878 THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 23rd OCTOBER, 1897.
Art. 2. No prohibition or restriction shall be maintained or decreed against the importation of any article the produce or manufacture of one or other of the contracting countries, from whatever place arriving, which shall not equally apply to the importation of the like article produced or manu- factured in any other foreign country. It is, nevertheless, understood that each of the Contracting Parties reserves the right to apply sanitary measures and restrictions affecting the importation of any goods or articles injurious to public health, or to animals or plants.
Art. 3. Her Britannic Majesty's Government consents that, during the term of the present Arrangement, articles of British origin or manufacture shall pay, on entering Bulgaria, the customs, octroi, and excise duties specified in Annex (A) and in the Final Protocol of the Treaty signed on the 9th December, 1896, between the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian Plenipotentiaries, saving all reductions which have been or may be granted to other Powers, and excepting the articles scheduled in Annex 2 of the present Arrrangement, which shall pay the duties therein specified.
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Art. 4. Annexes Nos. 1, 2, and 3 shall be considered as forming an integral part of the present Arrangement.
Art. 5. The present Arrangement shall be applicable, so far as the laws permit, to all the Colonies and foreign possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, provided always that each of the said Colonies and foreign possessions shall be free to refuse its acceptance of the Arrangement within six months from the date of the signature thereof, notification to that effect being given by Her Majesty's Representa- tive at Sophia to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of His Royal Highness the Prince of Bulgaria.
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Art. 6. The present Arrangement shall come into effect on the 12th July, 1897, and shall remain in force until the 19th December, 1899.
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In case neither of the Contracting Parties shall have notified six months before the end of the said period the intention of putting an end to it, the Arrangement shall remain binding until the expiration of one year from the day on which one or other of the Contracting Parties shall have denounced it.
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Done in duplicate at Vienna, this day of July, in the year of our Lord 1897.
(Signed) FRANCIS E. H. ELLIOT.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
(Signed) DR. C. STOÏLOFF.
Annex No. 1.
1. The right of " cabotage" is maintained for British vessels. During the term of the Arrange- ment signed on the 12th July, 1897, British vessels calling at Bulgarian ports shall not be liable to any dues or charges, other or higher than those set forth in the annexed Circular of the 3rd April, 1885.
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When ships can take advantage of the works now being constructed, or which may hereafter be constructed, at certain ports, the question of new dues to be paid at those ports shall be settled by mutual agreement.
2. In all operations relating to commerce or navigation (customs operations, fines, &c.) where British subjects are called upon to provide guarantees, bank guarantees will only be accepted as satis- factory if furnished by banks established in Bulgaria with the sanction of the Government of the Prin- cipality.
3. Every facility shall be granted to British subjects for bonding goods at the sea-ports; and the bonding of coal shall be permitted in depôts either on land or afloat.
4. British subjects shall be permitted freely to exercise the profession of ship-broker. British subjects shall be permitted freely to excercise the profession of grain-broker, provided they pay a licence tax of 400 fr. per annum.
5. In the event of the Government of Bulgaria undertaking the administration of the Sanitary and Lighthouse services on the Bulgarian coast of the Black Sea, it will not collect higher dues than those now levied by the existing Administrations.
6. With regard to the transport of goods by rail, the Bulgarian Government undertakes to admit British goods, and goods imported by British subjects or their agents, to the enjoyment of all advan- tages, or reductions of freight or of other charges, and to all privileges and facilities which have been or may hereafter be, accorded to goods coming from any other foreign country, or imported by the subjects of the most favoured nation.
All goods landed at Bulgarian ports, including goods destined to be immediately dispatched to the interior of the Principality under the conditions of a tariff of through rates, may be cleared at the custom-house of the port of entry.
(L.S.)
(Signed)
(L.S.)
NCIS
FRANCIS E. H. ELLIOT.
(Signed) Dr. C. STOÏLOFF.