INTERNATIONAL. 1919. CONVENTION REVISING THE GENERAL ACT OF BERLIN, FEBRUARY 26, 1885, AND THE GENERAL ACT AND DECLARATION OF BRUSSELS, JULY 2, 1890. Signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye September 10, 1919.1 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BELGIUM, THE BRITISH EMPIRE, FRANCE, ITALY, JAPAN AND PÓRTUGAL; Whereas the General Act of the African Conference, signed at Berlin on February 26, 1885, was primarily intended to demonstrate the agreement of the Powers with regard to the general principles which should guide their commercial and civilising action in the little known or inadequately organised regions of a continent where slavery and the slave trade still flourished; and Whereas by the Brussels Declaration of July 2, 1890,2 it was found necessary to modify for a provisional period of fifteen years the system of free imports established for twenty years by Article 4 of the said Act, and since that date no agreement has been entered into, notwithstanding the provisions of the said Act and Declaration; and Whereas the territories in question are now under the control of recognised authorities, are provided with administrative institutions suitable to the local conditions, and the evolution of the native populations continues to make progress; 1 Ratifications have been deposited by the British Empire, Belgium, and France. For text see Vol. II, p. 1964. Wishing to ensure by arrangements suitable to modern requirements the application of the general principles of civilisation established by the Acts of Berlin and Brussels, Have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries: THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMER- The Honourable Frank Lyon Polk, Under-Secretary of State; General Tasker H. Bliss, Military Representative of the United HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS: M. Jules van den Heuvel, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister M. Émile Vandervelde, Minister of Justice, Minister of State: HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AND OF THE BRITISH DOMINIONS BEYOND THE SEAS, EMPEROR OF INDIA: The Right Honourable Arthur James Balfour, O.M., M.P., His The Right Honourable Andrew Bonar Law, M.P., His Lord The Right Honourable Viscount Milner, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., His The Right Honourable George Nicoll Barnes, M.P., Minister And: for the DOMINION of CANADA: The Honourable Sir Albert Edward Kemp, K.C.M.G., Minister of the Overseas Forces; for the COMMONWEALTH of AUSTRALIA: The Honourable George Foster Pearce, Minister of Defence; for the UNION of SOUTH AFRICA: The Right Honourable Viscount Milner, G.C.B., G.C.M.G.; for the DOMINION of NEW ZEALAND: The Honourable Sir Thomas Mackenzie, K.C.M.G., High Commissioner for New Zealand in the United Kingdom; for INDIA: The Right Honourable Baron Sinha, K.C., Under-Secretary of THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC: M. Georges Clemenceau, President of the Council, Minister of M. Stephen Pichon, Minister for Foreign Affairs; M. Louis-Lucien Klotz, Minister of Finance: M. André Tardieu, Commissary-General for Franco-American M. Jules Cambon, Ambassador of France; HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF ITALY: The Honourable Tommaso Tittoni, Senator of the Kingdom, Minister for Foreign Affairs; The Honourable Vittorio Scialoja, Senator of the Kingdom; The Honourable Maggiorino Ferraris, Senator of the Kingdom; dom; The Honourable Guglielmo Marconi, Senator of the Kingdom; HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN: Viscount Chinda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of H.M. the Emperor of Japan at London; M. K. Matsui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary M. H. Ijuin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of THE PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC: Dr. Augusto Luiz Vieira Soares, formerly Minister for Foreign Who, after having communicated their full powers resognised in good and due form, Have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1. The Signatory Powers undertake to maintain between their respective nationals and those of States, Members of the League of Nations, which may adhere to the present Convention a complete commercial equality in the territories under their authority within the area defined by Article 1 of the General Act of Berlin of February 26, 1885, set out in the Annex hereto, but subject to the reservation specified in the final paragraph of that article. ANNEX. Article 1 of the General Act of Berlin of February 26, 1885. The trade of all nations shall enjoy complete freedom: 1. In all the regions forming the basin of the Congo and its outlets. This basin is bounded by the watersheds (or mountain ridges) of the adjacent basins, namely, in particular, those of the Niari, the Ogowé, the Shari, and the Nile, on the north; by the eastern watershed line of the affluents of Lake Tanganyika on the east; and by the watersheds of the basins of the Zambesi and the Logé on the south. It therefore comprises all the regions watered by the Congo and its affluents, including Lake Tanganyika, with its eastern tributaries. 2. In the maritime zone extending along the Atlantic Ocean from the parallel situated in 2° 30′ of south latitude to the mouth of the Logé. The northern boundary will follow the parallel situated in 2° 30' from the coast to the point where it meets the geographical basin of the Congo, avoiding the basin of the Ogowe, to which the provisions of the present Act do not apply. The southern boundary will follow the course of the Logé to its source, and thence pass eastward till it joins the geographical basin of the Congo. 3. In the zone stretching eastward from the Congo Basin as above defined, to the Indian Ocean from 5° of north latitude to the mouth of the Zambesi in the south, from which point the line of demarcation will ascend the Zambesi to 5 miles above its confluence with the Shiré, and then follow the watershed between the affluents of Lake Nyassa and those of the Zambesi, till at last it reaches the watershed between the waters of the Zambesi and the Congo, It is expressly recognised that in extending the principal of free trade to this eastern zone, the Conference Powers only undertake engagements for themselves, and that in the territories belonging to an independent Sovereign State this principle shall only be applicable in so far as it is approved by such State. But the Powers agree to use their good offices with the Governments established on the African shore of the Indian Ocean for the purpose of obtaining such approval, and in any case of securing the most favorable conditions to the transit (traffic) of all nations. ARTICLE 2. Merchandise belonging to the nationals of the Signatory Powers, and to those of States, Members of the League of Nations, which may adhere to the present Convention, shall have free access to the interior of the regions specified in Article 1. No differential treatment shall be imposed upon the said merchandise on importation or exportation, the transit remaining free from all duties, taxes or dues, other than those collected for services rendered. Vessels flying the flag of any of the said Powers shall also have access to all the coast and to all maritime ports in the territories specified in Article 1; they shall be subject to no differential treatment. Subject to these provisions, the States concerned reserve to themselves complete liberty of action as to the customs and navigation regulations and tariffs to be applied in their territories. ARTICLE 3. In the territories specified in Article 1 and placed under the authority of one of the Signatory Powers, the nationals of those Powers, or of States, Members of the League of Nations, which may adhere to the present Convention shall, subject only to the limitations necessary for the maintenance of public security and order, enjoy without distinction the same treatment and the same rights as the nationals of the Power exercising authority in the territory, with regard to the protection of their persons and effects, with regard to the acquisition and transmission of their movable and real property, and with regard to the exercise of their professions. ARTICLE 4. Each State reserves the right to dispose freely of its property and to grant concessions for the development of the natural resources of the territory, but no regulations on these matters shall admit of any differential treatment between the nationals of the Signatory Powers and of States, Members of the League of Nations, which may adhere to the present Convention. ARTICLE 5. Subject to the provisions of the present chapter, the navigation of the Niger, of its branches and outlets, and of all the rivers, and of their branches and outlets, within the territories specified in Article 1, as well as of the lakes situated within those territories, shall be entirely free for merchant vessels and for the transport of goods and passengers. |