Be it enacted by the Senate and Howse of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all merchandise imported into the United States shall, for the purpose of this Act, be deemed and held to be the property of the person to whom the merchandise may be consigned; but the holder of any bill of lading consigned to order and indorsed by the consignor shall be deemed the consignee thereof; and in case of the abandonment of any merchandise to the underwriters the Inter may be recognised as the consignee.
Sec. 2.—That all invoices of imported merchandise shall be made out in the currency of the place or country from whence the importations shall be made, or if purchased in the currency actually paid therefor shall contain a correct description of such merchandise and shall be made in triplicate or in quadruplicate in case of merchandise intended for immediate transportation without appraisement, and signed by the person owning or shipping the same, if the merchandise has been actually purchased, or by the manufacturer or owner thereof, if the same has been procured otherwise than by purchase, or by the daly authorised agent of such purchaser, manufacturer, or owner.
Sec. 3.—That all such invoices shall, at or before the shipment of the merchandise, be produced to the consul, vice-consul, or commercial agent of the ed States of the consular district in which the merch-andis was manufactured or purchased as the case may be, fur export to the United States, and shall have indorsed thereon, when so produced, a declaration signed by the purchaser, manufacturer, owner, of agent, setting forth that the invoice is in all respects correct and true and was made at the place from which the merchandise is to be exported to the United States that it contains, if the merchandise was obtained by purchase, a true and full statement of the time when, the place where, the person from whom the same was purchased, and the actual cost thereof and of all charges thereon, as provided by this Act; and that no discounts, bounties or drawbacks are contained in the invoice but such as have been actually allowed there and when obtained in any other manner than by purchase, the actual market value or wholesale price thereof at the time of portation to the United States in the principal markets of the country from whence exported; that such actual market value i the price at which the merchandise deseribed im the invoice is freely offered for sale to all purchasers in said markets, and that it is the price which the manufacturer or owner making the declaration would have received, and was willing to receive, for such merchandise sold in the ordinary course of trade in the usual wholesale quantities, and that it includes all charges thereon as provided by this Act; and the actual quantity thereof; and that no different invoice of the merchandise mentioned in the invoice so produced has been or will be furnished to any one. If the merchandise was actually purchased, the declaration shall also contain a statement that the currency in which such invoice la made out is that which was actually paid for the merchandise by the purchaser, See. 19.—That whenever imported merchandise is subject to an ad valorem rate of duty, or to a duty based upon or regulated in any manner by the value thereof, the duty shall be assessed upon the actual market value or wholesale price of such merchandise as bought and sold in usual wholesale quantities, at the time of exportation tothe United States, in the principal markets of the country from whence imported, and in the condition in which such merchandise is there bought and sold for exportation to the United States, or consigned to the United States for sale, including the value of all cartons, cases, crates, Loxes, sacks, and coverings of any kind, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment.to the United States, and if there be used for covering or holding imported merchandise, whether dutiable or free, any unusual article or form designed for use otherwise than in the bond file transportation of such merchandise to the United States, additional duty shall be levied and collected upon such material or article at the rate fo which the same would be subject if separately imported. That the words *'value" or "actual market value" whenever used in this Act or in any law relating to the appraisement of imported merchandise shall construed to mean the actual market value or wholesale price as defined in the section.
Sec. 30.—That this Act shall take effect on the first day of August, eighteen hundred and ninety, except so much of section twelve as provides fur the appointment of wine general appraisers, which shall take effect immediately.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.