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52
MULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS, 1776-1917

Union, a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of correspondence between their post-offices.

Article 2

The stipulations of this Convention extend to letters, post-cards, printed matter of all kinds, commercial documents and samples of merchandise, originating in one of the countries of the Union and intended for another of those countries. They also apply, so far as regards conveyance within the Union, to the exchange by mail of the articles above mentioned between the countries of the Union and countries foreign to the Union, whenever that exchange makes use of the services of two of the contracting parties at least.

Article 3

The Postal Administrations of neighboring countries, or countries able to correspond directly with each other without using the intermediary of the services of a third Administration, determine, by mutual agreement, the conditions of the conveyance of their reciprocal mails across the frontier, or from one frontier to the other.

Unless there be a contrary arrangement, the direct sea conveyance performed between two countries by means of packets or vessels depending upon one of them, shall be considered as a third service; and such conveyance, as well as any performed between two offices of the same country, by the intermediary of maritime or territorial services maintained by another country, is regulated by the stipulations of the following Article.

Article 4

The right of transit is guaranteed throughout the entire territory of the Union.

Consequently, the several Postal Administrations of the Union may send reciprocally through the intermediary of one or of several of them, as well closed mails as correspondence in open mails, according to the requirements of trade and the convenience of the postal service.

The correspondence exchanged, whether in open or in closed mails, between two Administrations of the Union, by means of the services of one or of several other Administrations of the Union, is subject to the following transit charges, to be paid to each of the countries traversed, or whose services participate in the conveyance, viz:

  • 1st. For territorial conveyance, 2 francs per kilogramme of letters or postcards, and 25 centimes per kilogramme of other articles;
  • 2d. For sea conveyance, 15 francs per kilogramme of letters or post-cards, and 1 franc per kilogramme of other articles.

It is, however, understood—