kzt wrote:KNick wrote:Without textev one way or the other, it is my personal opinion that any SEM trade mission or delegation is more likely to be from a Talbott Quadrant world than the OSK. Much more likely is a single individual or firm with no affiliation to a particular world or organization acting as the factor for many planets. Only the RTU was actually big enough to need local offices, and from textev, most of them are within the TQ. The RTU and the worlds they traded with form the basis of the TQ.
David's recent comment on the SEM division of duties appears to have all interstellar relationship negotiations (commercial or otherwise) reserved solely for the imperial government.
Very true. The only however I would add to that is that the pre-existing network might still be there. There has not been enough time to shut down all of the contracted operations that existed before the TQ joined the SEM. Nor do I see a reason for Dame Estelle to force the various merchant companies with pre-existing relationships to alter those relationships significantly. I just cannot see her imposing that kind of potential lose of business on the TQ, especially the smaller lines that are having a tough time already. I could see her suggesting renegotiation of some details and requiring that those deals come to her office for confirmation. That is, after all, part of her job. I could also see her placing some systems on a restricted access list (such as Saltash), where special permission is required to trade with them.
I could see her setting up an office to look over any existing trade deals, with an eye toward her (Imperial) confirmation or rejection of those deals.
From my reading of what David wrote, trading deals will not require the Imperial Parliament to sign off on individual deals. They will simply set up the laws under which all trade deals will be negotiated. They will set things like tariffs, taxes, quarantine procedures, medical requirements, banking standards, etc. that apply to the entire SEM.
I could see, in the future, an academy similar to Saganami Island, for customs agents, where everyone who works for the Customs Service is trained to the same standard. With perhaps Sir Horace Harkness as the senior instructor after his retirement from the RMN?
