LEAGUE OF NATIONS.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
FOR THE ABOLITION OF IMPORT AND EXPORT PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS.
Convention. Protocol.
Convention.
The President of the German Reich; the President of the United States of America, the Federal President of the Austrian Republic; His Majesty the King of the Belgians; His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India; His Majesty the King of the Bulgarians; the President of the Chilian Republic; His Majesty the King of Denmark; His Majesty the King of Egypt; the President of the Estonian Republic; the President of the Republic of Finland; the President of the French Republic; His Serene Highness the Governor of Hungary; His Majesty the King of Italy; His Majesty the Emperor of Japan; the President of the Latvian Republic; Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxemburg; His Majesty the King of Norway; Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands; the President of the Polish Republic; the President of the Portuguese Republic; His Majesty the King of Roumania; His Majesty the King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes; His Majesty the King of Siam; His Majesty the King of Sweden; the Swiss Federal Council; the President of the Czechoslovak Republic; the President of the Turkish Republic:
Having regard to the resolution of the Assembly of the League of Nations dated September 25th, 1924;
Being guided by the conclusions of the International Economic Conference held at Geneva in May 1927, and agreeing with the latter that impart and export prohibitions, and the arbitrary practices and disguised discriminations to which they give rise, have had deplorable results, without the grave drawbacks of these measures being counterbalanced by the financial advantages or social benefits which were anticipated by the countries which had recourse to them;
Being persuaded that it is important for the recovery and future development of world trade that Governments should abandon a policy which is equally injurious to their own and to the general interest;
Being convinced that a return to the effective liberty of international commerce one of the primary conditions of world prosperity; and
Considering that this object may best be achieved by resort to simultaneous and concerted action in the form of an international convention;
Have appointed their plenipotentiaries, namely
The President of the German Reich:
Dr. E. Trendelenburg,
Secretary of State to the Ministry of National Economy;
The President of the United States of America:
Mr. Hugh R. Wilson,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Federal Council;
The Federal President of the Austrian Republic:
M. Emerich Pflügl,
Minister Plenipotentiary, Representative of the Austrian Federal Government accredited to the League of Nations;
His Majesty the King of the Belgians:
M. J. Brunet,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary;
M. F. van Langenhove,
Chef du Cabinet and General Director for Foreign Commerce in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India:
For Great Britain and Northern Ireland and all parts of the British Empire which are not separate Members of the League of Nations
Sir Sydney Chapman,
K.C.B., C.B.E., Economic Adviser to His Britannic Majesty's Government;
For India:
Sir Atul C. Chatterjee,
High Commissioner for the Empire of India in London;
His Majesty the King of the Bulgarians:
M. Georges Danaillow,
Professor at the University of Sofia, M. P.,
The President of the Chilian Republic:
M. E. Villegas,
Chilian Representative on the Council of the League of Nations;
His Majesty the King of Denmark:
M. J. Clan,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Chairman of the Danish Commission for the Conclusion of Commercial Treaties;
His Majesty the King of Egypt:
Sadik Henein Pasha,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of Italy;
The President of the Estonian Republic:
M. C. R. Pusta,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King cf Spain and to the President of the French Republic;
The President of the Republic of Finland:
M. Rafael Waldemar Erich,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Federal Council, Permanent Delegate accredited to the League of Nations;
The President of the French Republic:
M. Daniel Serruys,
Director of Commercial Agreements in the Ministry of Commerce;
His Serene Highness the Governor of Hungary:
M. Baranyai Zoltán,
Charge d'Affaires a. i. of the Royal Hungarian Delegation accredited to the League of Nations;
His Majesty the King of Italy:
M. A. Di Nola,
Director-General of Commerce and of Economic Policy;
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan:
M. N. Ito,
Counsellor of Embassy, Acting Director of the Imperial Japanese League of Nations Office;
M. J. Tsushima,
Financial Commissioner of the Japanese Government in London, Paris and New York;
The President of the Latvian Republic:
M. Charles Duzmans,
Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative accredited to the League of Nations;
Her Royal Highness the Grand-Duchess of Luxemburg:
M. Albert Calmes,
Member of the Superior Council of the Economic Union of Belgium and Luxemburg;
His Majesty the King of Norway:
M. Georg Wettstein,
Consul General at Zurich;
Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands:
Dr. F. E. Posthuma,
former Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce;
M. de Graaff,
former minister of the Colonies;
M. F. M. Wibaut,
Member of the Netherlands Senate;
The President of the Polish Republic:
M. F. Sokal,
Minister Plenipotentiary, Permanent Delegate of the Polish Republic accredited to the League of Nations;
The President of the Portuguese Republic:
M. F. de Calheiros a Menezes,
First Secretary of Legation, Chief of the Portuguese Office accredited to the League of Nations;
His Majesty the King of Roumania:
M. D. Gheorghiu,
Director of the Roumanian National Bank;
M. C. Popescu,
Director-General of Industry in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce;
His Majesty the King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes:
M. Constantin Fotitch,
Permanent Delegate accredited to the League of Nations;
His Majesty the King of Siam:
His Highness Prince Charoon,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the President of the French Republic;
His Majesty the King of Sweden:
M. Einar Hennings,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Federal Council;
The Swiss Federal Council:
M. Walter Stucki,
Head of the Commerce Division in the Federal Department of Public Economy;
The President of the Czechoslovak Republic:
Dr. Vincent Ibl,
Counsellor of Legation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; The President of the Turkish Republic:
Mehmed Kemal Bey,
Consul at Geneva;
Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed to the following provisions:
Article 1.
The provisions, of the present Contention shall apply to prohibitions and restrictions imposed an the importation into the territories of any High Contracting Party of goods the produce or manufacture of the territories of any other High Contracting Party, and to prohibitions and restrictions imposed on the exportation of good from the territories of any High Contracting Party to the territories of any other High Contracting Party.
Article 2.
Subject to the exceptions provided for in the following articles, the High Contracting Par ties undertake to abolish within a period of six months from the date of the coming into force of the present Convention, ix so far as the respective territories of each of them are concerned, all import and export prohibitions or restrictions, and not thereafter to impose any such prohibitions or restrictions. During this period each of the High Contracting Parties will adopt all appropriate measures in order to reduce existing prohibitions and restrictions to a minimum and will refrain from imposing any new prohibitions or restrictions.
Further, the High Contracting Parties undertake to adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the provisions of the present Convention area strictly observed by all authorities, central or local and that no regulation is slued in contravention thereof.
Article 3.
Should the High Contracting Parties, irk pursuance of their legislation, subject the importation or exportation of goods to certain regulations in respect of the manner, form or place of importation or exportation, or the imposition of marks, or to other formalities or conditions, they undertake that such regulations shall not be made a means of disguised prohibition or arbitrary restriction.
Article 4.
The following classes of prohibitions and restrictions are not prohibited by the present Convention, an condition, however, that they are not applied in such a manner as to constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination between foreign countries where the came conditions prevail, are disguised restriction on international trade:
1. Prohibitions or restrictions relating to public security.
2. Prohibitions or restrictions imposed on moral or humanitarian grounds.
3. Prohibitions or restrictions regarding traffic in arms., ammunition and implements of war, or, in exceptional circumstances, all other military supplies.
4. Prohibitions or restrictions imposed for the protection of public health or for the protection of animals or plants against disease, insects and harmful parasites.
5. Export prohibitions or restrictions issued for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value.
6. Prohibitions or restrictions applicable to gold, silver, coins, currency notes, banknotes or securities.
7. Prohibitions or restrictions designed to extend to foreign products the regime established within, the country in respect of the production of, trade in, and transport and consumption of native products of the same kind.
8. Prohibitions, or restrictions applied to products which, as regards production or trade, are or may in future be subject within the country to State monopoly or to monopolies exercised under State control.
Article 5.
Nothing in this Convention shall affect the right if any High Contracting Party to adopt measures prohibiting or restricting importation or exportation for the purpose of protecting, in extraordinary and abnormal circumstances, the vital interests of the country.
Should measures of this character be adopted, they shall be applied in such a manner as not to lead to any arbitrary discrimination against any other High Contracting Party. Their duration shall be restricted to that of the causes or circumstances from which they arise.
Article 6.
1. The High Contracting Parties, recognising that there exist in the ease of certain of them situations of fact or of law which prevent the latter from immediately undertaking, as regards certain specified products, the engagements entered into under the previous articles, have deemed it equitable to authorise these High Contracting Parties to make a reservation in regard to certain temporary exceptions, which the latter undertake to withdraw as soon as the circumstances from which they arise cease to exist.
2. Moreover, the High Contracting Parties, recognising that the abolition of certain import or export prohibitions or restrictions applied by some of them would involve the latter in grave difficulties, and that, moreover, these prohibitions or restrictions do not prejudicially affect the trade of other countries, have also deemed it equitable to authorise these High Contracting Parties to make a reservation in regard to these exceptions.
3. The Annex to the present Convention sets forth the exceptions coming within the provisions of the two preceding paragraphs, which have been agreed to on this days date in favour of the High Contracting Parties, who are mentioned by name in the Annex and who have signed the Convention on that date.
4. Exceptions which the High Contracting Parties may desire to claim subsequently to that date shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Protocol to the present Convention.
Article 7.
Should one of the High Contracting Parties be obliged to adopt any measure of prohibition or restriction against products of any foreign country, whether the Convention be applicable to that country or not, he shall frame the measure in such a way as to cause the least possible injury to the trade of the other High Contracting Parties.
Article 8.
If a dispute arises between two or more High Contracting Parties as to the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present Convention - with the exception of Articles 4, 5 and 6, and of the provisions of the Protocol relating to these articles - and if such dispute cannot be settled either directly between the parties or by the employment of any other means of reaching agreement, the parties to the dispute may, provided they all so agree, before resorting to any arbitral or judicial procedure, submit the dispute with a view to an amicable settlement to such technical body as the Council of the League of Nations or the parties concerned may appoint. This body will give an advisory opinion after hearing the parties and, if necessary, effecting a meeting between them.
The advisory opinion given by the said body will not be binding upon the parties to the dispute unless it is accepted by all of them, and the parties, if they all so agree, may either after resort to such procedure, or in lieu thereof, have recourse to any arbitral or judicial procedure which they may select, including reference to the Permanent Court of International Justice as regards any matters which are within the competence of that Court under its Statute.
If a dispute of a legal nature arises as, to the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present Convention - with the exception of Articles 4, 5 and 6, and of the provisions of the Protocol relating to these articles - the parties shall, at the request of any of them, refer the matter to the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice or of an arbitral tribunal selected by them, whether or not there has previously been recourse to the procedure laid down in the first paragraph.
In the event of any difference of opinion as to whether a dispute is of a legal nature or not, the question shall be referred for decision to the Permanent Court of International Justice or to the arbitral tribunal selected by the parties.
The procedure before the body referred to in the first paragraph above or the opinion, given by it will in no case involve the suspension of the measures to which the dispute refers; the same will apply in the event of proceedings being taken before the Permanent Court of International Justice - unless the Court decides otherwise under Article 41 of its Statute - or before the arbitral tribunal selected by the parties.
Nothing in the present Convention shall be construed as prejudicing the rights and obligations derived by the High Contracting Parties from the engagements into which they have entered with reference to the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of International Justice, or from any bilateral conciliation or arbitration conventions between them.
Article 9.
Any High Contracting Party may, either upon ratifying the present Convention or thereafter, declare that he undertakes, in regard to any other High Contracting Party accepting the same obligation, to extend the application of the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 8 to any dispute which may arise in connection with the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present Convention, including all or part of Articles 4, 5 and 6, and whether or not the dispute is of a legal nature.
Any High Contracting Parties who do nut; give the undertaking referred to in paragraph 1 as regards Articles 4, 5, and 6, or certain parts of these Articles, and as regards the provisions of the Protocol relating thereto, may make the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 8 applicable to these matters as between themselves.
Article 10.
Any High Contracting Party may at the time of signature, ratification or accession; declare that, in accepting the present Convention, he does not assume any obligations ins respect in respect of all or any of his colonies, protectorates or territories under suzerainty or mandate; and the present Convention shall not apply to any territories named in such declaration.
Any High Contracting Party may give notice to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations at any time subsequently that he desires that the Convention shall apply to all or any of his territories which have been made the subject of a declaration under the preceding paragraph, and the Convention shall apply to all the territories named in such notice ninety days after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations.
Any High Contracting Party may at any time declare that he desires that the present Convention shall cease to apply to all or any of his colonies, protectorates or territories under suzerainty or mandate, and the Convention shall cease to apply to the territories named in such declaration one year after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations.
Article 11.
Nothing in the present Conventions shah prejudice the rights and obligations which the High Contracting Parties may derive from international Conventions in force to which they are parties.
The present Convention shall not prejudice the provisions of any bilateral agreements in force at the present date between the High Contracting Parties which establish, in regard to import and export prohibitions or restrictions, a more liberal regime than that seta fished by the provisions of the present Convention.
Article 12.
The present Convention shall not in any w affect rights and obligations arising from the Covenant of the League of Nations.
Article 13.
The High Contracting Parties shall, within twelve months after the coming into farce o the present Convention in their territories, communicate to one another through the Secretary-General of the League of Nations a report on the steps taken to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.
Article 14.
The present Convention, of which the French and English texts are both authentic shall bear this day's date.
It shall be open for signature until January 1st, 1929, on behalf of any Member of the League of Nations or of any non - Member State represented at the Conference which drew up this Convention or to which the Council of the League of Nations shall, for this purpose, have communicated a copy of the pre sent Convention.
Members of the League of Nations and non Member States on whose behalf the Convention has been signed prior to February 1st, 1928, may avail themselves of the procedure referred to in Article 6, paragraph 4.
Article 15.
The present Convention shall be ratified. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who shall notify the receipt there to all Members of the League and to the non - Member States referred to in the previous article.
Article 16.
On and after January 1st, 1929, any Member of the League of Nations or any State referred to in Article 14 may accede to the present Convention.
This accession shall be effected by a notification made to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, to be deposited in the or chives of the Secretariat. The Secretary-General shall at once notify such deposit to all will have signed or acceded to the Convention.
Article 17.
The present Convention shall come in force under the conditions and on the date be determined at the meeting provided for hereinafter.
Between June 15th and July 15th, 1928, the Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall invite the duly accredited representatives of the Members of the League of Nations and of non - Member States on whose behalf the Convention shall have been signed on or before June 15th, 1928, to attend a meeting at which they shall determine:
a) The reservations which, having been communicated to the High Contracting Parties in accordance with Article 6, paragraph 4, may, with their consent, be made at the time of ratification;
b) The conditions required for the coming into force of the Convention and, in particular, the number and, if necessary, the names of the Members of the League and of non - Member States, whether they are signatories or not, whose ratification or accession must first be secured;
c) The last date on which the ratifications may be deposited and the date an which the Convention shall come into force if the conditions required under the preceding paragraph are fulfilled.
If, on the expiration of this period, the ratifications upon which the coming into force of the Convention will be conditional have not been secured, the Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall consult the Members of the League of Nations and non-Member States on whose behalf the Convention has been ratified and ascertain whether they desire nevertheless to bring it into force.
Article 18.
The present Convention may be denounced by a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations on behalf of any Member of the League of Nations or of any non - Member State after the expiration of a period of five years reckoned from the date on which the Convention shall have entered into force.
Such denunciation hall take effect twelve months after the date on which it is received by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, and shall operate only in respect of the Member of the League of Nations or the non - Member State on whose behalf it is made.
Nevertheless, the Convention may be denounced on behalf of any Member of the League of Nations or any non - Member State after the expiration of the third year from the date of the present Convention, if, after that period, any one of the exceptions, allowed in virtue of Article 6, paragraph 1, still exists.. This denunciation shall take effect six months after the date on which it is received by the Secretary-General, and shall operate only in respect of the Member of the League of Nations or the non - Member State on whose behalf it is made.
Furthermore, the Convention may be denounced on behalf of any Member of the League of Nation or of any non - Member State after the expiration of the fifth year from the date of the present Convention, if, after that period, such Member of the League of Nations or non Member State considers that any one of the exceptions allowed by the High Contracting Parties at the meeting provided for in Article 17 has impaired the effects of the present Convention.
This denunciation shall take effect six months after the date on which it is received by the Secretary-General, and shall operate only in respect of the Member of the League of Nations or the non - Member State on whose behalf it is made.
Any denunciation made in accordance with the foregoing provisions shall be notified immediately by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations to all the other High Contracting Parties.
If, as a result of denunciations, the conditions far the coming into force of the Convention which the High Contracting Parties may lay down at the meeting provided for in Article 17 should no longer be fulfilled, any High Contracting Party may request the Secretary-General of the League of Nations to summon a Conference to consider the situation created thereby. Failing agreement to maintain the Convention, each of the High Contracting Parties shall be discharged from his obligations from the date on which the denunciation which led to the summoning of this Conference shall take effect.
Article 19.
If, before the expiration of the period of five years mentioned in paragraph 1 of Article 18, notifications should be addressed to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations an behalf of one-third of the Members of the League of Nations and of non - Member States to which the present Conventions applies, informing him that they desire the Convention to be revised, all the Members of the League of Nations and all non - Member States to which the Convention applies agree to take part in any consultation which may be held far this purpose.
If the revision has taken place before the end of the fifth year from the date of the coming into force of the present Convention, any Member of the League of Nations or non - Member State who has not accepted the revised Convention shall have the right to denounce the present Convention, without regard to the period of five years provided for in paragraph 4 of Article 18. Such denunciation shall take effect on the date on which the revised Convention comes into force.
If the revision has taken place in the course of the fifth year from the date of the coming into force o the present Convention, the period of denunciation referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 18 will be prolonged by one year.
Annex to Article 6.
In accordance with Article 6, paragraph 3, and with Section IV (d) of the Protocol, each of the exceptions maintained in favour of the countries mentioned below is only admitted under the terms of the present Convention if the country concerned appends its: signature [Among the countries referred to in this Annex, the following signed the Convention on November 8th, 1927; Germany, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, etc., Egypt, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Roumania and Czechoslovakia.] thereto an this day's date, and if, on that same date, the prohibition or restriction which it seeks to maintain is still in force.