This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION—JULY 4, 1891
197

3.—With regard to the expenses of transit within the limits of the Union, articles originating in or addressed to a country foreign to the Union are assimilated to those from or for the country of the Union which maintains relations with the first mentioned country.

4.—With regard to the expenses of transit beyond the limits of the Union, articles addressed to a country foreign to the Union are subjected to the following transit charges, credited to the country of the Union which maintains relations with the country foreign to the Union:

  • a) for maritime transits beyond the Union, 20 francs per kilogram of letters or post-cards, and one franc per kilogram of other articles;
  • b) for territorial transits beyond the Union, if any, the charges per kilogram announced by the country of the Union which maintains relations with the country foreign to the Union serving as intermediary.

5.—In the case of maritime conveyance effected by two or more Administrations, the charges for the entire maritime transit, within and beyond the Union, may not exceed 20 francs per kilogram of letters or post-cards and 1 franc per kilogram of other articles; if the case demands it, these charges are shared between these Administrations pro rata for the distances traversed, without prejudice to other arrangements between the parties interested.

6.—The above-mentioned expenses of transit beyond the Union are payable by the Administration of the country of origin. They apply to all articles dispatched whether in open-mail or in closed mails. But in the case of closed mails dispatched from a country of the Union to a country foreign thereto, or from a country foreign to the Union to a country of the Union, a previous arrangement concerning the mode of payment of the transit expenses should be concluded between the Administrations interested.

7.—The general settlement of the transit expenses for articles exchanged between a country of the Union and a country foreign to it, through the intermediary of another country of the Union, takes place on the basis of statements which are prepared at the same time as the statements prepared by virtue of Article 4 preceding, for determining the expenses of transit within the Union.

8.—The rates to be levied in a country of the Union on articles addressed to or originating in a country foreign to the Union and using the intermediary of another country of the Union, can never be lower than the normal Union rates. These rates belong entirely to the country which levies them.

Article 18

The high contracting parties engage to adopt, or to propose to their respective legislatures, the necessary measures for punishing the fraudulent use, for the prepayment of postal articles, of counterfeit postage-stamps, or postage-stamps which have already been used. They likewise engage to adopt, or to propose to their respective legislatures, the necessary measures for prohibiting