Office of the Historian

The Italian Ambassador to the Secretary of State.

[Translation.]
Royal Embassy of Italy,
Washington, D. C, November 24, 1906.
No. 2278.]

Mr. Secretary of State: The firm of S. Rae & Co., of Leghorn (Tuscany), has addressed to my Government a protest against the action of the federal Department of Agriculture in prohibiting the importation into the United States of olive oil that the said firm had, for over thirty years, been importing into the United States. It seems that the cause of this prohibition is that the said product is sold as “Lucca oil,” while it appears to be neither made in or exported from the province of Lucca.

It would seem that the recent regulations issued by the Federal Government in regard to the place of origin of the merchandise being indicated on the label should not apply to this case, inasmuch as the sweet olive oil of Tuscany has, according to a certificate of the Chamber of Commerce of Leghorn, copy of which I have the honor to inclose herewith, been designated and known, from time immemorial, by the name of “Lucca oil,” both in Italy and abroad.

I shall be thankful to your excellency if you will courteously move your most excellent colleague of the Agriculture Department to give a favorable reception to the protest of the firm of S. Rae & Co. and permit its oil to be admitted into this country as heretofore.

Accept, etc.

Mayor.

[Inclosure.—Translation.]

Province of Leghorn,
Chamber of Commerce and Arts.

It is hereby certified, for the sake of truth, that from time immemorial, the sweet olive oil of Tuscany has always been designated and known—both in Italy and abroad—by the name of “Lucca oil,” and that the reputable firm of Samuel Rae & Co., established here in 1836, leads in the trade, exporting nothing but the best olive oil of Tuscany under the customary name of “Lucca oil.”

  • F. Ardizzone, President.
  • G. Barsanti, Secretary.

Leghorn, September 29, 1906.