SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION ERGOT Tariff Status Par. 1728. Ergot, which was dutiable at 10 cents per pound under the Tariff Act of 1922, is free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1930. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Ergot: United States imports for consumption, by principal 1937 1938 144,761 177,702 241,443 $306,186 Portugal, $208,156; Spain, $48,799; Germany, $29,129; Belgium, $19,700. Portugal, $102,289; Germany,1/$25,490; Spain, $19,722; United Kingdom, $18,048. 147,999 Portugal, $111,029; Poland and Danzig, $10,945; United Kingdom, $8,400; Hungary, $7,047. 180,287 Portugal, $179,363. 1946 2/ 1947 2/ 1948 2/ 156,555 149,756 Portugal, $149,756. 1/ Includes Austria. 2/ Preliminary. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note.- United States production of ergot is estimated to be about one-third of the quantity of imports. Statistics of exports are not available but exports are negligible, if any. Comment This summary covers ergot, a drug both in its crude state and when advanced in value or condition by grinding or powdering. Ergot is a dried fungus growthClaviceps purpurea-that occurs on almost all grains and grasses, but principally on the rye plant. The growth occupies the place of one or more grains in the spike of the rye plant. The particles of ergot are colored either black or purplish brown on the outside, and very from 1/4 inch to 1-3/4 inches in length and up to 1/5 inch in thickness. The active principles of ergot are its alkaloids-ergotoxine, ergotamine, ergonovine, and others. The chief use of ergot is as a raw material for the manufacture of these alkaloids and of ergot medicinals. The alkaloids and other medicinal preparations containing ergot are used almost exclusively in obstetric practice. ERGOT Ergot occurs sporadically in the rye-growing sections of the United States, particularly in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and in adjacent States. Before 1937 domestic output was very small; since then ergot has been collected on a commercial scale chiefly from rye-mill screenings. No statistics of United States production are available but the output is estimated to be about one-third the quantity imported. United States exports of ergot are not separately reported, but exports are probably small, if any. United States imports of ergot have varied considerably from year to year; they ranged from about 98,000 pounds to about 241,000 pounds annually in the years 1937-39 (see table 1). Imports in postwar years have been at a somewhat higher level than in immediate prewar years; they ranged from about 129,000 pounds to about 400,000 pounds annually in 1946-48. Portugal has been the principel source of United States imports in both prewar and postwar years. The average unit foreign value of imports ranged from $1.23 to $1.51 per pound in 1937-39; in 1940 the average was $1.63 per pound; during the period 1946-48 the annual average has ranged from 96 cents per pound to $1.07 per pound. SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION GENTIAN Tariff Status Par. 1728. Gentian, which was dutiable at 1/4 cent per pound under the Tariff Act of 1922, is free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1930. France Trade Statistics Table 1.- Gentian: United States imports for consumption, 155,637 254,948 Yugoslavia Italy 113,070 Quantity (Pounds) 369,976 61,897 184,681 48,413 255,069 23 588,138 366,931 442,989 239,750 589,245 108,057 437,949 2 Includes imports from Portugal amounting to 55,034 pounds, valued at $17,904, with a unit foreign value of 33 cents per pound. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note: The United States does not produce or export crude Gentian-U.S.P. (see text). UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION GENTIAN Comment This summary covers the crude drug gentian, both in its natural state and when advanced in value or condition by grinding or powdering. Gentian (as recognized by the United States Pharmacopoeia) consists of the dried rhizome (underground stem) and roots of the perennial herb, Gentiana lutea or yellow gentian, which is indigenous to the mountainous regions of central and southern Europe. The milled or ground drug is a yellowish brown or yellowish orange powder, which contains an active principle that is a bitter glucoside, called gentiopicrin. Gentian is used principally in the preparation of simple spirituous bitters that are used in the treatment of atonic dyspepsia, anorexia, and similar complaints. There is no United States production or exportation of crude gentian. In the immediate prewar years United States imports of gentian ranged from 367,000 pounds, valued at about $21,000, in 1938 to 588,000 pounds, valued at $54,000, in 1937. In postwar years imports ranged from 108,000 pounds, valued at $13,000, in 1947 to 589,000 pounds, valued at $95,000, in 1946. Imports in 1948 were somewhat less than the annual average for 1937-39 (see table 1). France has been the principal source and Yugoslavia and Italy the most important secondary sources of United States imports in prewar and postwar years. During the war years 1940-45 by far the greater part (in some years all) of the imports came from Spain and Portugal. The average annual unit foreign value of United States imports, which in the years 1937-39 ranged from 5 to 9 cents per pound, reached a peak of about 37 cents per pound in 1942; this average declined in subsequent years and it was 9 cents a pound in 1948. A related species, known as blue or fringed gentian, which grows in grassy swamps from Virginia to Florida, is not recognized in any United States book of drug standards. SUMMARIES OF TARIFF INFORMATION HENBANE Tariff Status Par. 1728. Henbane, which was dutiable at 25 percent ad valorem under the Tariff Act of 1922, is free of duty under the Tariff Act of 1930. Trade Statistics Table 1.- Henbane: United States imports for consumption, by 1/Preliminary. 2/ Includes Anglo Egyptian Sudan 1937-39. Average 3/ Included with Egypt. Computed on the exact (1.e., unrounded) figures. Source: Official statistics of the U. S. Department of Commerce. Note: Statistics of United States production are not available. Exports were 1,929 pounds, valued at $3,806, in 1943 (see text). |