Grapefruit Distributors, Inc., Daven- Shook Exporters Association, Stahlman port, Fla. Metal Lath Export Association, 47 Pacific Flour Export Co., care of Fisher Plate Glass Export Corporation, Grant Redwood Export Co., 405 Montgomery Rice Export Association, 1103 Queen Building, Nashville, Tenn. Signal Export Association, 420 Lexing- Steel Export Association of America, Sulphur Export Corporation, 420 Lex- of the United States, 320 Broadway, New York. United States Alkali Export Associa- Walnut Export Sales Co., Inc., Twelfth Walworth International Co., 60 East SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT ON ANTIDUMPING LEGISLATION In June 1938, the Commission presented to Congress a Supplemental Report on Antidumping Legislation and Other Import Regulations in the United States and Foreign Countries, which brought to date material in a report on the same subject published in 1934 as Senate Document No. 112, Seventy-third Congress, second session. This work was done under the provisions of section 6 (h) of the Federal Trade Commission Act which directs the Commission to "investigate, from time to time, trade conditions in and with foreign countries where associations, combinations, or practices of manufacturers, merchants, or traders, or other conditions, may affect the foreign trade of the United States." TRUST LAWS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES Also under section 6 (h) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Commission follows trust legislation and unfair competition in foreign countries. Recent measures are briefly summarized. Argentina.-A governmental committee appointed to study the petroleum situation reported in 1937, recommending establishment of a National Petroleum Council to control and administer reserves, organize petroleum companies with Government and private capital, establish pipe lines, and regulate the import and export trade. Three decrees were issued by the President in 1938 for regulation of flour milling, fixing official standards for the different grades, authorizing the Ministry of Agriculture to regulate and control the activities of the Chamber of Millers, and establishing an advisory board comprising millers, pastry makers, and bakers, to settle controversies in the industry and to present recommendations for legislation. A decree published on January 30, 1938, established an Office of Commercial Policy in the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct general 257769-40-No. 6-19 studies of domestic and foreign economic conditions in connection with production, trade, and consumption, internal tax systems, economic balances, internal commercial policy, customs tariffs, commercial treaties, import quotas, embargoes, temporary importation, import premiums, dumping, drawbacks, clearing and compensation agreements, and exchange control. Belgium. A decree dated January 13, 1937, prohibited the extension of certain retail sales establishments (chain and department stores) and the period of enforcement was extended to the end of 1938 by further decrees. As authorized by law and royal order on January 15, 1938, and by ministerial orders on April 30, 1938, a National Office of Milk and Its Derivatives has been established to control the production and sale of milk, butter, and cheese, and to promote and improve the distribution and marketing of milk and its. derivatives. Bolivia. A decree of April 28, 1938, provided further Government supervision of the development and management of stock companies in order to prevent fraudulent acts. Brazil.-A new constitution decreed by the President and published on November 11, 1937, provided for complete reorganization of the Government by the President as supreme authority of the state, including the power to dissolve and reconstitute legislative bodies and the federal courts. Decree No. 366, published on April 12, 1938, added to the mining code regulations governing the subsoil deposits of petroleum and natural gas. These and mineral deposits are the property of the National Government. Decree No. 395 of April 29, 1938, completed nationalization of the petroleum industry. Production, refining, importation, exportation, and distribution of petroleum and its products are subject to regulations to be issued by a newly created National Petroleum Council. Concessions shall be granted only to Brazilians and Brazilian enterprises. Canada. Following decision of the Privy Council at London in 1937, holding the Natural Products Marketing Act to be unconstitutional, a Canadian order in council dated December 22, 1937, canceled all the marketing schemes set up under the act. But in some cases growers have organized associations to carry on marketing schemes on a voluntary basis, including tobacco and cheese associations in Ontario, and milk and fruit associations in British Columbia. The Royal Commission on the Textile Industry completed its hearings and presented a comprehensive report to the Minister of Finance in January 1938. In December 1937 the Provincial Legislature of British Columbia passed the Commodities Retail Sales Act, which makes it a statutory offense to sell for less than the price fixed by the wholesaler or producer. Cuba.-The Petroleum Act promulgated on May 10, 1938, effected nationalization of the industry, including petroleum, naphtha, natural kerosene, hydrocarbon gas, helium, asphalt, resin, and coal. All deposits are deemed the property of the state. Concessions are to be granted for development of the resources. Czechoslovakia. Decree No. 121, June 18, 1937, provided for basic minimum prices in certain trades. Decree No. 122, also dated June 18, amended the law of December 22, 1933, which restricted the establishment of single-price stores and extended the restriction to December 31, 1938. Decree No. 148, June 24, 1937, extended until December 31, 1938, provisions of a decree issued in 1935 prohibiting establishment of new brand sales in certain industries. A decree dated June 26, 1937, gave to the Ministry of Social Welfare power to declare binding certain labor contracts. A law dated December 21, 1937, affirmed and prolonged until March 31, 1939, the effect of a Government decree issued in 1934, prohibiting the unjustified closure of factories and mass release of employees. Law No. 245, dated December 21, 1937, imposed a tax on domestic cartels, from which export and international cartels are exempt. Denmark.-New legislation in Denmark in 1937 extended the Government's control over domestic trade and industry by providing control of private price agreements and forced arbitration of labor disputes. A new grain law, effective on January 1, 1938, supersedes prior acts in 1936 and 1937. Ecuador-Decree No. 159, August 9, 1937, established absolute control over the manufacture, import, sale, and advertising of chemical and biological products intended for medicinal or veterinary use, and pharamaceutical specialities. Registration is required, and all advertising matter must be approved by the Department of Health. A presidential decree on October 28, 1937, created a Council of National Economy to centralize national statistics, advise with Government departments on economic and financing operations, customs duties and fiscal policies, and to draft legislation of an economic character. A decree dated December 28, 1937, established a Commissariat of Industries, which shall take immediate control over the industrial and manufacturing production of the country with respect to commerce. Representatives of the commissariat are empowered to inspect account books, invoices, and other commercial documents regarding industry or manufacture. A decree published on January 7, 1938, provided for the establishment of and compulsory membership in chambers of commerce which shall have authority to defend and develop national commerce, to examine into the morality and honesty of commercial transactions and into the strict fulfillment of contracts and obligations to which their members are parties, to cooperate with the Government in the study of social-economic problems, and to require that all merchants located within their territorial jurisdiction join the chambers. They also will promote commercial fairs, expositions, and conventions, undertake propaganda in favor of Ecuadoran products, and if requested to do so, may arbitrate claims arising between foreign shippers and Ecuadoran importers. Decrees No. 45 of February 16, 1938, and No. 9 of March 9, 1938, provided for mining and petroleum concessions under the general principle that private individuals or entities may operate only as concessionaires for the exploitation of natural resources. Estonia. After several years of experimenting with subsidies, equalization fees, and guaranteed minimum prices, in February 1937, Estonia formed a monopoly for the processing and exportation of all livestock and meat products. France.-Acts dated June 30, 1937, and April 13, 1938, authorized the Government to take by decree any measures required to insure repression of attacks on the credit of the state, the combating of speculation, economic recovery, the control of prices, the balancing of the budget, and the defense of the reserve of the Bank of France, without control of exchange. Under this authority, a number of decrees have been issued. One dated June 30, 1937, modified the monetary law of October 1, 1936. Another decree also dated June 30, 1937, prescribed duties of the Departmental Commission of Price Control and prohibited any increase in the wholesale, semiwholesale, or retail prices of goods and foodstuffs or in the price lists applied in industrial and commercial enterprises which were in force on June 28, 1937. The new provisions supersede those of the Price Control Act of August 19, 1936. Numerous protests against the prohibition of increase in price resulted in some exemptions; and the decree was further relaxed by a decree on November 7, 1937, which authorized retail price increases resulting directly from higher wholesale prices, transportation charges and taxes. A decree on April 4, 1938, provided for establishment of a commission to study ways and means by which control of production in the French industries may be effected. A law dated July 9, 1937, effective until January 31, 1938, conferred upon the Government special authority to modify customs duties by decree, and amended the antidumping powers of the Government. A company act dated July 24, 1937, and decrees issued thereunder, included new provisions for the protection of stockholders and investors. Decrees dated August 26 and October 24, 1937, modified the Export Credit Guarantee Act of August 22, 1936. Four decrees dated August 27, 1937, provided for control of French colonial products, including their production, distribution, exportation from the French colonies, and importation into France and into the colonial territories. A decree on August 31, 1937, provided for nationalization of the country's railroads under an agreement effective January 1, 1938, whereby all main-line railways are taken over by a new state-controlled company which acquires all assets, assumes all their obligations, and will operate them as a unit until January 1, 1983, at which time they will revert to the state. Germany.-A decree of May 24, 1937, applied to mail-order houses the prohibition of establishment or expansion of retail shops covered by the law of May 12, 1933. A decree dated July 15, 1937, superseded a decree of September 22, 1934, for regulation of the domestic prices of foreign merchandise, and provided that the price base shall be the actual cost rather than the market price abroad; and profits and prices charged by dealers in handling foreign merchandise shall be fixed by the Reich Price Commissioner. A decree dated March 13, 1938, forbade persons in Germany to establish new industrial enterprises, acquire existing concerns, or to form branches, offices, or agencies in Austria. This plan was abandoned and the decree of March 13 abrogated on April 26, 1938, after passage of a law published in the Austrian Gazette on April 13, 1938, which authorized the Governor of Austria to control the establishment of industrial enterprises, and to appoint commissioned administrators or supervisors for all enterprises located therein. A decree published on March 30, 1938, prohibited increases in prices and remunerations of all kinds, as far as they relate to goods of daily necessity, to the entire agricultural, handicraft, and industrial production, and to the shipment of goods of all kinds, within the State of Austria, and in all busi ness transactions from Austria to the other parts of the Reich. Exceptions may be granted by the Reich Price Commissioner. The German stock company law of January 30, 1937, and subsequent regulations were made applicable to Austria by a German decree dated April 11, 1938. Great Britain.-Laws passed in 1937 included the Livestock Industry Act, July 20, 1937, which provides for the regulation of importation of livestock and meat (except bacon), continuation of subsidies to producers of beef cattle, the regulation of markets and of central slaughter houses; the Control of Imports Amendment Act, which provides certain changes in the act of 1934; the Export Guarantee Act, which amends and extends the authority of the Export Credit Guarantee Department of the Board of Trade; an Agricultural Act; a TradeMarks Amendment Act (the first major revision of British trade-mark legislation since 1905); and the Factories Act, July 30, 1937, which serves as a consolidating measure and repeals a number of prior laws regulating labor and factory conditions. A Special Committee on Share-Pushing, appointed by the Board of Trade in 1936, made its report in July 1937, recommending further regulation of the sale of stocks and shares in order to safeguard investors. An important report of the Import Duties Advisory Committee on the present position and future development of the iron and steel industry (command 5507) was issued in July 1937, with recommendations for regulation of the industry. Report on an inquiry into the costs and profits of retail milk distribution in Great Britain was submitted by the Food Council of the Board of Trade in November 1937, recommending: Rationalization through concentration of processing and distributing depots, reduction in the number of shops and in the expense of advertising, decrease in costs on book debts and their collection, and economies from simplified services; these ends to be accomplished through voluntary action by the industry, compulsory legislation, or a combination of the two. Report of a Joint Committee on Cotton Trade Control, in October 1937, proposed a bill which would establish a Cotton Industry Board for further regulation of the trade, covering all phases of production and merchandising of cotton and allied textiles, including reduction of surplus capacity, prevention of waste through excessive competition, the regulation of production, supply, and sale, establishment of minimum prices or margins, institution of pools and quotas, the imposition of levies, and legalization of wage agreements. The first annual report of the Spindles Board was issued in 1938 covering purchase of redundant mills and machinery under the Cotton Spinning Act of 1936. A coal bill introduced in 1937 would vest ownership and control of all unmined coal and mines in a National Coal Commission. Other features include amendments to the Coal Mines Act of 1930 to bring about further amalgamations in the mines and a continuance of organized marketing schemes. A films bill would extend and amend the existing film-quota system and set up an advisory films council. The essential commodities purchase bill would authorize further buying of products for reserve; stocks of wheat, sugar, whale oil, and other materials have already been purchased. International.-An agreement for the control of coke exports, both in volume and in price, was entered into by producers in the United |