all of the cargo carried from New Zealand is primary produce (mainly wool, butter, cheese, and frozen meat) purchased f. o. b. New Zealand ports by the United Kingdom Government, which agreed to pay the freight rates. Prior to September 1, 1939, freight on most of this primary produce (butter, cheese, refrigerated meat, and fruit, but not wool, hides, skins, and other nonrefrigerated cargo) was paid by the New Zealand Government, and rates were fixed by contracts between the Government-controlled export boards and the conference lines. NORWAY The Government of Norway took quick action at the outbreak of the European war to control shipping and freights by adopting the following regulation: PROVISIONAL REGULATION REGARDING CHARTERING OF VESSELS IN TIME OF WAR, DATED SEPTEMBER 5, 1939 PARAGRAPH 1. The Department of Commerce or authorized substitute may decide that it is forbidden for Norwegian vessels to leave Norwegian ports without permission. The interdict may be confined to certain kinds of ships or single ships. PAR. 2. The Department of Commerce may decide that it is forbidden to charter or renew charter parties for Norwegian vessels without the Department's or authorized substitute's permission. PAR. 3. The Department of Commerce or authorized substitute may decide that it is forbidden to lay up Norwegian vessels or to have Norwegian vessels remain laid up. PAR. 4. A charter party violating this regulation is invalid. PAR. 5. The Department of Commerce may establish maximum freight rates for transport of goods from a foreign port to Norway in Norwegian vessels. The provision may apply to all kinds of goods or certain goods. Maximum freight rates are fixed by the Department of Commerce. Suggestions concerning the establishment of freight rates are prepared by a committee of experts. The members of the committee as well as the substitutes are appointed by the Department of Commerce. When the Department of Commerce finds it advisable, maximum freight rates may be dispensed with. The compensation due to the members of the committee is fixed by the Department of Commerce and paid by the Government. PAR. 6. The reduced income incurred by the owner of a ship which must sail at maximum freight rates as compared with owners of ships in other trades shall be compensated in accordance with regulations to be established later by the Storting. Until such regulations have been established, a shipping company which has carried on business after the introduction of maximum freight rates may not be dissolved. PAR. 7. The amount of compensation in accordance with paragraph 6 is to be fixed by a special expert committee. This committee is to be composed of a chairman with the qualifications of a judge of the Supreme Court and four shipping experts. The members of the committee as well as the substitutes are appointed by the Department of Commerce. The compensation due to the members of the committee is stipulated by the Department of Commerce and paid by the Government. PAR. 8. Disputes as to what may be subject to reimbursement and the facts and provisions on which the establishment of the reimbursement shall be based are decided upon during the valuation by the board of surveyors. Paragraphs 49 and 50 of the Law of June 1, 1917, on valuation, expropriation, and alodial rights apply insofar as it is possible. Revaluation is not allowed. PAR. 9. No fee is to be paid to the Government for work performed by the valuation committee. When the valuation committee deems it advisable, and especially when the Government is represented by a lawyer, the person entitled to reimbursement shall also be reimbursed for his expenses in taking care of his interests during the valuation. PAR. 10. Complaints and appeals from the decisions of the valuation committee are taken to the Supreme Court and its Appeal Committee. Otherwise the provisions in Law of June 1, 1917, paragraph 1, on valuation, expropriation, and alodial rights, apply if possible. PAR. 11. The Department of Commerce or its substitute may give further orders regarding the application of the provisions; for instance, compulsory reporting of charter parties, renewal of charter parties, and all other pertinent information. PAR. 12. A person who violates these provisions, or one assisting thereto, is liable to a fine of 100,000 crowns or to a sentence of 6 months' imprisonment, or both. If the provisions were violated unintentionally, the violator is only fined. The authority given the Department of Commerce by these provisions may be used only when the Department finds it advisable on account of war, war danger, or other war reasons. The above provisions are canceled when the Department finds them unnecessary. The Department of Commerce of Norway circulated to Norwegian shipowners the following letter relative to the foregoing regulations: LETTER FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, DATED SEPTEMBER 5, 1939 With reference to paragraphs 2 and 11 of the provisional regulations of September 5, 1939, concerning chartering during time of war, the Department of Commerce decides as follows: 1. The managing owner of a Norwegian vessel, in foreign trade and liable to registration, must report present and future charter parties concerning such vessel to the Norwegian Shipowners' Association. The report shall be submitted on a form authorized by the Department and shall contain the information requested therein. If possible, a copy of the charter party shall be enclosed. 2. Charter parties for Norwegian vessels liable to registration must only be signed or renewed when the Norwegian Shipowners' Association has been notified in advance relative thereto. Charter parties between Norwegian ports and from foreign ports to Norway are excepted. If not submitted direct to the office of the Norwegian Shipowners' Association, the notification shall be given telegraphically, stating the name of the ship and its position, the name of the charterer, when the vessel is to be delivered, the voyage, the duration of the charter party, and the freight rate. Notification must be given within 72 hours, to be counted from the moment it is received at the office of the Shipowners' Association or when the telegram is delivered to the Norwegian State Telegraphs. The managing owner of the vessel is responsible for giving the information. If the Norwegian Shipowners' Association finds it advisable, permission will not be given to sign or renew the charter party. Notification concerning this will be given within 72 hours after the receipt of the application. GOVERNMENT FIXES MAXIMUM RATES In pursuance of the emergency regulation adopted on September 5, 1939, the Department of Commerce of Norway established the following maximum ocean freight rates to become effective at 2 p. m. on September 22, 1939, which rates are said to have been much lower than open market rates, by as much as 50 percent in some instances. The tables below are not exhaustive in their coverage and are furnished merely as typifying the action taken. 1. War-risk insurance for vessels is included in the established maximum freight rates. 2. The freight rates apply to voyages from oversea ports to direct discharging ports in Norway between Trondheim and Oslo, based on customary loading and discharging, if no other arrangement has been made. The following discharging ports are considered as one port so far as grain is concerned: Trondheim-Buvika-Bergen-Vaksdal—Stavanger-Tou or Kvaleberget per Stavanger in connection with Stavanger or Tou-Moss-Kambo-Oslo. An addition of 0.75 crown per ton on the whole cargo per extra port is paid for discharging in more than one port. 3. The freight is payable at the time of discharging where this was customary before the outbreak of the war, and in other cases when no other arrangement has been made at the time of chartering. 4. On signing of the charter party, the maximum freight in force is obligatory. In special cases an arrangement can be made that the maximum freight on a later date for instance, on the bill-of-lading date shall be made the basis for freight calculation. In the event of dispute, the matter is to be settled by Statens Skibsfartsdirektorat (Government Shipping Directorate). 5. All freights may be converted into foreign currencies and estimated proportionally for other weight units. This is assumed to apply especially in case of c. i. f. contracts. 6. Ordinary charter-party regulations and terms shall remain in force as long as they do not conflict with the maximum freights and the regulations established in this connection. 7. The freight rates from Argentina and Uruguay are based on loading at Buenos Aires, La Plata, or Montevideo. An addition of 1.50 crowns per ton is paid for loading "up river," including Rosario. Another 1.50 crowns per ton is paid for loading above Rosario. A proportional addition may be agreed upon for loading at ports between Buenos Aires and Bahia Blanca. The freight rates from Argentina are based on berth terms. 8. The maximum freight rates established for grain are based on the chartering of full cargoes or larger-part cargoes. When smaller parcels of grain are chartered, the owners may charge an addition to the maximum freight rates according to the following scale: 2 crowns per ton when chartering for less than 500 tons; 1 crown per ton when chartering between 500 and 1,000 tons. 9. These maximum freight rates are applicable to all contracts signed later than 2 p. m. on September 22, 1939. GOVERNMENT INCREASES MAXIMUM RATES As the war continued, the Norwegian Government deemed it advisable to raise the maximum freight rates on grain and issued the following table in the form of a circular: Increase in the Maximum Freight Rates for Grain, Flour, Fodder, Sugar, and Soybeans, Shipped to Norway in Norwegian Vessels—in Force From Midnight on December 21, 1939 1 A proportionate addition is computed for lump sugar. War-risk insurance premium of 2% percent based on outward voyage in ballast and homeward voyage with cargo is included in the above rates. The regulations governing maximum freight rates for soybeans, established on October 18, 1939, and additional regulations regarding the maximum freight rates for grain, flour, fodder, sugar, and soybeans, established on December 5, 1939, are canceled and replaced by the following provisions: Maximum freight rates increase by 1 crown per ton for each quarter percent over 2.5 percent increase of the war-risk insurance premium which the owner pays for the round trip. A corresponding reduction of the freight is made per each quarter percent under 1.5 percent per round trip. In calculating the freight-rate increases mentioned, consideration must be given to whether the vessel in question carried outward cargo. If so, only homeward war-risk insurance premium shall be counted. In addition, there may be included war-risk insurance premium for the voyage in ballast from the port of discharge to the port of loading. This must not, however, exceed the premium in effect for a trip in ballast from Norway to the loading port of the vessel. The freight reduction is only to be calculated when the war-risk insurance premium for the round trip is less than 1.5 percent, based on outward voyage in ballast. COAL Maximum rates were established also for coal. Those prescribed for shipment from United States North Atlantic ports ranged from 32 crowns per ton effective September 23, 1939, to 50 crowns on February 3, 1940. Loading had to be at the rate of not less than 1,500 tons per day and discharging at not less than 1,000 tons per day-otherwise demurrage of 1,500 crowns per day would be charged. The conditions applicable on the establishment of the rates in September 1939 were the following: 1. War-risk insurance for vessels is included in the established maximum freight rates. 2. The maximum freight rates are based on free discharging. 3. The freight is payable after the discharging, based on the bill-of-lading weight. 4. The freight and demurrage are based on the bill-of-lading weight. 5. On signing of the charter party, the maximum freight in force is obligatory. In special cases an arrangement can be made that the maximum freight on a later date for instance, on the bill-of-lading date-shall be made the basis of the freight calculation. In the event of dispute the matter is to be settled by Statens Skibsfartsdirektorat (Government Shipping Directorate). 6. Ordinary charter-party regulations and terms shall remain in force as long as they do not contradict the provisions established in connection with the maximum freights. 7. The maximum freight rates apply to all contracts signed later than September 23, 1939, 7 p.m. PERU The Peruvian Government does not exercise any formal authority over rates. The Government and trade organizations at times have intervened on behalf of shippers, but since the outbreak of the present war no concerted action of this nature had been taken, at least up to the early months of 1940. The bulk of Peru's oversea foreign trade is carried by liners operating within one of the several conferences which in normal times generally control freight rates. These conferences are (a) the Atlantic and Gulf West Coast of South America, (b) the European/South Pacific and Magellan, (c) the Pacific/West Coast of South America, and (d) an agreement regarding rates to and from the Orient between the Nippon Yusen Kaisya and the Kawasaki Kisen Kaisya Lines of Japan. Although the European/South Pacific and Magellan Conference continued to function as an organization, it ceased to exist as a ratemaking institution with the outbreak of the European war in 1939. The only conference restriction binding members in the matter of rates was that they should not quote below the pre-war minimum tariff. Under war circumstances, with rates increased from 50 percent to 400 percent, and possibly more, this restriction was purely nominal. Control, of varying degree, was assumed over the lines by their home governments. With regard to traffic between Peru and the United States, there was no general revision of rate schedules following the outbreak of the European war in 1939. The rates on a number of commodities, however, were increased by 10 to 20 percent, although subsequent modifications were made of these changes, in some instances upward and in others downward. The range, however, was rather small. Moreover, the Nippon Yusen Kaisya and the Kawasaki Kisen Kaisya lines had placed a general 20-percent increase in effect for traffic to and from the Orient. Tramp services are of little importance in the Peruvian foreign trade. PORTUGAL State control of ocean freight rates has been exercised in Portugal for a number of years. Decree No. 23,432 of January 2, 1934, established Councils on Tariffs for the ports of the African colonies, for those of the adjacent islands, and for those of northern Europe. The councils were empowered to draw up tables of rates and fares for application in the respective areas for which they had jurisdiction. By law, shipping services between Portugal and the African colonies (Angola, Mozambique, Guine, and S. Thome) and the adjacent islands (Azores and Madeira), or between these colonies or archipela |