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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, STH JANUARY, 1876.
without hindrance or molestation; and they shall be treated with respect, love, and honour. They shall be exempt from forced military service, whether by land or by sea; from, forced loans, and from every extraordinary contribution. Their dwellings and warehouses destined for the purposes of residence and commerce, as well as their property, both real and personal, of every kind, shall be respected, and, in particular, all the stipulations of the Convention concluded between Her Majesty's Government and His Highness the Bey on the 10th of October, 1863, relative to the permission granted to British subjects to hold real property in the Regency of Tunis, are hereby confirmed. And British subjects, vessels, commerce, and navigation shall enjoy, without any restriction or diminu- tion, all the privileges, favours, and immunities which are now or may hereafter be granted to the subjects, vessels, commerce, and navigation of any other nation whatever.
Her Britannic Majesty, on her part, engages to insure to Tunisian subjects, vessels, commerce, and navigation within her Dominions, the enjoyment of the same protection and privileges which are or may be enjoyed by the subjects, vessels, commerce, and navigation of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE VI.
The perfect security which His Highness the Bey accords to the British merchants and subjects who may reside in the Regency extends likewise to the free exercise of the rites of their religion. They shall be free to erect churches, upon the application of the British Agent and Consul-General to His Highness the Bey, who will grant the necessary permission. The British Cemetery of Saint George, and other burial places, now or hereafter to be established, shall be protected and respected as heretofore.
ARTICLE VII.
His Highness the Bey engages that he will not prohibit the importation into the Regency of any article the produce and manufacture of the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, from whatever place arriving, and that the duties to be levied upon such articles of produce or manufacture so imported shall in no case exceed one fixed rate of eight per cent. ad valorem, to be calculated upon the value of such merchandize at the place of landing, or a specific duty, fixed by common consent, equivalent thereto.
Such articles, after paying eight per cent. import duty, shall not be subject to any other internal charge or impost whatsoever, whether the buyer be a Tunisian or a foreigner. And if such articles. should not be sold for consumption in the Regency, but should be re-exported within the space of one year, the Administration of the Customs shall be bound, provided the bales or packages have not been opened, to restore, at the time of their re-exportation, the duty levied to the merchant, who shall be required first to furnish proofs that the goods so exported have paid the said import duty.
After the expiration of one year the merchant shall be free to re-export his foreign goods without claiming the drawback, and the Custom-house shall not levy upon them any duty whatsoever on re-exportation.
Should a British merchant or his agent desire to convey, by sea or by land, from one port or place to another port or place in the Regency of Tunis, goods upon which the ad valorem duty above mentioned has been already paid, such goods shall be subject to no further duty, either on their embarkation or disembarkation, provided they be accompanied by a certificate from the Tunisian Administrator of Customs that the duty has been paid.
And it is moreover agreed that no other or higher duties shall be imposed on the importation of any article the produce or manufacture of one of the Contracting Parties into the country of the other, which shall not equally extend to the like articles being the produce or manufacture of any other country.
ARTICLE VIII.
Vessels navigating under the British flag and vessels navigating under the Tunisian flag shall be free to carry on the coasting trade in the States and Dominions of the Contracting Parties. They shall enjoy the same rights and immunities as are enjoyed by national vessels, and they shall be free either to land a portion of their cargoes, or to embark goods, foreign or native, to complete their cargoes, in each other's ports, without being obliged in each case to procure any special license from the Local Authorities, or to pay any charges and dues that are not paid by national vessels.
The stipulations of this Article shall however, as regards the Colonial coasting trade, be deemed to extend only to the coasting trade of such of the Colonial possessions of Her Britannic Majesty as, under the provisions of the Act relating thereto, may have opened their coasting trade to foreign vessels.
ARTICLE IX.
His Highness the Bey formally engages to abolish all monopolies of agricultural produce or of other article whatsoever, save and except tobacco and salt, and save and except the fisheries, and the tannery of hides of oxen, camels, and horses.
any
British subjects, however, or their agents, buying or selling salt and tobacco in virtue of licenses or permits for comsumption in the Regency of Tunis, shall be subject to the same regulations as the most favoured Tunisian subjects trading in the two articles aforesaid; and, furthermore, they shall be free to compete for, obtain, and exercise the right of fishery, subject to the local laws and regulations.
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