Sea import restriction turns on actual shipment date; pre-dated bills of lading cannot defeat confiscation and penalty.

For sea imports subject to a licensing restriction, the operative date is the actual date the goods were shipped on board, not the date shown on a pre-dated bill of lading. The text states that second-hand machinery shipped after the restriction date could not rely on the transitional exception because no irrevocable letter of credit had been established before the cutoff. On the evidence of the steamer agent, the manipulation of the bills of lading was proved, bringing the goods within the restriction and making them liable to confiscation. Once contravention was established, penalty also followed, and the redemption fine and penalty were treated as reasonable.

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Issues: Whether second-hand machinery imported after the restriction date but covered by pre-dated bills of lading was liable to confiscation and penalty, and whether the redemption fine and penalty required reduction.

Analysis: The import policy required a specific import licence for second-hand machinery with effect from 1-4-1999, and the transitional exception was unavailable because the imports were not against an irrevocable letter of credit established before the restriction date. For sea imports, the relevant date was the actual date on which the goods were shipped on board, not the date shown on a pre-dated bill of lading. The steamer agent's evidence showed that the goods were shipped on 4-4-1999 and 14-4-1999, and no contrary evidence or cross-examination displaced that evidence. The manipulation of the bills of lading was therefore proved, bringing the goods within the import restriction and rendering them liable to confiscation. Once confiscability was established, the importer was also liable to penalty, and the quantum of redemption fine and penalty was found to be reasonable.

Conclusion: The confiscation and penalty were upheld, and the request for reduction of redemption fine and penalty was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed in its entirety, and the order of confiscation with redemption fine and penalty was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: For sea imports governed by an import policy restriction, the operative date is the actual date of shipment on board, and a pre-dated bill of lading cannot defeat the restriction; once contravention is proved, confiscation and penalty follow.

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