Directory_and_Chronicle_1896 — Page 121

TRADE REGULATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA

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paid the whole of the entrance duties, will furnish him with a permit for the sale of the goods.

Art. V.-Goods brought by Russian merchants by land from Russia to Tientsin will pay an entrance duty equivalent to two-thirds of the rate established by the tariff. Goods brought from Russia to Sou-tcheou (Tsia-yu-kwan) will pay in that town the same duties and be subject to the same regulations as at Tientsin.

Art. VI.-If the goods left at Kalgan, having paid the entrance duties, are not sold there, their owner may send them on to Toun-tcheou, or to Tientsin, and the Customs authorities, without levying fresh duties, will repay to the merchant one-third of the entrance duty paid at Kalgan, a note to that effect being made on the permit issued by the Kalgan Custom-house. Russian merchants, after paying transit dues, i.e., one-half of the duty specified in the tariff, may forward to the internal markets goods left at Kalgan which have paid the entrance dues, subject only to the general regulations established for foreign trade in China. A transport permit, which is to be produced at all the Custom-houses and barriers on the road, will be delivered for these goods. Goods not accompanied by such permit will have to pay duty at the Custom-houses they pass, and lekin at the barriers.

Art. VII.-Goods brought from Rus-ia to Sou-tcheou (Tsia-yu-kwan) may be forwarded to the internal markets under the conditions stipulated by Art. IX. of these Regulations for goods forwarded from Tientsin destined for the internal market.

Art. VIII.-If it be ascertained, when the Customs examination of goods brought from Russia to Tientsin takes place, that the goods specified in the permit have been withdrawn from the packages and replaced by others, or that their quantity (after deducting what has been left at Kalgan) is smaller than that indicated in the permit, the whole of the goods included in the examination will be confiscated by the Customs authorities. It is understood that packages damaged on the road, and which, con- sequently, have been repacked, shall not be liable to confiscation, provided always that such damage has been duly declared at the nearest Custoin-house, and that a note to such effect has been made by the office after it has ascertained the untouched condition of the goods as at first sent off. Goods concerning which it is ascertained that a portion has been sold on the road will be liable to confiscation.

If goods have been taken by by-ways in order to evade their examination at the Custom- houses established on the routes indicated in Art. III., the owner will be liable to a fine equal in amount to the whole entrance duty. If a breach of the aforesaid regulations has been committed by the carriers, without the knowledge or connivance of the owner of the goods, the Customs authorities will take this circumstance into consideration in determining the amount of the fine. This provision only applies to localities through which the Russian land trade passes, and is not applicable to similar cases arising at the ports and in the interior of the provinces. When goods are confiscated the merchant is entitled to release them by paying the equivalent of their value, duly arrived at by an understanding with the Chinese authorities.

Art. IX. On the exportation by sea from Tientsin to some other Chinese port opened to foreign trade by treaty of goods brought from Russia by land, the Tientsin Customs will levy on such goods one-third of the tariff duty, in addition to the two-thirds already paid. No duty shall be levied on these goods in other ports. tGoods sent from Tientsin or the other ports to the internal markets are subject to ransit dues (i.e., half of the tariff duty) according to the general provisions laid down for foreign trade.

Art. X.-Chinese goods sent from Tientsin to Russia by Russian merchants must be forwarded to Kalgan by the route indicated under Art. III. The entire export duty will be levied on these goods when they leave the country. Nevertheless, reimported goods bought at Tientsin, as well as those bought in another port and forwarded in transitu to Tientsin to be exported to Russia, if accompanied by a Customs receipt for the export duty, shall not pay a second time, and the half reimportation duty (coasting duty) paid at Tientsin will be repaid to the merchant if the goods upon which it has been paid are exported to Russia a year from