Pour faciliter le trafic frontière, dans l'intérêt des populations limitrophes, pourront être réciproquement importés d'un pays dans l'autre, moyennant le payement d'une taxe égale à la moitié des droits du tarif le plus réduit selon l'espèce, les bois sciés provenant des scieries situées dans un rayon de 10 kilom. de chaque côté de la frontière. Ces importations ne pourront excéder 15,000 tonnes par an, pour chaque pays, sous réserve des mesures de contrôle prises d'un commun accord par les administrations des deux pays. Le présent article additionnel, qui fera partie intégrante de la Convention du 23 février, 1882, entre la Suisse et la France, sera ratifié, et les ratifications en seront échangées à Berne aussitôt que faire se pourra. Il entrera en vigueur au plus tard le 1er janvier, 18:6. En foi de quoi les soussignés, dûment autorisés, ont signé le présent article additionnel. Fait en double expédition, à Berne, le 25 juin, 1895. A. LACHENAL. GREEK LAW relative to the Establishment of a Free Zone at Salonica. Athens, November 17 (30), 1914. (Translation.) ART. 1. By a Royal Decree issued on the proposal of the Ministers of Finance and of Communications there will be defined in detail a section of the port of Salonica, called a "Free Zone." The Free Zone will be separated from the rest of the port of Salonica, which is called for the purpose of the execution of the provisions of the present Law "Customs territory," and business transacted within the Free Zone is subject to the provisions of this Law and of the Royal Decrees to be issued in connection with the execution thereof. The limits of this Free Zone may be altered by Royal Decree. 2. The whole of the land extent of the Free Zone will be enclosed by a suitable wall or other barrier. Entrance into and exit from the enclosure will be permitted only by the gates to be left for the purpose. Passages will also be left for the passage of the existing railway lines or those to be constructed. The boundary of the Free Zone on the sea side will be formed by beacons or other permanent works. 3. Plots of land and buildings comprised within the Free Zone may be expropriated compulsorily for a term not exceeding ten years. [1914. CVIII.] 3 L The condition of such buildings will be determined befor expropriation by two engineers, one appointed by the Ministry of Communications and the other by the proprietor. 4-7. Details concerning expropriation. 8. The Government will defray the cost of construction of the wall or barrier, &c., as well as of the other installations, the alterations, repairs, &c., of Government buildings, the construction of buildings within the Zone or of railways, &c, connected with lines outside the Zone, of telegraph or telephone lines, &c. Private land or buildings required for these works may be expropriated in accordance with the Laws of the 4th December, 1911, and 103 of the 26th December, 1913. All works provided for by this Law will be carried out by the Ministry of Communications. 9. Concerning the execution of the above works. 10. Persons desiring to pass through the Free Zone by land to the Customs territory must employ exclusively the entrances intended for that purpose, and may, according to regulations to be issued, be subjected to personal search with the object of discovering contraband. The approach by sea to the Free Zone on the part of small craft, boats, or lighters is also subject to formalities to be fixed later. 11. The entrances to the Free Zone are closed at night-time by the Customs service, and the opening and shutting thereof is carried out by a Customs official. Exceptions to this rule are permitted by special decision of the Customs authority. The Customs authority fixes which gates are to be used for merchandise and which only for persons. The gates and passages so long as they are open must be under the constant supervision of the Customs police. 12. Merchandise stored in any part of the Free Zone is not liable to any Customs or other due or tax except harbour and warehouse dues. All kinds of merchandise, except those to be fixed by Royal Decree, are permitted to be stored in the warehouses of the Free Zone. Storing in the warehouses of the Free Zone, preservation and commercial manipulation of merchandise are carried out without the intervention of the Customs authority. It is permitted that by Royal Decree there shall be fixed(1.) The conditions of the Customs supervision regarding certain of the merchandise introduced into the Free Zone, and of the superintendence of the lading and unlading thereof; and (2.) The conditions under which the installation in the Free Zone of certain industries and the industrial manipulation of raw material in the Free Zone is permitted. 13. Native merchandise brought into or stored in the Free Zone may be brought back to the Customs territory after being passed through the Customs and subjected to payment of import dues. It is permitted that by Royal Decree there shall be fixed the conditions (1.) According to which native merchandise and foreign merchandise which has passed through the Customs shall be stored in private warehouses within the Free Zone maintaining their own nationality; and (2.) According to which native articles which enjoy at their export abroad a drawback or bounty shall be stored in private warehouses within the Free Zone. 14. Within the Free Zone is permitted only the unlading and storage of merchandise coming from countries enjoying the conventional tariff. By Royal Decree, issued on the invitation of the Ministerial Council, this advantage may be also granted to countries not enjoying the conventional tariff, and the conditions of this concession may be defined. 15. Officials of the Customs service have the right to enter at any hour the warehouses, establishments, private compartments, and in general the commercial and industrial installations of every kind in use which are situate within the Free Zone, and to proceed to the examination, with the least possible annoyance, of the business being done, and of the books and all matters and documents relating thereto. 16. Dwellings are only permitted in the Free Zone for the personnel of the service without families. Buildings for restaurants may be hired from the Direction of the Salonica Custom House. Such dwellings and restaurants are considered as being on Customs territory, and all articles for use in the Free Zone are taken from Customs territory or from the Free Zone after passing through the Customs and payment of import dues, &c. Such dwellings and restaurants are liable to Customs examination. Books are to be kept by the managers thereof. Offenders against these rules may be punished with the revocation of their concessions, besides the penalty mentioned in Article 19. Pedlars, with native articles or drinks or such articles as have passed through the Customs, may be permitted to enter the Free Zone under conditions to be fixed by the Ministry of Finance, and similarly the return of such articles to the Customs territory when unsold may be permitted. Material of all kinds used for buildings, plantations, or other installations in the Free Zone, or consumed therein in any way, is liable to Customs duty, except those required for the construction of the Free Zone. 17. The conditions and regulations of the working of the warehouses of the Government within the Free Zone and their tariffs will be fixed by a Royal Decree issued on the invitation of the Ministerial Council. It is permitted that, by a Royal Decree issued on the proposal of the Ministerial Council, a Convention may be ratified respecting the concession to a company or to the Municipality of Salonica, for a period not exceeding ten years, of the exploitation, wholly or in part, of the warehouses in the Free Zone belonging to the Government, or those to be partly expropriated by it according to the provisions of the present Law. 18. Royal Decrees will determine the conditions and formalities for (1.) The importation of merchandise by sea direct from abroad into the Free Zone, and of the export therefrom direct abroad; (2.) The importation by sea of merchandise from the Customs territory into the Free Zone; (3.) The importation by land, either in waggons or by railway, of merchandise from the Customs territory to the Free Zone; (4.) The exportation by sea of merchandise from the Free Zone into the port or the rest of the sea coast within the Customs territory; and of (5.) All details in general respecting the execution of this Law. 19. Offences against this Law or the regulations confirmed by Royal Decrees are punished by a fine not exceeding 100 drachmæ or by heavier penalties in aggravated cases. 20. Personnel of the Customs of the Free Zone. 21. By way of percentage for the municipal duties collected, the Municipality of Salonica will pay every month to the Directors of the Custom Houses of Salonica and of the Free Zone a sum of 250 drachmæ each, and to the Treasurers of the said Custom Houses a sum of 150 drachmæ each. 22. The Minister of Finance may send five financial officers abroad to study Customs systems, for a period not exceeding six months. Their expenses will be paid, as well as a sum not exceeding their regular salary. Athens, November 17 (30), 1914. |