Q&A ยท 1:33:17-1:33:27

Could Dutch cargo origins be verified?

Cargo-origin restrictions depended on evidence that could be fabricated, limiting their practical enforceability.

Question

Did Dutch merchants have to produce evidence of where their cargo originated?

Short answer

Not in a reliably enforceable way. Any documentary proof could be readily fabricated.

Notes

Rules about cargo origin depended on evidence that merchants could readily fabricate. That weakness applied to the Dutch carriage of goods allowed under the trading concessions. Documentary requirements could therefore give little assurance about where the commodities actually came from.