UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION DERRIS ROOT AND TUBA OR TUBE ROOT, CRUDE Tariff Status Par. 1722. Derris root and tuba or tube root, crude or unmanufactured, which were free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, are also free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1930. Their duty-free status was originally bound in the trade agreement with the United Kingdom, effective January 1939, and subsequently bound in the Geneva agreement. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Derris root and tuba or tube root, crude: United States 1/Preliminary. .17 .13 .11 .18 .30 .28 2/ Includes 29,120 pounds, valued at $20,549, from Portugal, with a unit value of $0.71. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note: There is no United States production or export of crude derris, tuba, or SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION DERRIS ROOT AND TUBA OR TUBE ROOT, CRUDE Comment This summary covers crude or unmanufactured derris root, which is also known as tuba or tube root. For a discussion of derris root, advanced in value or condition, i.e., ground, see separate summary under paragraph 35. Derris root is obtained from the large woody vine Derris elliptica, which is native to British Malaya. Commercial supplies of derris root are collected from both wild and cultivated plants in Malaya and from cultivated plants in the Philippines, the Netherlands Indies, and in other countries. Derris root usually contains 5 to 10 percent of rotenone, the active principle of the root; however, the trade usually standardizes the ground or powdered product at a 5 percent rotenone content. Powdered derris root is used as an insecticide by truck farmers and vegetable gardeners and to destroy certain parasites of domestic animals, such as cattle grubs, mites, fleas, lice, and ticks. Certain of the newer synthetic insecticides--DDT, Benzene hexachloride, Chlordane, and Lethane--compete with derris and cube root in many of their uses. However, for the eradication of cattle grubs no effective substitute for the rotenone-containing products has been found. Derris root is competitive with cube root,1/ a South American product also containing rotenone; in fact, the two roots are used interchangeably. There is no United States production or exportation of crude derris root. United States imports of crude derris root increased from 573,000 pounds, valued at $98,000, in 1937 to 4.1 million pounds, valued at $504,000, in 1941. Imports were negligible during subsequent war years and amounted to only 60 pounds in 1943 and there were no imports in 1944. In the postwar period imports were 30,000 pounds, valued at $5,400, in 1946; 548,000 pounds, valued at $165,400, in 1947; and 290,000 pounds, valued at $82,000 in 1948 (see table 1). British Malaya has been the principal source of United States imports in both prewar and postwar years. The average unit foreign value of imports of crude derris root increased from 11 cents a pound in 1939 and 1940 to 30 cents a pound in 1947 and was 28 cents a pound in 1948. 1/ See separate summary on cube root, crude, under par. 1722. UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION LAVENDER FLOWERS, CRUDE (DRIED) Tariff Status Par. 1722. Lavender flowers, crude (dried), were classified free of duty as drugs under the Tariff Act of 1922. Under the Tariff Act of 1930 they were held dutiable in 1934 as articles of perfumery under paragraph 61, but, probably as a result of later litigation, they have in more recent years been entered free of duty under paragraph 1722 as crude vegetable substances. Their duty-free status was bound in the Annecy agreement, but this binding was not made effective on January 1, 1950. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Lavender flowers, crude (dried): United States imports for Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note.- United States production of dried lavender flowers has not been commercially SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION LAVENDER FLOWERS, CRUDE (DRIED) Comment Lavender flowers come from a small plant shrub, Lavandula officinalis, native to southern Europe. The plants grow wild in the Mediterranean regions of France, Spain, and Italy and have been cultivated in England and the United States. The dried flowers, the form in which imported, are used widely as a perfuming agent in sachet bags, stored linen, and other similar ways. (Oil of lavender, an important essential oil used in perfumes, is obtained from fresh lavender flowers by steam distillation; it is free of duty under par. 1731). Before World War II an experimental project for the cultivation of lavender flowers was undertaken in the State of Washington by the Associated Manufacturers of Toilet Articles and the United States Department of Agriculture. This project was not commercially successful; but it is reported that one private operator still produces a few hundred pounds of lavender flowers annually, which are used for the manufacture of the essential oil. United States imports of lavender flowers averaged about 19,000 pounds annually during 1938 and 1939; imports increased to 71,000 pounds in 1946 but dropped to 16,000 pounds in 1947. Prewar imports of lavender flowers were principally from France. Spain was the principal supplier in 1946; in 1947 imports came in about equal quantities from Italy and Spain (see table 1). There are no United States exports of dried lavender flowers. * UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION LYCOPODIUM, CRUDE OR UNMANUFACTURED Tariff Status Par. 1722. Lycopodium, crude or unmanufactured, which was free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1922, is free of duty also under the Tariff Act of 1930. 1/ Until December 1949 crude lycopodium was classified under paragraph 1669 as a crude drug. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Lycopodium (crude or unmanufactured): United States 1/ Preliminary 2/ Includes 4,940 pounds valued at $4,672 with a unit value of $0.95, from Germany. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note. Statistics on United States production and exports are not available |