IMPERIAL AND FOREIGN POST
95
for clearance through the Customs will be charged on each packet on which Customs duty is levied.
PAYMENT
SENDER
OF CUSTOMS
CHARGES BY
Under this system the senders of parcels containing silk or tea may arrange for delivery free of Customs and other charges. This system is internationally known as Franc de droits (Free of charge) service and the countries to which it extends is limited to the United Kingdom and Australia only.
A parcel intended to be sent under this system can- not be posted at a Branch Post Office but, must be handed in at The General Post Office. The sender must pay a deposit on account of the charges, together with a fee of 25 cents, and sign a form undertaking to pay the balance on demand after the Post Office has been notified of the amount actually levied. He must be able to furnish a permanent address in the colony.
The deposits are at the rate of 60 cents per lb. plus 50 cents per parcel for tea, and $16.00 per £ ad valorem for silk.
In the United Kingdom a fee for clearance through the Customs is charged on every parcel on which Cus- toms charges are levied. The amount of this fee is 1/ for each parcel on which the Customs charges exceed 10/ and 6d. for each parcel on which the Customs charges do not exceed 10/-. The fee is collected from the addressee except in the cases of duty-prepaid parcels when the amount must be prepaid by the sender.
The customs clearance fee in Australia is 6d. for each parcel on which duty is payable.
The Postmaster General cannot undertake to make enquiry respecting charges levied in the country of destination on a parcel even if it is forwarded under this arrangement.
The Post Office accepts no responsibility for loss, delay or charges arising from the Customs or other regulations to which the contents of parcels are subject.