THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 16TH FEBRUARY, 1895.
107
In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.
Done at London, in duplicate, this sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four.
(L.S.)
KIMBERLEY.
(L.S.)
AOKI.
Protocol signed at London, July 16, 1894.
THE Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, and the Government of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, deeming it advisable in the interests of both countries to regulate certain special matters of mutual concern, apart from the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day, have, through their respective Plenipotentiaries, agreed upon the following stipulations:-
1. It is agreed by the Contracting Parties that one month after the exchange of the ratifications of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day, the Import Tariff hereunto annexed shall, subject to the provisions of Article XXIII of the Treaty of 1858 at present subsisting between the Contracting Parties, as long as the said Treaty remains in force and thereafter, subject to the provisions of Articles V and XV of the Treaty signed this day, be applicable to the articles therein enumerated, being the growth, produce, or manufacture of the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, upon importation into Japan. But nothing contained in this Protocol, or the Tariff hereunto annexed, shall be held to limit or qualify the right of the Japanese Government to restrict or to prohibit the importation of adulterated drugs, medicines, food, or beverages; indecent or obscene prints, paintings, books, cards, lithographic or other engravings, photographs, or any other indecent or obscene articles; articles in violation of patent, trade-mark, or copyright laws of Japan; or any other article which for sanitary reasons, or in view of public security or morals, might offer any danger.
The ad valorem duties established by the said Tariff shall, so far as may be deemed practicable, be converted into specific duties by a Supplementary Convention, which shall be concluded between the two Governments within six months from the date of this Protocol; the medium prices, as shown by the Japanese Customs Returns during the six calendar months preceding the date of the present Protocol, with the addition of the cost of insurance and transportation from the place of purchase, production, or fabrication, to the port of discharge, as well as commission, if any, shall be taken as the basis for such conversion. In the event of the Supplementary Convention not having come into force before the expiration of the period fixed for the said Tariff to take effect, ad valorem duties in conformity with the rule recited at the end of the said Tariff shall, in the meantime, be levied.
In respect of articles not enumerated in the said Tariff, the General Statutory Tariff of Japan for the time being in force shall, from the same time, apply, subject, as aforesaid, to the provisions of Article XXIII of the Treaty of 1858 and Articles V and XV of the Treaty signed this day respectively.
From the date the Tariffs aforesaid take effect, the Import Tariff now in operation in Japan in respect of goods and merchandize imported into Japan by British subjects shall cease to be binding.
In all other respects the stipulations of the existing Treaties and Conventions shall be maintained unconditionally until the time when the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day comes into force.
2. The Japanese Government, pending the opening of the country to British subjects, agrees to extend the existing passport system in such a manner as to allow British subjects, on the production of a certificate of recommendation from the British Representative in Tôkiô, or from any of Her Majesty's Consuls at the open ports in Japan, to obtain upon application passports available for any part of the country, and for any period not exceeding twelve months, from the Imperial Japanese Foreign Office in Tokiô, or from the chief authorities in the Prefecture in which an open port is situated; it being understood that the existing Rules and Regulations governing British subjects who visit the interior of the Empire are to be maintained.
3. The Japanese Government undertakes, before the cessation of British Consular jurisdiction in Japan, to join the International Conventions for the Protection of Industrial Property and Copyright.
4. It is understood between the two High Contracting Parties that, if Japan think it necessary at any time to levy an additional duty on the production or manufacture of refined sugar in Japan, an increased customs duty equivalent in amount may be levied on British refined sugar when imported into Japan, so long as such additional excise tax or inland duty continues to be raised.
Provided always that British refined sugar shall in this respect be entitled to the treatment accorded
to refined sugar being the produce or manufacture of the most favoured nation.
5. The undersigned Plenipotentiaries have agreed that this Protocol shall be submitted to the two High Contracting Parties at the same time as the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day, and that when the said Treaty is ratified the agreements contained in the Protocol shall also equally be considered as approved, without the necessity of a further formal ratification.