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UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION—JUNE 15, 1897
209

2nd that countries whose receipts and expenditure for territorial transit together do not exceed the sum of 5,000 francs per year and whose expenditure exceeds their receipts for that transit, are exempt from any payment on this score;

3d that the maritime transit rates of 15 francs per kilogram of letters and post cards provided under the letter c of section 3 preceding shall be reduced, as follows, viz:

  • to 14 francs during the first two years of the application of the present Convention;
  • to 12 francs during the two following years;
  • to 10 francs after four years.

6.—The expenses of transit are borne by the Administration of the country of origin.

7.—The general settlement of these expenses takes place under the conditions to be determined on in the Regulations of execution[1] referred to in Article 20 hereafter.

8.—The official correspondence mentioned in Section 2 of Article 11 hereafter, the reply halves of double post-cards returned to the country of origin, articles reforwarded or missent, undeliverable articles, return-receipts, money orders, and all other documents relative to the postal service, are exempt from all transit charges, whether territorial or maritime.

Article 5

1.—The rates of postage for the conveyance of postal articles throughout the entire extent of the Union, including their delivery at the residence of the addressees in the countries of the Union where a delivery service is or shall be organized, are fixed as follows:

1st. For letters, 25 centimes in case of prepayment, and double that amount in the contrary case, for each letter and for every weight of 15 grams or fraction of 15 grams;

2nd. For post-cards, in case of prepayment, 10 centimes for a single card, or for each of the two halves of a post-card with paid reply, and double that amount in the contrary case.

3d. For prints of every kind, commercial papers, and samples of merchandise, 5 centimes for each article or packet bearing a particular address, and for every weight of 50 grams or fraction of 50 grams, provided that such article or packet does not contain any letter or manuscript note having the character of actual and personal correspondence, and that it be made up in such a manner as to admit of its being easily examined.

The charge on commercial papers cannot be less than 25 centimes per


  1. See footnote 1, p. 206.