Diplomatisches handbuch

aforesaid tariff or table of valuations shall be made and promulgated in each of the ports belonging to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, in which there are or may be custom-houses. It shall be concluded, and

begin to have effect as soon as possible after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty, and certainly within the space of three months reckoned from the date of that exchange. And it shall be revised and altered, if necessary, from time to time, either in the whole or in part, whenever the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, resident within the Dominions of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, shall make a requisition to that effect through the medium of His Britannic Majesty's Consul General, or Consul, or whenever the trading and commercial subjects of Portugal shall make the same requisition on their own part.

XVI. But during the interval between the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty, and the promulgation of the above-mentioned tariff, should any goods or merchandises, the produce or manufacture of the Dominions of His Britannic Majesty, arrive in the ports of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, it is stipulated, that they shall be admitted for consumption on paying the above-mentioned duties of fifteen per cent. according to the value set on them by the tarif now actually established, should they be goods or merchandises which are comprised or valued in that tariff, and if they should not be comprised or valued in that tariff, (as also if any British goods or merchandizes should hereafter arrive in the ports of the Portuguese Dominions without having been specifically valued and rated in the new tariff or pauta, which is to be made in consequence of the stipulations of the preceding Article of the present Treaty) they shall be equally admitted on paying the same duties of fifteen per cent. ad valorem, according to the invoices of the said goods and merchandises, which shall be duly presented and sworn to by the parties importing the same. And in case that any suspicion of fraud or unfair practices should arise, the invoices shall be examined, and the real value of the goods or merchandises ascertained by a reference to an equal number of British and Portuguese merchants of known integrity and honour; and in case of a difference of opinion amongst them, followed by an equality of votes upon the subject, they shall then nominate another merchant, likewise of known integrity and honour, to whom the matter shall be ultimately referred, and whose decision thereon shall be final, and without appeal. And in case the invoice should appear to have been fair and correct, the goods and merchandises specified in it, shall be admitted, on paying the duties above mentioned of fifteen per cent. and the expences, if any, of the examination of the invoice, shall be defrayed by the party who called its fairness and correctness into question. But if the invoice shall be found to be fraudulent and unfair, then the goods and merchandises shall be bought up by the officers of the customs on the account of the Portuguese Government, according to the value specified in the invoice, with an addition of ten per cent. to the sum so paid for them by the officers of

the customs, the Portuguese Government engaging for the payment of the goods so valued and purchased by the officers of the customs within the space of fifteen days, and the expences, if any, of the examination of the fraudulent invoice shall be paid by the party who presented it as just and fair.

XVII. It is agreed and convenanted, that articles of military and naval stores brought into the ports of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, which the Portuguese Government may be desirous of taking for its own use, shall be paid for without delay at the prices appointed by the proprietors, who shall not be compelled to sell such articles on any other

terms.

And it is further stipulated, that if the Portuguese Government shall take into its own care and custody any cargo, or part of a cargo, with a view to purchase, or otherwise, the said Portuguese Government shall be responsible for any damage or injury that such cargo, or part of a cargo, may receive while in the care and custody of the officers of the said Portuguese Government.

XVIII. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal is pleased to grant to the subjects of Great Britain the privilege of being Assignantes for the duties to be paid in the Custom-houses of His Royal Highness's Dominions, on the same terms, and on giving the same security as are required from the subjects of Portugal.

And it is on the other hand stipulated and agreed, that the subjects of the Crown of Portugal shall receive, as far as it may be just or legal, the same favour in the Custom-houses of Great-Britain as is shewn to the natural subjects of His Britannic Majesty.

XIX. His Britannic Majesty does on His part, and in His own name, and in that of His heirs and successors, promise and engage, that all goods, merchandises and articles whatsoever, of the produce, manufacture, industry, or invention of the Dominions or subjects of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, shall be received and admitted into all and singular the Ports and Dominions of His Britannic Majesty, on paying generally and only the same duties that are paid upon similar articles by the subjects of the most favoured nation.

And it is expressly declared, that if any reduction of duties should take place exclusively in favour of British goods and merchandises imported into the Dominions of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, an equivalent reduction shall take place on Portuguese goods and merchandises imported into His Britannic Majesty's Dominions and vice versâ; the articles upon which such equivalent reduction is to take place being settled by previous concert and agreement between the two High Contracting Parties.

It is understood, that any such reduction so granted by either Party to the other, shall not be granted afterwards (except upon the same terms and for the same compensation) in favour of any other State or Nation whatsoever.

And this declaration is to be considered as reciprocal on the part of the two High Contracting Parties.

XX. But as there are some articles of the growth and produce of Brazil, which are excluded from the markets and home consumption of the British Dominions, such as sugar, coffee and other articles similar to the produce of the British Colonies; His Britannic Majesty, willing to favour and protect (as much as possible) the Commerce of the subjects of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, consents and permits that the said articles, as well as all others the growth and produce of Brazil, and all other parts of the Portuguese Dominions, may be received and warehoused in all the Ports of His Dominions, which shall be by law appointed to be warehousing ports for those articles, for the purpose of re-exportation, under due regulation, exempted from the greater duties with which they would be charged were they destined for consumption within the British Dominions, and liable only to the reduced duties and expences on warehousing and re-exportation.

XXI. In like manner, notwithstanding the general privilege of admission thus granted in the fifteenth Article of the present Treaty by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, in favour of all goods and merchandises, the produce and manufacture of the British Dominions; His Royal Highness reserves to Himself the right of imposing heavy, and even prohibitory duties on all articles known by the name of British East Indian goods and West Indian produce, such as sugar and coffee, which cannot be admitted for consumption in the Portuguese Dominions, by reason of the same principle of colonial policy which prevents the free admission into the British Dominions of corresponding articles of Brazilian produce.

But His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal consents that all the Ports of His Dominions, where there are or may be Custom-houses, shall be free ports for the reception and admission of all articles whatsoever, the produce or manufacture of the British Dominions, not destined for the consumption of the place at which they may be received or admitted, but for re-exportation, either for other Ports of the Dominions of Portugal, or for those of other States. And the articles thus received and admitted (subject to due regulations) shall be exempted from the duties with which they would be charged, if destined for the consumption of the place at which they may be landed or warehoused, and liable only to the same expences that may be paid by articles of Brazilian produce, received and warehoused for re-exportation in the Ports of His Britannic Majesty's Dominions.

XXII. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, in order to facilitate and encourage the legitimate commerce, not only of the subjects of Great Britain, but also of those of Portugal, with other States adjacent to His own Dominions, and with a view also to augment and secure that part of His own Revenue which is derived from the collection of warehousing duties upon merchandise, is pleased to declare the Port of St. Catherine to

the customs, the Portuguese Government engaging for the payment of the goods so valued and purchased by the officers of the customs within the space of fifteen days, and the expences, if any, of the examination of the fraudulent invoice shall be paid by the party who presented it as just and fair.

XVII. It is agreed and convenanted, that articles of military and naval stores brought into the ports of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, which the Portuguese Government may be desirous of taking for its own use, shall be paid for without delay at the prices appointed by the proprietors, who shall not be compelled to sell such articles on any other terms.