[Title] Agreement containing rules of trade, made in Pursuance of Article XXVI of the Treaty of 26th June, 1858
AGREEMENT CONTAINING RULES OF TRADE, MADE IN PURSUANCE OF ARTICLE XXVI OF THE TREATY OF 26TH JUNE 1858.
Signed at Shanghai, 8th November 1858.
Whereas it was provided by the Treaty of Tientsin that a Conference should be held at Shanghai between officers deputed by the British Government on the other part, for the purpose of determining the amount of Tariff Duties and Transit Dues to be henceforth levied, a Conference has been held accordingly; and its proceedings have been submitted to the Right Honourable the Earl of ELGIN AND KINCARDING, High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary of Her Britiannic Majety the Queen, on the one part; and to KWELLIANG, HWASHANA, HO KWEITSING, MINGSHEN, and TWAN CHING-SHIH, High Commissioners and Plenipotentiaries of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, on the other part; these high officers have agreed and determined upon the revised Tariff hereto appended, the rate of Transit Dues therewith declared, together with other Rules and Regulations for the better explanation of the Treaty aforesaid; and do hereby agree that the said Tariff and Rules- the latter being in 10 Articles thereto appended- shall be equally binding on the Governments and subjects of both countries with the Treaty itself.
In witness whereof, they hereto affix their seals and signatures.
(L. S.) (Signed) ELGIN AND KINCARDINE.
Seal of the Chinese Plenipotentiaries.
Signatures of the Five Chinese Plenipotentiaries.
RULE 1.-Unenumerated Goods
Articles not enumerated in the list of exports, but enumerated in the list of imports, when exported will pay the amount of Duty set against them in the list of imports; and similarly, articles not enumerated in the lists of imports, but enumerated in the list of exports, when imported will pay the amount of Duty set against them in the list of exports.
Articles not enumerated in either list, nor in the list of Duty-free goods, will pay an ad valorem Duty of five per cent, calculated on their market value.
RULE 2.-Duty-Free Goods
Gold and Silver Bullion, Foreign Coins, Flour, Indian Meal, Sago, Biscuit, Preserved Meats and Vegetables, Cheese, Butter, Confectionery, Foreign Clothing, Jewellery, Plated Ware, Perfumery, Soap of all kinds, Charcoal, Firewood, Candles (Foreign), Tobacco (Foreign), Cigars (Foreign), Wine, Beer, Spirits, Household Stores, Ships' Stores, Personal Baggage, Stationery, Cappeting, Cutlery, Foreign Medicines, and Glass and Crystal-ware.
The above pay no Import or Export Duty, but if transported into the interior, will, with the exception of Personal Baggage, Gold and Silver Bullion, and Foreign Coins, pay a Transit Duty at the rate of two and a half per cent, ad valorem.
A freight or part freight of Duty-free commodities (Personal Baggage, Gold and Silver Bullion, and Foreign Coins, excepted) will render the vessel carrying them, though no other cargo be on board, liable to Tonnage Dues.
RULE 3.-Contraband Goods.
Import and export trade is alike prohibited in the following articles:-Gunpowder, Shot, Cannon, Fowlingpieces, Rifles, Muskets, Pistols, and all other Munitions and Implements of War; and Salt.
RULE 4.-Weights and Measures.
In the calculations of the Tariff, the weight of a picul of one hundred catties is held to be equal to one hundred and thirty-three and one-third pounds avoirdupois; and the length of a chang of ten Chinese feet, to be equal to one hundred and forty-one English inches.
One Chinese chih is held to be equal to fourteen and one-tenth inches English; and four yards English, less three inches, to equal one change.
RULE 5.-Regarding certain Commodities Heretofore Contraband
The restrictions affecting trade in Opium, Cash, Grain, Pulse, Sulphur, Brimstone, Saltpetre and Spelter, are relaxed, under the following conditions:-
1.- Opium will henceforth pay thirty taels per pieul Import Duty. The importer will sell it only at the port. It will be carried into the interior by Chinese only, and only as Chinese property; the Foreign trader will not be allowed to accompany it. The provisions of Article IX of the Treaty of Tientsin, by which British subjects are authorized to proceed into the interior with Passports to trade, will not extend to it, nor will those of Article XXVIII of the same Treaty, by which the Transit Dues are regulated. The Transit Dues on it will be arranged as the Chinese Government see fit; nor in future revisions of the Tariff is the same rule of revision to be applied to Opium as to other goods.
2.- Copper Cash- The export of Cash to any Foreign port is prohibited; but it shall be lawful for British subjects to ship it at one of the open ports of China to another, on compliance with the following Regulation:- The shipper shall give notice of the amount of Cash he desires to ship, and the port of its destination, and shall bind himself, either by a bond with two sufficient sureties, or by depositing such other security as may be deemed by the Customs satisfactory, to return, within six months from the date of clearance, to the collector at the port of shipment, the Certificate issued by him, with an acknowledgment thereon of the the receipt of the Cash at the port of destination by the collector at that port, who shall thereto affix his seal; or failing the production of the Certificate, to forfeit a sum equal in value to the Cash shipped. Cash will pay no Duty inwards or outwards; but a freight or part freight of Cash, though no other cargo be on board, will render the vessel carrying it liable to pay Tonnage Dues.
3.- The export of Rice and all other Grain whatsoever, Native or Foreign, no matter where grown or whence imported, to any Foreign port, is prohibited; but these commodities may be carried by British merchants from one of the open ports of China to another, under the same conditions in respect of security as Cash, on payment at the port of shipment of the Duty specified in the Tariff.
No Import Duty will be leviable upon Rice or Grain; but a freight or part freight of Rice or Grain though no other cargo be on board, will render the vessel importing it liable to Tonnage Dues.
4.- Pulse.- The export of Pulse and Beancake from Tung-chau and Niu-chwang, under the British flag, is prohibited. From any other of the open ports they may be shipped, on payment of the Tariff Duty, either to other ports of China or to Foreign countries.
5.- Saltpetre, Sulphur, Brimstone and Spelter, being Munitions of War, shall not be imported by British subjects, save at the requisition of the Chinese Government, or for sale to Chinese duly authorized to purchase them. No Permit to land them will be issued until the Customs have proof that the necessary authority has been given to the purchaser. It shall not be lawful for British subjects to carry these commodities up the Yangtze Kiang, or into any port other than those open on the seaboard, nor to accompany them into the interior on behalf of Chinese. They must be sold at the ports only; and except at the ports they will be regarded as Chinese property.
Infractions of the conditions, as above set forth, under which trade in Opium, Cash, Grain, Pulse, Saltpetre, Brimstone, Sulphur, and Spelter, may be henceforward carried on, will be punishable by confiscation of all the goods concerned.
RULE 6.-Liability of Vessels entering Port.
To the prevention of misunderstanding, it is agreed that the term of twenty-four hours, within which British vessels must be reported to the Consul under Article XXXVII of the Treaty of Tientsin shall be understood to commence from the time a British vessel comes within the limits of the port; as also the term of forty-eight hours allowed her by Article XXX of the same Treaty to remain in port without payment of Tonnage Dues.
The limits of the port shall be defined by the Customs, with all consideration for the convenience of trade, compatible with due protection of the Revenue; also the limits of the anchorages within which lading and discharging is permitted by the Customs; and the same shall be notified to the Consuls for public information.
RULE 7.-Transit Dues.
It is agreed that Article XXVIII of the Treaty of Tientsin shall be interpreted to declare the amount of Transit Dues legally leviable upon merchandise imported or exported by British subjects, to be one-half of the Tariff Duties, except in the case of the Duty-free goods liable to a Transit Duty of two and a half per cent. ad valorem, as provided in Article 2 of these Rules. Merchandise shall be cleared of its Transit Dues under the following conditions:-
In the case of Imports:- Notice being given at the port of entry from which the Imports are to be forwarded inland, of the nature and quantity of the goods, the ship from which they have been landed, and the place inland to which they are bound, with all other necessary particulars, the Collector of Customs will on due inspection made, and on receipt of the Transit Duty due, issue a Transit Duty Certificate. This must be produced at every barrier station and vised. Not further Duty will be leviable upon Imports so certificated, no matter how distant the place of their destination.
In the case of Exports:- Produce purchased by a British subject in the interior will be inspected, and taken account of at the first barrier it passes on its way to the port of shipment. A memorandum showing the amount of the produce and the port at which it is to be shipped, will be deposited there by the person in charge of the produce; he will then receive a Certificate, which must be exhibited and vised at every barrier on his way to the port of shipment. On the arrival of the produce at the barrier nearest the port, notice must be given to the Customs at the port, and the Transit Dues due thereon being paid, it will be passed. On exportation the produce will pay the Tariff Duty.
Any attempt to pass goods inwards or outwards otherwise than in compliance with the rule here laid down, will render them liable to confiscation.
Unauthorized sale, in transitu, of goods that have been entered as above for a port, will render them liable to confiscation. Any attempt to pass goods in excess of the quantity specified in the Certificate will render all the goods of the same denomination named in the Certificate liable to confiscation. Permission to export produce, which cannot be proved to have paid its Transit Dues, will be refused by the Customs until the Transit Dues shall have been paid.
The above being the arrangement agreed to regarding the Transit Dues, which will thus be levied once and for all, the notification required under Article XXVIII of the Treaty of Tientsin, for the information of British and Chinese subjects, is hereby dispensed with.
RULE 8.-Foreign Trade under Passports.
Peking excepted.
It is agreed that Article IX of the Treaty of Tientsin shall not be interpreted as authorizing British subjects to enter the capital city of Peking, for purposes of trade.
RULE 9.-Abolition of the Meltage Fee.
It is agreed that the percentage of one tael two mace, hitherto charged in excess of Duty payments to defray the expenses of melting by the Chinese Government, shall be no longer levied on British subjects.
RULE 10.-Collection of Duties under one System at all Ports.
It being, by Treaty, at the option of the Chinese Government to adopt what means appear to it best suited to protect its Revenue, accruing on British trade, it is agreed that one uniform system shall be enforced at every port.
The High Officer appointed by the Chinese Government to superintend Foreign trade will accordingly from time to time, either himself visit, or will send a deputy to visit, the different ports. The said High Officer will be at liberty, of his own choice, and independently of the suggestion or nomination of any British authority, to select and British subject he may see fit to aid him in the administration of the Customs Revenue; in the prevention of smuggling; in the definition of port boundaries; or in discharging the duties of harbour-master; also in the distribution of Lights, Buoys, Beacons, and the like, the maintenance of which shall be provided for out of the Tonnage Dues.
The Chinese Government will adopt what measures it shall find requisite to prevent smuggling up the Yangtze Kiang, when that river shall be opened to trade.
Done at Shanghai, in the province of Kiangsu, this Eighth day of November, in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-eight, being the Third day of the Tenth moon of the Eighth year of the reign of HIEN-FUNG.
(L. S.) ELGIN AND KINCARDINE.
Signatures and Seal of the Five Chinese High Commissioners and Plenipotentiaries.