CO129-406 - Public Offices - 1913 — Page 237

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government

OPIUM.

33465

REC? IREA 27 SEL13

236

CONFIDENTIAL.

SECTION 1.

[25556]

No. 1.

Senhor de Tovar to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received June 4.)

THE Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires presents his compliments to His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of his Excellency's note of yesterday's date respecting the proposed Anglo-Portuguese Agreement in regard to the Macao-Hong Kong opium question.

The Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires has the honour to state that he is authorised to accept the additional article as presented in the same note, and to sign the agreement at his Excellency's earliest convenience.

The Portuguese text of the additional article would run as follows:--

"O presente accordo ficará em vigor por um periodo de dez annos, mas poderá ser denunciado por qualquer dos dois Governos, a qualquer tempo, desde que communique ao outro, com doze mezes de antecedencia, a sua intenção de o dar por findo. Passado esse periodo de dez annos, o accordo continuará em vigor enquanto um dos dois Governos não der ao outro o referido aviso de denuncia."

Portuguese Legation, London, June 3, 1913.

:

Enclosure in No. 1.

Anglo-Portuguese Opium Agreement.

IN pursuance of the conclusions of the International Opium Conference, and in consideration of the fact that the geographical situation of the colonies of Macao and Hong Kong makes it necessary to regulate in a similar way the opium monopolies in the said colonies in all matters concerning the restriction of the consumption, sale, and exportation of prepared opium and repression of smuggling;

The Undersigned, duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have agreed to the following articles :~~~

ARTICLE 1.

The Government of the Portuguese Republic, whilst reserving the right of managing and controlling the manipulation of raw opium and the sale of prepared opium in the colony of Macao, engage to introduce in the opium regulations of that colony clauses and provisions similar to those contained in the regulations of Hong Kong relative to the repression of the illicit trade in prepared opium.

ARTICLE 2.

The Macao opium farmer will not be permitted to import more than 260 chests of opium (a chest means 40 balls of raw opium) per annum exclusively destined for the consumption of the fixed and floating population of Macao.

ARTICLE 3.

The Hong Kong opium farmer will not be permitted to import more than 540 chests per annum. These imports shall be exclusively destined for the consumption of the fixed and floating population of Hong Kong. These figures are embodied in the contract recently concluded with the Hong Kong farmer.

[2965 d-1]

;