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EGYPT.

1884.

COMMERCIAL AGREEMENT.

Concluded November 16, 1884; ratification advised by the Senate March 18, 1885; ratified by the President May 7, 1885; proclaimed May 7, 1885. (Treaties and Conventions, 1889, p. 272.)

(As this agreement adopts the convention with Greece a synopsis of the articles of that convention is given below.)

The Undersigned, N. D. Comanos, Vice-Consul General of the United States of America in Egypt, and His Excellency Nubar Pasha, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Justice of the Government of His Highness the Khedive of Egypt, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have held a Conference this day on the subject of a Commercial Convention to be concluded between the Egyptian Government and the Foreign Powers, and have agreed to the following.

The Government of the United States of America consents that the Regulations of the Egyptian Customs applicable, in virtue of a Commercial and Customs Convention concluded on the 3rd of March, 1884, between the Hellenic Government and the Egyptian Government, to the Hellenic subjects, vessels, commerce and navigation, may also be applied to the citizens of the United States, vessels commerce and navigation.

Every right, privilege or immunity that the Egyptian Government now grants, or that it may grant in future, to the subjects or citizens, vessels, commerce and navigation of whatsoever other foreign power, shall be granted to citizens of the United States, vessels, commerce and navigation, who shall have the right to enjoy the same.

The present agreement shall become operative immediately upon the consent of the Senate of the United States being given to the

same.

In testimony whereof, the undersigned have signed the present act and have affixed their seals.

Done in Cairo, the sixteenth day of November Eighteen hundred and eighty four.

N. D. COMANOS.

[SEAL]

N. NUBAR

[SEAL]

[The following is a translation of the printed official French version of the Convention between the Hellenic Government and the Egyptian Government concluded March 3, 1884, the provisions of which have been made applicable to the United States by the foregoing Agreement.]

A CONVENTION RELATIVE TO COMMERCE AND CUSTOMS.

I. Most favored nation clause.
II. Prohibitions.

III. Importations into Egypt.
IV. Egyptian customs duties.
V. Goods excluded.

VI. Firearms.

VII. Reexportations.

ARTICLES.

X. Effects of consular officers.
XI. Shipping regulations.

XII. Customs declarations.
XIII. Customs officials.

XIV. Fines and confiscations.
XV. Administrative regulations.
XVI. Duration.

VIII. Drawbacks on reexported goods. Additional article.-Taking effect of IX. Egyptian export duties.

modified tariff.

His Excellency Nubar Pasha, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of His Highness the Khedive, and Mr. Anasthasius Byzantios, Diplomatic Agent and Consul-General of Greece, having been duly authorized by their respective Governments, have agreed upon the following:

ARTICLE FIRST

Greek commerce in Egypt and Egyptian commerce in Greece shall be treated, as regards customs duties, both when goods are imported and exported, as the commerce of the most favored nation.

ART. 2.

No prohibitory measure shall be adopted in respect to the reciprocal import or export trade of the two countries, without being likewise extended to all other nations. It is nevertheless understood that this restriction shall not apply to such special measures as may be adopted by either country for the purpose of protecting itself against epizooty, phylloxera or any other scourge.

ART. 3.

The Egyptian Government pledges itself, with the exceptions mentioned in article 6 hereinafter, not to prohibit the importation into Egypt of any article, the product of the soil and industry of Greece, from whatever place such article may come.

ART. 4.

The duties to be levied in Egypt on the productions of the soil and industry of Greece, from whatever place they may come, shall be regulated by a tariff which shall be prepared by commissioners appointed for this purpose by the two Governments.

A fixed duty of 8 per cent. ad valorem shall be taken as the basis of this tariff, the said duty to be computed on the price of the goods in the port of discharge; the Egyptian Government, however, reserves the privilege of raising the duties on distilled beverages, wines and fancy articles; but these duties shall, in no case, exceed the rate of 16 per cent. ad valorem.

The Egyptian Government likewise reserves the right to reduce the duties on articles of prime necessity that are imported into Egypt, to 5 per cent., and even to abolish them entirely.

Customs duties shall be collected without prejudice to the penalties provided. in cases of fraud and smuggling, by the regulations.

ART. 5.

Tobacco, in all its forms, and tombac, together with salt, natron, hashish, and saltpeter are excluded from the stipulations of this convention.

The Egyptian Government retains an absolute right in respect to these articles,

the régime of which shall be applicable to Greek subjects on the same terms as to its own subjects.

The Egyptian Government may institute, in warehouses or dwellings, any immediate search that it may deem necessary. A duplicate of the order of search shall be sent to the Greek consular officer, who may repair to the spot at once, if he think proper, although that formality shall not delay the search.

ART. 6.

By way of exception to the stipulations of article 3, the importation into Egypt of arms used in war (including firearms and side-arms) and munitions of war shall not be permitted.

The above restriction does not apply to weapons used in hunting or for ornament or amusement, nor does it apply to gunpowder used in hunting; the importation of these articles shall form the subject of special regulations to be adopted by the Egyptian Government.

ART. 7.

Goods imported into Egypt and re-exported within a period not exceeding six months, shall be considered as goods in transit, and shall pay, as such, only a transit duty of one per cent., computed on their value in the port of discharge. After such period of six months, they shall be subject to the full import duty.

If the re-exportation takes place from the port of discharge, after a simple transshipment, or after the goods have been discharged and kept on land, under surveillance, as provided by the customs regulations, for a period not exceeding one month, such goods shall be liable to no duty; but the transit duty shall be payable, if, after having been discharged and temporarily deposited, either in the warehouses of the custom-house, or in private warehouses, whether floating or not, the goods are reëxported, after having been the object of a commercial operation.

ART. 8.

If goods, after the import duty has been levied upon them in Egypt, are sent to other countries before the expiration of the term of six months from the day of their discharge, they shall be treated as goods in transit, and the Egyptian customhouse shall return to the exporter the difference between the duty paid and the transit duty mentioned in article 7.

In order to obtain the drawback, the exporter must furnish proof that the import duty has been paid on the re-exported goods.

ART. 9.

The productions of the soil and industry of Egypt when sent to Greece, shall pay an export duty of one per cent. ad valorem, computed on the value of the goods in the port of exportation.

For greater facility, these productions shall, as far as possible, be periodically tariffed, by mutual agreement, by the representatives of the merchants engaged in the export trade and the Egyptian customs authorities."

ART. 10.

Articles and personal effects belonging to Consuls-General and Consuls not engaged in other than consular business, not performing other duties, not engaged in commercial or manufacturing business, and not owning or controlling real estate in Egypt, shall be exempt from any examination, both when imported and exported, and likewise from the payment of duties.

ART. 11.

Within 36 hours at most after the arrival of a vessel in an Egyptian roadstead or port, the captain or the agent of the owners shall deposit at the custom-house two copies of the manifest of cargo, certified by him to agree with the original. In like manner, captains shall, before their departure from an Egyptian port, present at the custom-house a copy of the manifest of the goods on board of their vessels. The original manifest, either on arrival or departure, shall be presented at the same time with the copies, in order to be compared with them.

If a vessel stops in an Egyptian port for a reason that appears suspicious to the custom-house, the latter may require the presentation of the manifest, and may immediately make any search that it may deem necessary; the order of search shall, in that case, be addressed to the Greek consular officer, as provided in article 5.

Any surplus or deficit that may be shown by the comparison of the manifest with the cargo shall furnish ground for the imposition of the fines provided for by the customs regulations which shall be issued by the Egyptian Government.

ART. 12.

Any custom-house operation in Egypt, either on arrival or departure, must be preceded by a declaration signed by the owner of the goods or his representative. The custom-house may, moreover, in case of dispute, require the presentation of all the documents that are to accompany any shipment of goods, such as invoices, letters, etc.

Any refusal to make the declaration on arrival or departure, any delay in making the said declaration, or any excess or deficiency found to exist between the goods and the declaration shall furnish ground for the imposition of the fines provided for by the Egyptian custom-house regulations, in each of the cases specified.

ART. 13.

The custom-house officers, the officers of the vessels belonging to the Egyptian postal-service, and the officers of national vessels, may board any sailing or steamvessel of less than 200 tons' burden, be that vessel at anchor or tacking, at a distance not exceeding ten kilometers from the shore, without furnishing evidence of vis major; they may ascertain the nature of the cargo, seize any prohibited goods, and secure evidence of any other infraction of the customs regulations.

ARTICLE 14.

Any illicit importation of goods shall furnish ground for the confiscations and fines provided for by the Egyptian customs regulations.

Decisions ordering confiscations and fines shall be communicated, within the period fixed by law, to the Greek consular officer.

ARTICLE 15.

It is understood that this convention can in no wise impair the administrative rights of the two contracting Governments, and that they may enforce any regulations calculated to promote the efficiency of the service and the repression of fraud.

ARTICLE 16.

The present convention shall be operative for seven years from the twentieth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.

At the expiration of that period, the present convention shall remain in force during the year following, and so on from year to year, until one of the contracting parties shall notify the other of its desire for the cessation of its effects, or until the conclusion of another convention.

ADDITIONAL ARTICLE.

The effect of the modifications in the present tariff which are provided for in article IV, shall be suspended until those modifications have been adopted by the other powers interested.

In testimony whereof, the undersigned have signed the present convention. Done in duplicate at Cairo this third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.

[SEAL] [SEAL]

N. NUBAR.
AN. BYZANTIOS.

1778.

TREATY OF AMITY AND COMMERCE.

Concluded at Paris February 6, 1778; ratified by Congress May 4, 1778. (Treaties and Conventions, 1889, p. 296.)

This treaty, abrogated by the act of Congress July 7, 1798, consisted of thirty-one articles, and in many important respects formed the basis of subsequent treaties of commerce.

Federal cases: Glass v. "The Betsey," 3 Dall., 6; Geyer v. Michel, 3 Dall., 285; Moodie v. "The Phoebe Anne," 3 Dall., 319; Chirac v. Chirac, 2 Wheat., 259; Carneal v. Banks, 10 Wheat., 181; British Consul v. "The Favorite," Bee's Adm. Rep., 39; Stannick v."The Friendship,” Bee's Adm. Rep., 40; Salderondo v. “The Nostra Signora del Camino," Bee's Adm. Rep., 43; Williamson v. The Betsey," Bee's Adm. Rep., 67; British Consul v. "The Mermaid," Bee's Adm. Rep., 69; Bolchos v. Slaves, Bee's Adm. Rep., 74; Gray v. U.S., 21 Ct. Cl., 340; Hooper v. U.S., 22 Ct. Cl., 408; The Brig William," 23 Ct. Cl., 201; "The Venus," 27 Ct. Cl., 116.

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1778.

TREATY OF ALLIANCE.

Concluded at Paris February 6, 1778; ratified by Congress May 4, 1778. (Treaties and Conventions, 1889, p. 307.)

This treaty, consisting of twelve articles, provided for an alliance to carry on the war with Great Britain, for the sovereignty of the lands to be acquired as the result of the war, and the guaranty of the French possessions in America and the dominions of the United States.

An additional article was agreed to at the same time reserving to the King of Spain the right to participate in the two treaties. This additional article was also ratified by Congress May 4, 1778. (Treaties and Conventions, 1889, p. 309.)

By an act of Congress approved July 7, 1798, the treaties with France then in force were abrogated.

1782.

CONTRACT FOR THE REPAYMENT OF LOANS MADE BY THE KING OF

FRANCE.

Concluded July 16, 1782; ratified by Congress January 22, 1783. (Treaties and Conventions, 1889, p. 310.)

Under this contract the United States pledged itself to pay in twelve equal annual installments of 1,500,000 livres each the amount of the indebtedness to the King of France, which was 18,000,000 livres. It was also agreed to pay the loan obtained from Holland of 10,000,000 livres in ten annual payments.

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