I move that the Bill be read a Second Time. A commercial agreement, operative for one year, was concluded on the 1st April, 1935, between the Government of the Saorstát and the Spanish Government, and was presented to both Houses of the Oireachtas by the Minister for External affairs. Under clause 7 of that agreement, the Government of Saorstát Eireann undertook to take all the measures necessary for the purpose of preventing in its territory, during the duration of the agreement, the wrong ful use of the geographical appellations of origin of wines produced in and exported from Spain, the names of which appear in the annex to the treaty of agreement, and the importation of which should be subject to the production of certificates of origin delivered by the competent Spanish authorities.
The classes of wines covered by that paragraph of the agreement are those set out in the Schedule to this Bill. The purpose of the Bill is to enable us to give effect to that part of the agreement. This is done by giving the Minister for Industry and Commerce power, under Section 2 of the Bill, to afford the necessary protection of the particular name, and also to require that the particular wine, when imported, will be covered by a certificate of origin. A somewhat similar measure was passed in 1930 in connection with the trade agreement made with Portugal, with this difference that the legislation introduced in that year in regard to Portugal itself applied the protection and imposed the requirement in respect of the certificate of origin. Under this Bill that will be done by Order, and the reason for the difference is that the agreement with Spain is for a period of one year. If it is continued beyond that period, then Orders can be made extending the provisions of this Bill accordingly.
Provision is made under Section 5 of the Bill that an Order made under it will not apply within one year from the date of the passing of the Bill to any wine or other liquor imported into the Saorstát before that date. That provision is made so as to ensure that there will be ample time for the disposal of stocks of wines which were imported without the certificate of origin but which will become necessary for importation as soon as Orders are made under this Bill.