Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 33 Part 2.djvu/949

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Each country shall retain to its own use the whole of the postages, registration and delivery fees it collects on said parcels; consequently, this Convention will give rise to no separate accounts between the two countries.

1. The parcels shall be considered as a component part of the mails exchanged direct between the United States and Hong Kong, to be despatched to destination by the country of origin at its cost and by such means as it provides; but must be forwarded, at the option of the despatching office, either in boxes prepared expressly for the purpose or in ordinary mail sacks, marked "Parcels-Post", and securely sealed with wax, or otherwise, as may be mutually provided by regulations hereunder.

2. Each country shall promptly return empty to the despatching office by next mail; all such bags and boxes.

3. Although articles admitted under this Convention will be transmitted as aforesaid between the exchange offices, they should be so carefully packed as to be safely transmitted in the open mails of either country, both in going to the exchange office in the country of origin and to the office of address in the country of destination.

4. Each despatch of a Parcels-Post mail must be accompanied by a descriptive list, in duplicate, of all the parcels sent, showing distinctly the list number of each parcel, the name of the sender, the name of the addressee with address of destination, and the declared contents and value; and must be enclosed in one of the boxes or sacks of such despatch (see Form 3 annexed hereto).

Exchanges of mails under this Convention from any place in either country to any place in the other, shall be effected through the post office of both countries already designated as exchange post offices, or through such others as may be hereafter agreed upon, under such regulations relative to the details of the exchange as may be mutually determined to be essential to the security and expedition of the mail and the protection of the customs revenues.

1. As soon as the mail shall have reached the office of destination, that office shall check the contents of the mail.

2. In the event of the parcel bill not having been received, a substitute should be at once prepared.

3. Any errors in the entries on the parcel bill which may be discovered, should, after verification by a second officer, be corrected and noted for report to the despatching office on a form "Verification Certificate," which should be sent in a special envelope.

4. If a parcel advised on the bill be not received, after the nonreceipt has been verified by a second officer, the entry on the bill should be canceled and the fact reported at once.

5. If a parcel be observed to be insufficiently prepaid, it must not be taxed with deficient postage, but the circumstance must be reported on the verification certificate form.

6. Should a parcel be received in a damaged or imperfect condition, full particulars should be reported on the same form.

7. If no verification certificate or note of error be received, a parcel mail shall be considered as duly delivered, having been found on examination correct in all respects.