An amendment to the Criminal Code makes it an indictable offence to charge more than the 2 percent per month fixed in the Small Loans Act.

TARIFFS AND INCOME TAXES

Changes made in the tariff schedules were of minor importance, many of them simply incorporating into the tariff structure concessions which had already been given in the revised United States-Canada Trade Agreement. Several changes were the result of recommendations of the Tariff Board free entry is granted to a large number of parts used in the manufacture of radios and tubes and the starch and dextrin tariff items were revised. No change was made in the rate of sales tax nor in the rate of individual or corporate income tax. Several revisions were made in the income-tax schedules to encourage private enterprise. An income-tax credit of 10 percent will be granted to any firm which makes expenditures prior to April 30, 1940, for construction and modernization of plant and equipment, the income-tax credit to be spread over the next 6 years in which the firm has a taxable income. The exemption from income tax which has been granted to new metallic mines will be continued for 3 years. Any metallic mine coming into production before January 1, 1943, will not be subject to income tax during its first 3 years of operation. The tax on motion-picture film remittances was increased from 2 to 5 percent.

FOOD AND DRUGS LEGISLATION

The scope of the Federal Food and Drugs Act is broadened by amendments made to that statute. The manufacture, importation, and sale of cosmetics are for the first time made subject to Federal regulation. Manufacturers in Canada and those manufacturers outside of Canada who wish to export cosmetics to the Dominion must obtain a license from the Department of Pensions and National Health, and the label on imported cosmetics must bear the license number of the manufacturer to be permitted entry into Canada. This requirement will not come into effect until proclaimed. A number of other amendments to the act amplify the authority of the Government to regulate the packaging and labeling, sale, and advertising of foods, drugs, and medicines.

Amendments to the Meat and Canned Foods Act require that all imported cans of fish and shellfish shall be labeled in a plain and conspicuous manner to show the country of origin, the name and address of the packer or importer, the kind and quality of contents, and the minimum weight. Heretofore the Meat and Canned Foods Act has not specifically mentioned labeling requirements on imported canned fish. The Government is also empowered to regulate the packing of fresh and frozen lobster meat, a comparatively new method of packing lobster which could not be controlled under the law as it stood prior to the amendment.

The Pest Control Products Act which regulates the sale and importation of plant and animal pest-control products, was amended to bring the legislation up-to-date and to make Government regulation of the sale of such products more effective. Under the original act no agricultural pest-control product can be manufactured, imported, or sold in Canada unless the product has been registered with the Department of Agriculture and assigned a registration number.

177914 0-392

In

the amending statute the label on the product must show the name and address of the manufacturer, importer, or vendor in whose name the product is registered. Failure to meet the guarantee stated on the packages or labels is made an indictable offence to prevent false guarantee and under-strength of the product.

The Dominion Trade and Industry Commission Act provides that the commission may investigate questions relating to commodity standards and grades and hear representations of industry and consumers as to the desirability of establishing commodity standards. An amendment to the act authorizes the Government to prescribe standards of quality for commodities, regulate the manner in which such commodities are sold, and if they are sold in packages or containers it may prescribe the size, kind, and labeling of packages. The Government, acting on the recommendations of the commission, may also prescribe the words by which material content of any commodity shall be represented. Goods for which commodity standards, grades, and labeling requirements have been established cannot be offered for sale unless they comply with the specified regulations. The amending act does not

apply to any commodities for which standards of quality, grades, and marking requirements have been established under existing legislation; for example, those covered by the Food and Drugs Act, the Meat and Canned Foods Act, and similar statutes.

DEFENSE PURCHASING ACT

Contracts involving an expenditure of more than $5,000 for the manufacture of defense equipment and for the construction of defense works will be negotiated and their performance supervised by a Defense Purchasing Board under the terms of the Defense Purchasing Act. Whenever practicable the board will invite public tenders. When contracts are awarded without competitive bidding, profits will be limited to 5 percent per annum on the average capital employed in the performance of the contract. Profits in excess of 5 percent will be taxed and turned over to the Federal Treasury. The profit limitation applies only on contracts let to firms in Canada without competitive tender which involve an expenditure for the Canadian Department of National Defense of more than $5,000. There has been considerable criticism of the amount of profit which will be allowed on noncompetitive contracts as being too low to give an adequate return to industry and as being difficult to compute on the basis specified in the in the legislation.

NATIONAL FILM BOARD

The various departments of the Federal Government have for many years made and distributed films as an advertising and educational medium to show the industrial development, natural resources, and scenic attractions of Canada. These films have been produced by the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau or by private motionpicture producing companies. To coordinate the film activities of the various Government departments, improve their quality, and secure more effective distribution of the films both in Canada and in other countries, a National Film Board will be established. Before any department of the Government can commence production of a motionpicture film the approval of the board must be secured. All

processing and production for Federal Departments must be done by the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau except when the board specifically authorizes their being made by commercial firms.

WARSAW CONVENTION RATIFIED

Parliament ratified the Warsaw Convention for International Carriage of Goods and Passengers by Air, but the Warsaw rules as they apply to Canada will not come into effect until proclaimed by the Government. Because of the increase in international air traffic, the administration considered it advisable that Canada should ratify the Warsaw Convention limiting liability in air accidents. The Government-owned Trans-Canada Air Lines which operates a transcontinental air service is a partner cooperating with Imperial Airways in the Trans-Atlantic Service. Both Trans-Canada Air Lines and private companies operate routes connecting Canadian and American cities. The Warsaw rules may by order-in-council be applied to domestic air traffic.

INSURANCE

The Foreign Insurance Companies' Act and the Canadian and British Insurance Companies' Act were amended to permit British and foreign insurance companies doing business in Canada to invest their funds in equipment trust certificates of Canadian railways and in the securities issued by public utility bodies in Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions which operate under Government supervision and control. At the 1938 session of Parliament, Canadian insurance companies had been granted permission to invest in these types of securities and that privilege has now been extended to British and foreign insurance companies doing business in Canada.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION

The Canadian National - Canadian Pacific Act, 1933, provides for cooperative arrangements between the two major railways of the country to effect operating economies. In an amendment to the act the two carriers are instructed to pay compensation to employees who lose their jobs or are demoted as a result of abandonment of lines and pooling arrangements. The bill stirred up considerable controversy in the Senate which criticized the legislation as benefiting a particular class of employees and nullifying savings effected through cooperative economy measures.

THE DIVISION OF COMMERCIAL LAWS IS PREPARED TO

FURNISH INFORMATION ON FOREIGN COMMERCIAL LAW AND TAXATION.

LEGAL KNOWLEDGE IS A BUSINESS NECESSITY.

LIST OF NOTICES

PUBLISHED BY THE DIVISION OF COMMERCIAL LAWS

IN COMMERCE REPORTS

Commerce Reports for July 1, 1939.

Paid Vacations for Cuban Labor.

Business Regulations, Registration of Radios.
Taxation, Stamp Tax Modified.

Industrial Property, Transfer of Patent Office.

Industrial Property, Unfair Competition.

Taxation, Railway Taxes.

Commerce Reports for July 8, 1939.

Patents for Invention in Mexico.

Norway-United Kingdom, Tax Exemption on Agency
Profits.

Taxation, Exemption for New Mines.

Bombay, Prohibition against Intoxicants.
Veracruz, Real Property, Registration of Titles.

Commerce Reports for July 15, 1939

Exploitation an Incident to Maintenance of
Patent Rights.

Labor, Wages.

Taxation, Tax on Exchange Remittances Modified.
Business Regulations, Control of Prices.

Insurance, Tax on Guarantee Deposit.

SWEDEN

Taxation, Tax Exemption.

Commerce Reports for July 22, 1939.

Switzerland Increases Business Taxes.

Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, Indus

trial Property.

Business Regulations, Drug Stores.

Taxation, Stamp Tax.

Commerce Reports for July 29, 1939.

Saskatchewan Limitation of Civil Rights Act.
Taxation, Tax Increase.

Industrial Property.

- Labor, Safety Device Legislation.

Tax on Telegraphic Money Orders.

NEW LABOR CODE OF BOLIVIA

By Henry P. Crawford, Division of Commercial Laws

On May 24, 1939, at the Palace of Government in La Paz the President of Bolivia issued the country's newest labor legislation. The causes and purposes underlying the law are made clear in its preamble. The gradual industrialization of the country and the constant increase of its economy have tended to complicate relations between employers and employees, giving rise to problems whose solution should be sought by legal means. It is of vital interest to Bolivia to establish fundamental rules which will regulate the relations between capital and labor on the basis of reciprocal guaranties for both factors of production, with the idea of assuring normal development of the country's economic life by avoiding any kind of disturbances which might arise in the future.

rights and obli

of agriculture, However, the law

The present law determines in a general way the gations deriving from labor, with the exception which will be dealt with by special legislation. is applicable to projects of the State and to any public or private association, whether organized for profit or not, saving the exceptions which may be provided (art. 1). The employer is the natural or juridical person who furnishes the opportunity to work, either for his or its own account or for the account of another in the performance of an undertaking (obra) or enterprise. The employee (empleado) is one who works for another and is distinguished from the laborer by the fact that the former works in an office with special hours and conditions, devoting himself to an effort which is predominantly intellectual, whereas the services of the laborer (obrero) are of a material or manual nature. The latter classification is made extensive to those who prepare or supervise the work of other laborers, such as foremen or supervisors (art. 2).

FOREIGN EMPLOYEES

A definite limitation is found in the provision that no enterprise or establishment may hire foreign employees in excess of 15 percent of the total personnel, including technicians. Moreover, feminine personnel may not exceed 45 percent in any place of business which, by its nature, does not require feminine labor in greater proportion. Further, one must be a Bolivian in order to hold the position of director, administrator, adviser, or representative in all State institutions, as well as in all private enterprises whose activities are related directly with the interests of the State, particularly of an economic of financial order (art. 3). Just how broadly the above rule is to be interpreted, and to what private enterprises it might apply, cannot be estimated at the present time.

THE LABOR CONTRACT

Under the new law the Bolivian labor contract is either individual or collective, depending upon whether it is an agreement between an employer (patrono) or group of employers and an employee or laborer, or between an employer or association of employers and a syndicate, federation or confederation of syndicates of workers