.
Mr. SIMPSON knew of no methods except legislation, education,
or commercial methods. Legislation was rather cumbersome and
expensive to run but was more efficacious. In Uganda the power of
prosecution in cotton markets was acting as a deterrent to adultera-
tion, but was not entirely satisfactory. It was intended that all
local sales should Be registered so that, the original seller, the ginner,
could be reached'in the case of wrong grading and made to pay the
difference in the value.
THE CHAIRMAN (Mr. Holm) said ‘the grading of Agricultural
products was practicable in the case of some, but in others the onus
of grading was placed upon the owner or shipper, and inspections were