Directory_and_Chronicle_1894 — Page 143

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TREATY BETWEEN PORTUGAL AND CHINA

Art. XXIX.-Portugues merchants having goods to ship or to land will have to obtain a special permission from the Superintendent of Customs to that effect, without which all gode shipped or landed ›hall be liable to confiscati ›n.

Art. XXX.-No transhipment of goods is allowed from ship to ship without special permission, under penalty of confiscation of all the goods so transhipped.

Art. XXXI.—When a ship shall have paid all her duties, the Suprintendent of Customs will grant her a certificate aud the Consul will return the paper, in order that she may proceed on her voyage.

Art. XXXII.—When any doubt may arise as to the value of goods which by the tariff are liable to an ad valorem duty, and the Portuguese merchant disagrees with the Custom-house officers as regards the value of said goods, both parties will call two or three mer hants t examine them, and the highest offer made by any of the said merchants to buy the gools will be considered as their just value.

Art. XXXIII.-Duties will be paid on the net weight of very kind of merchandise. Should there be any difference of opinion between the Portuguese merchant and the Custom-house officer as to the mode by which the tare is to be fixed, each party will choose a certain number of boxes or hales from among every hundred packages of the goods in question, taking the gross weight of said packages, then the are of ea h of the packages s parately, and the average tare resulting therefrom will be adopted for the whole parcel.

In case of any doubt or dispute not mentiond herein, the Portuguese merchant may appeal to the Consul, who will refer the case to the superintendent of Customs; this offic. r will act in such a manner as to settle the question amicably. The appeal, however, will only be entertained if made within the term of twenty-four hours; and in such a ca-e, no entry is to be made in the Custom-house books in relation to the said goods until the question shall have been settled.

Art. XXXIV.-Damaged goods will pay a reduced duty proportionate to their deterioration; any doubt on this point will be solved in the way ind cated in the clause of this Treaty with res ect to duties payable on merchandise ad valorem.

Art. XXXV.-Any Portuguese merchant who, having imported fore gn goods into one of the open ports of China and paid the proper duties thereon, may wish to re-export them to another o the said ports, will have to send to the Superintendent of Customs an account of their, who, to avoid fraud, will direct his officers to examine whether or not the duties have been paid, whether the same have been entered on the books of the Customs, whether they retain their original markets, and whether the en- tries agree with the account sent in. S old everything be found correct, the same will be stated in the export permit together with the tot amount of duties paid, and all these particulars will be communicated to the Custom-house officers at other ports.

Upon arrival of the ship at the port to which the goods are carried, permission will be granted to land without any new payment of duties whatsoever if, upon examination, they are found to be the identical goods; but if during the ex- amination any fraud be detected, the goods may be confiscated by the (hinese Govern-

ment.

Should any Portuguese merchant wish to re-export to a foreign country any goods imported, and upon which duties have been already paid, he will have to make his application in the same form as requird for the re-exportation of goods to another port in China, in which case a certificate of drawback or of restitution of duties will be granted, which will be accepted by any of the Chinese Custom-houses in payment of import or export duties.

Foreign cer als imported by Portuguese ships into the ports of China may be re-exported without hindrance, if no portion of them has been discharged.

Art. XXXVI.—The Chinese authorities will adopt at the ports the measures which

they may deem the most convenient to avoid fraud or smuggling.

Art. XXXVII.-The proceeds of fines and confiscations inflicted on Portuguese subjects, in conformity to this Treaty, shall belong exclusively to the Chinese Government.