Interim report.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Whiskey and other Potable Spirits.
Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Interim report. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    785/884 page 31
    There are three kinds of acquits a caution or permits for spirits, viz.:— (1) Acquit blanc (No. 1) for eaux-de-vie et alcools nature] s which have been made under the supervision of the Regie since 1903. This 'acquit is granted in respect of potable spirits of any variety if exckisively derived from the distillation of wine, and also in respect of spirits exclusively derived from cider, pears, cherries, plums, and other fruits, as well as rum and gin. Attached to this acquit is a counterpart which constitutes a certificate of origin; on it is stated the materials from which the spirits Avere made. This certificate may be detached and sent to the consignee. (2) Acquit blanc (No. 2) used for spirits similar to those covered by the acquit blanc No. 1, but made under what is known as the 1872 law, which originated the use of separate acquits for different kinds of spirits. When the law of 1903 came into force, holders of stocks of spirits were allowed to declare to the Regie the origin of the spirits in stock; spirits for which the declaration of origin has been made and accepted by the authorities are entitled to the acquit blanc No. 2. Those who held stocks in 1903 but who did not make the necessary declaration can only send out their spirits under the acquit rouge. (3) Acquit rouge which is used for all other kinds of spirits, e.g., grain spirit or beet spirit, and includes certain mixtures of spirits, such as cognac mixed with beet spirit. It will be observed that pure wine spirit can therefore be moved under either acquit blanc No. 1 or acquit blanc No. 2. Wine spirit made since 1903 is required, if it is to be entitled to either of the acquits blancs, to be stored in a separate chai or warehouse; it may be mixed with wine spirit made before that date, and then it comes under the acquit blanc No. 2. In practice we understand that the requirement of separate warehouses is not enforced, and the spirit made under the 1903 law is allowed to be kept in separate compartments in the same warehouse with wine spirit made before that date. Spirits not entitled to be removed under either of the acquits blancs must be stored in a warehouse separated by a public highway from a store in which spirits entitled to the acquits blancs are stored. Hitherto there has been nothing to show on the acquit what is the place of origin of the spirit; thus a mixture of wine spirit made in the Midi, or the Armagnac, or even in Algeria, with wine spirit made in the Charente, would have gone under a white acquit, either No. 1 or No. 2. Wine spirits of different origins could be stored in the same warehouse, and could be mixed at will by the merchant. The warehouses are not under Revenue lock, and the Regie do not keep separate accounts of the different kinds of spirits in the merchant's stock, but only of the total bulk and total alcohol quantities of spirits received and sent out. With the legal delimitation of the Cognac region, however, it is probable Henu^sy, that an additional acquit will be instituted, called the acquit regional, on which i-^-'^og-si the district of origin will be stated, and it is possible that spirits entitled to this acquit may be required to be separately stored. Exportation, Attached to the acquit blanc No. 1 there is, as already mentioned, a counterpart in the nature of a certificate of origin, and the particulars stated thereon are the material from which the spirit being removed was made, the number of packages in the consignment, the total bulk quantity in hectolitres, and the total quantity of pure alcohol. This counterpart can be detached and forwarded to the consignee; the particulars of each package, however, are not given nor are the numbers or marks on the packages. The acquit blanc No. 2 has no counterpart, but the Douane will, if required, issue a certificate to the effect that the Regie have certified as to the materials from which the particular consignment of spirits was made. These
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