fied that the articles in question fulfil these conditions; and also 'Personal Baggage of less than twenty passengers and.' "It is understood between the Foreign and Chinese Commissioners that, though the above words have been eliminated from the Rules, the matter therein referred to will be dealt with by the Inspector General of the Imperial Maritime Customs at his discretion, in accordance with the instructions issued by him subsequent to the Final Protocol of the 7th September 1901. "We have the honour to be, " "D. SIFFERT. "JOHN GOODNOW." "DUTY FREE LIST. (Vide I. G. Circulars Nos. 979, 984, 1,016, 1,020, 1,022, 1,025, 1,026, instructions received.) "3rd June 1902 "12th October 1901 66 3rd June 1902 "3rd June 1902 "31st May 1902 3. Suplies for the use of Foreign Forces, military and naval. Official Stationery actually transmitted by Foreign Government Departments for Foreign Consulates. 5. Supplies under Government Stores Certificates. 6. Materials for Railways the import of which 'free' is provided for by agreements antedating the Peace Protocol. Samples, in reasonable quantities, certified for show and not for sale. 7. . 8. 9. Circulars, etc., distributed gratis by mercantile houses. 10. Clothing, Books, Pictures, and Furniture already in use For the export tariff, see the Anglo-Chinese Agreement containing rules of trade, November 8, 1858 (Hertslet, p. 45). Note 2. The date is that of the original conclusion of the agreement: in Customs, loc. cit., it is noted that the Tariff Agreement was signed by the representatives of the several Powers on the following dates: "1902, August 29th (KUANG HSU, 28th year, 7th moon, 26th day), to come into effect October 31st (10th moon, 1st day): "The Representatives of China signing on the above date were "LÜ HAI-HUAN. "1903, March 28th (KUANG Hsü, 29th year, 2nd moon, 30th day), to come into effect April 27th (4th moon, 1st day): " ITALY .... Signed by MAJOR C. NERAZZINI. "1904, March 23rd (KUANG Hsü, 30th year, 2nd moon, 7th day), to come into effect May 5th (3rd moon, 20th day): "DENMARK Signed by F. HAGBERG. "1904, March 30th (KUANG Hsü, 30th year, 2nd moon, 14th day), to come into effect on signature: "FRANCE "NORWAY "SWEDEN Signed by L. RATARD. F. HAGBERG. "1904, November 11th (KUANG Hsü; 30th year, 10th moon, 5th day), to come into effect on "PORTUGAL signature: " Signed by J. D’A. CASTELLO BRANCO. The Representatives of China signing on the above dates were 'LÜ HAI-HUAN. 66 SHENG HSÜAN-HUAI." NUMBER 1902/7. GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA. Treaty respecting commercial relations, etc. (with Annexes.)*-September 5, 1902. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and His Majesty the Emperor of China, having resolved to enter into negotiations with a view to carrying out the provision contained in Article 11 of the Final Protocol signed at Peking on the 7th September, 1901, under which the Chinese Government agreed to negotiate the amendments deemed useful by the foreign Governments to the Treaties of Commerce and Navigation and other subjects concerning commercial relations with the object of facilitating them, have for that purpose named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say: His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty's Special Commissioner, Sir James Lyle Mackay, Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India, &c. And His Majesty the Emperor of China, the Imperial Commissioners Lü Hai-huan, President of the Board of Public Works, &c., and Shêng Hsüan-huai, Junior Guardian of the Heir-Apparent, Senior Vice-President of the Board of Public Works, &c. *Text as printed in British Treaty Series, No. 17 (1903). Printed also in Rockhill, p. 102; Customs, Vol. I, p. 543; Hertslet, p. 171; Recueil, p. 594. In connection with this treaty see the Tariff Agreement of August 29, 1902 (No. 1902/6, ante); see also Japanese and American commercial treaties of October 8, 1903 (Nos. 1903/4 and 1903/5, post). Who having communicated to each other their respective full powers, and found them to be in good and due form have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles: ARTICLE I.-Delay having occurred in the past in the issue of Drawback Certificates owing to the fact that those documents have to be dealt with by the Superintendent of Customs at a distance from the Customs Office, it is now agreed that Drawback Certificates shall hereafter in all cases be issued by the Imperial Maritime Customs within three weeks of the presentation to the Customs of the papers entitling the applicant to receive such Drawback Certificates. These Certificates shall be valid tender to the Customs authorities in payment of any duty upon goods imported or exported (transit dues excepted), or shall, in the case of Drawbacks on foreign goods re-exported abroad within three years from the date of importation, be payable in cash without deduction by the Customs Bank at the place where the import duty was paid. But if, in connection with any application for a Drawback Certificate, the Customs authorities discover an attempt to defraud the revenue, the applicant shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five times the amount of the duty whereof he attempted to defraud the Customs, or to a confiscation of the goods. ARTICLE II.-China agrees to take the necessary steps to provide for a uniform national coinage which shall be legal tender in payment of all duties, taxes and other obligations throughout the Empire by British as well as Chinese subjects. ARTICLE III.-China agrees that the duties and likin combined levied on goods carried by junks from Hong Kong to the Treaty ports in the Canton Province and vice versâ, shall together not be less than the duties charged by the Imperial Maritime Customs on similar goods carried by steamer. ARTICLE IV.S-Whereas questions have arisen in the past concerning the right of Chinese subjects to invest money in non-Chinese enterprises and companies, and whereas it is a matter of common knowledge that large sums of Chinese capital are so invested, China hereby agrees to recognise the legality of all such investments past, present and future. It being, moreover, of the utmost importance that all shareholders in a JointStock Company should stand on a footing of perfect equality as far as mutual obligations are concerned, China further agrees that Chinese subjects who have or may become shareholders in any British Joint-Stock Company shall be held to have accepted, by the very act of becoming shareholders, the Charter of Incorporation or Memorandum and Articles of Association of such Company and regulations framed thereunder as interpreted by British Courts, and that Chinese Courts shall enforce compliance therewith by such Chinese shareholders, if a suit to that effect be entered, provided always that their liability shall not be other or greater than that of British shareholders in the same Company. Similarly the British Government agree that British subjects investing in † See American treaty of 1903, Article 8. See American treaty of 1903, Article 13, and Japanese treaty of 1903, Article 13. § See Japanese treaty of 1903, Article 4. Chinese Companies shall be under the same obligations as the Chinese shareholders in such Companies. The foregoing shall not apply to cases which have already been before the Courts and been dismissed. ARTICLE V.-The Chinese Government undertake to remove within the next two years the artificial obstructions to navigation in the Canton River. The Chinese Government also agree to improve the accommodation for shipping in the harbour of Canton and to take the necessary steps to maintain that improvement, such work to be carried out by the Imperial Maritime Customs and the cost thereof to be defrayed by a tax on goods landed and shipped by British and Chinese alike according to a scale to be arranged between the merchants and Customs. The Chinese Government are aware of the desirability of improving the navigability by steamer of the waterway between Ichang and Chungking, but are also fully aware that such improvement might involve heavy expense and would affect the interests of the population of the Provinces of Szechuen, Hunan, and Hupeh. It is, therefore, mutually agreed that until improvements can be carried out steam-ship owners shall be allowed, subject to approval by the Imperial Maritime Customs, to erect, at their own expense, appliances for hauling through the rapids. Such appliances shall be at the disposal of all vessels, both steamers and junks, subject to regulations to be drawn up by the Imperial Maritime Customs. These appliances shall not obstruct the waterway or interfere with the free passage of junks. Signal stations and channel marks where and when necessary shall be erected by the Imperial Maritime Customs. Should any practical scheme be presented for improving the waterway and assisting navigation without injury to the local population or cost to the Chinese Government, it shall be considered by the latter in a friendly spirit.|| ARTICLE VI.-The Chinese Government agree to make arrangements to give increased facilities at the open ports for bonding and for repacking merchandise in bond, and, on official representation being made by the British authorities, to grant the privileges of a bonded warehouse to any warehouse which it is established to the satisfaction of the Customs authorities affords the necessary security to the revenue. Such warehouses will be subject to regulations, including a scale of fees according to commodities, distance from custom-house and hours of working, to be drawn up by the Customs' authorities who will meet the convenience of merchants so far as is compatible with the protection of revenue. ARTICLE VII.*-Inasmuch as the British Government afford protection to Chinese trade-marks against infringement, imitation, or colourable imitation by British subjects, the Chinese Government undertake to afford protection to British trade-marks against infringement, imitation, or colourable imitation by Chinese subjects. The Chinese Government further undertake that the Superintendents of Northern and of Southern Trade shall establish offices within their respective * See American treaty of 1903, Article 9, and Japanese treaty of 1903, Article 5. See Japanese treaty of 1903, Article 2. ¶ See American treaty of 1903, Article 6. jurisdictions under control of the Imperial Maritime Customs where foreign trademarks may be registered on payment of a reasonable fee. ARTICLE VIII.†-PREAMBLE.-The Chinese Government, recognizing that the system of levying likin and other dues on goods at the place of production, in transit, and at destination, impedes the free circulation of commodities and injures the interests of trade, hereby undertake to discard completely those means of raising revenue with the limitations mentioned in section 8. The British Government, in return, consent to allow a surtax, in excess of the Tariff rates for the time being in force to be imposed on foreign goods imported by British subjects and a surtax in addition to the export duty on Chinese produce destined for export abroad or coastwise. It is clearly understood that, after likin barriers and other stations for taxing goods in transit have been removed, no attempt shall be made to revive them in any form or under any pretext whatsoever; that in no case shall the surtax on foreign imports exceed the equivalent of one and a half times the import duty leviable in terms of the Final Protocol signed by China and the Powers on the 7th day of September, 1901; that payment of the import duty and surtax shall secure for foreign imports, whether in the hands of Chinese or non-Chinese subjects, in original packages or otherwise, complete immunity from all other taxation, examination or delay; that the total amount of taxation leviable on native produce for export abroad shall, under no circumstances, exceed 71⁄2 per cent. ad valorem. Keeping these fundamental principles steadily in view, the High Contracting Parties have agreed upon the following methods of procedure. Section 1.-The Chinese Government undertake that all barriers of whatsoever kind, collecting likin or such like dues or duties, shall be permanently abolished on all roads, railways, and waterways in the Eighteen Provinces of China and the Three Eastern Provinces. This provision does not apply to the Native Custom-Houses at present in existence on the seaboard or waterways, at open ports, on land routes, and on land frontiers of China. Sec. 2.-The British Government agree that foreign goods on importation, in addition to the effective 5% import duty as provided for in the Protocol of 1901, shall pay a special surtax equivalent to one and a half times the said duty to compensate for the abolition of likin, of transit dues in lieu of likin, and of all other taxation on foreign goods, and in consideration of the other reforms provided for in this Article; but this provision shall not impair the right of China to tax salt, native opium, and native produce as provided for in sections 3, 5, 6, and 8. The same amount of surtax shall be levied on goods imported into the Eighteen Provinces of China and the Three Eastern Provinces across the land frontiers as on goods entering China by sea. Sec. 3.-All Native Custom-Houses now existing, whether at the Open † See American treaty of 1903, Article 4, and Japanese treaty of 1903, Article 1. To the text of this article, as printed in British Treaty Series, No. 17 (1903), is appended the following note: Article VIII does not come into force until other Powers have signified their acceptance of the engagements set forth therein with regard to the payment of surtaxes, etc." |