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Rh and suppressing the fraudulent manufacture, sale, offering for sale, or distribution of embossed and adhesive stamps in use in the postal service, counterfeited or imitated in such a manner as to be mistakable for the embossed and adhesive stamps issued by the Administration of any one of the contracting countries.

The services concerning letters and boxes with declared value, and those of money-orders, postal parcels, collection of bills and drafts, books of identity, subscription to newspapers, etc., form the subject of special arrangements between the different countries or groups of countries of the Union.

1.—The Postal Administrations of the various countries composing the Union are competent to establish by mutual agreement, in Regulations of execution, all the measures of order and detail which are judged necessary.

2.—The several Administrations may, moreover, make among themselves the necessary arrangements on the subject of questions which do not concern the Union generally, provided that those arrangements are not contrary to the present Convention.

3.—The Administrations interested are, however, permitted to conclude mutual agreements for the adoption of lower rates of postage within a radius of 30 kilometers.

1.—The present Convention involves no alteration in the legislation of any country as regards anything which is not provided for by the stipulations contained in this Convention.

2.—It does not restrict the right of the contracting parties to maintain and to conclude treaties, as well as to maintain and establish more restricted Unions, with the view to the improvement of postal relations.

1.—There is maintained, under the name of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union, a central office, which is conducted under the superintendence of the Swiss Postal Administration, and the expenses of which are borne by all the Administrations of the Union.

2.—This Bureau continues to be charged with the duty of collecting, collating, publishing and distributing information of every kind which concerns the international postal service; of giving, at the request of the parties concerned, an opinion upon questions in dispute; of making known propositions for modifying the acts of the Congress; of giving notice of the changes adopted, and, in general, of undertaking such researches and labors as may be entrusted to it in the interest of the Postal Union.