ernor of Hungary; His Majesty the King of Italy; His Majesty the Emperor of Japan; the President of the Latvian Republic; Her Royal Highness the Grand-Duchess of Luxemburg; His Majesty the King of Norway; Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands; the President of the Polish Republic; the President of the Portuguese Republic; His Majesty the King of Roumania; His Majesty the King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes; His Majesty the King of Siam; His Majesty the King of Sweden; the Swiss Federal Council; the President of the Czechoslovak Republic; the President of the Turkish Republic:

Having regard to the resolution of the Assembly of the League of Nations dated September 25th, 1924;

Being guided by the conclusions of the International Economic Conference held at Geneva in May 1927, and agreeing with the latter that import and export prohibitions, and the arbitrary practices and disguised discriminations to which they give rise have had deplorable results, without the grave drawbacks of these measures being counterbalanced by the financial advantages or social benefits which were anticipated by the countries which had recourse to them;

Being persuaded that it is important for the recovery and future development of world trade that Governments should abandon a policy which is equally injurious to their own and to the general interest;

Being convinced that a return to the effective liberty of international commerce is one of the primary conditions of world prosperity; and

Considering that this object may best be achieved by resort to simultaneous and concerted action in the form of an international convention;

Have appointed their plenipotentiaries, namely:

[Here follows list of names of plenipotentiaries.]

Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed to the following provisions:

ARTICLE 1

The provisions of the present Convention shall apply to prohibitions and restrictions imposed on the importation into the territories of any High Contracting Party of goods the produce or manufacture of the territories of any other High Contracting Party, and to prohibitions and restrictions imposed on the exportation of goods from the territories of any High Contracting Party to the territories of any other High Contracting Party.

ARTICLE 2

Subject to the exceptions provided for in the following articles, the High Contracting Parties undertake to abolish within a period of six months from the date of the coming into force of the present Convention, in so far as the respective territories of each of them are concerned, all import and export prohibitions or restrictions, and not thereafter to impose any such prohibitions or restrictions. During this period each of the High Contracting Parties will adopt all appropriate measures in order to reduce existing prohibitions and restrictions to a minimum and will refrain from imposing any new prohibitions or restrictions.

Further, the High Contracting Parties undertake to adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the provisions of the present Convention are strictly observed by all authorities, central or local, and that no regulation is issued in contravention thereof.

ARTICLE 3

Should the High Contracting Parties, in pursuance of their legislation, subject the importation or exportation of goods to certain regulations in respect of the manner, form or place of importation or exportation, or the imposition of marks, or to other formalities or conditions, they undertake that such regulations shall not be made a means of disguised prohibition or arbitrary restriction.

ARTICLE 4

The following classes of prohibitions and restrictions are not prohibited by the present Convention, on condition, however, that they are not applied in such a manner as to constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination between foreign countries where the same conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on international trade:

1. Prohibitions or restrictions relating to public security.

2. Prohibitions or restrictions imposed on moral or humanitarian grounds.

3. Prohibitions or restrictions regarding traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war, or, in exceptional circumstances, all other military supplies.

4. Prohibitions or restrictions imposed for the protection of public health or for the protection of animals or plants against disease, insects and harmful parasites.

5. Export prohibitions or restrictions issued for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archæological value.

6. Prohibitions or restrictions applicable to gold, silver, coins, currency notes, banknotes or securities.

7. Prohibitions or restrictions designed to extend to foreign products the regime established within the country in respect of the production of, trade in, and transport and consumption of native products of the same kind.

8. Prohibitions or restrictions applied to products which, as regards production or trade, are or may in future be subject within the country to State monopoly or to monopolies exercised under State control.

ARTICLE 5

Nothing in this Convention shall affect the right of any High Contracting Party to adopt measures prohibiting or restricting importation or exportation for the purpose of protecting, in extraordinary and abnormal circumstances, the vital interests of the country.

Should measures of this character be adopted, they shall be applied in such a manner as not to lead to any arbitrary discrimination against any other High Contracting Party. Their duration shall be restricted to that of the causes or circumstances from which they arise.

ARTICLE 6

1. The High Contracting Parties, recognising that there exist in the case of certain of them situations of fact or of law which prevent the latter from immediately undertaking, as regards certain specified products, the engagements entered into under the previous articles, have deemed it equitable to authorise these High Contracting Parties to make a reservation in regard to certain temporary exceptions, which the latter undertake to withdraw as soon as the circumstances from which they arise cease to exist.

2. Moreover, the High Contracting Parties, recognising that the abolition of certain import or export prohibitions or restrictions applied by some of them would involve the latter in grave difficulties, and that, moreover, these prohibitions or restrictions do not prejudicially affect the trade of other countries, have also deemed it equitable to authorise these High Contracting Parties to make a reservation in regard to these exceptions.

3. The Annex to the present Convention sets forth the exceptions coming within the provisions of the two preceding paragraphs, which have been agreed to on this day's date in favour of the High Contracting Parties who are mentioned by name in the Annex and who have signed the Convention on that date.

4. Exceptions which the High Contracting Parties may desire to claim subsequently to that date shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Protocol to the present Convention.

ARTICLE 7

Should one of the High Contracting Parties be obliged to adopt any measure of prohibition or restriction against products of any foreign country, whether the Convention be applicable to that country or not, he shall frame the measure in such a way as to cause the least possible injury to the trade of the other High Contracting Parties.

ARTICLE 8

If a dispute arises between two or more High Contracting Parties as to the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present Convention-with the exception of Articles 4, 5 and 6, and of the provisions of the Protocol relating to these articles-and if such dispute cannot be settled either directly between the parties or by the employment of any other means of reaching agreement, the parties to the dispute may, provided they all so agree, before resorting to any arbitral or judicial procedure, submit the dispute with a view to an amicable settlement to such technical body as the Council of the League of Nations or the parties concerned may appoint. This body will give an advisory opinion after hearing the parties and, if necessary, effecting a meeting between them.

The advisory opinion given by the said body will not be binding upon the parties to the dispute unless it is accepted by all of them, and the parties, if they all so agree, may either after resort to such procedure, or in lieu thereof, have recourse to any arbitral or judicial procedure which they may select, including reference to the Permanent Court of International Justice as regards any matters which are within the competence of that Court under its Statute.

If a dispute of a legal nature arises as to the interpretation or appli cation of the provisions of the present Convention-with the exception of Articles 4, 5 and 6, and of the provisions of the Protocol relating to these articles-the parties shall, at the request of any of them, refer the matter to the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice or of an arbitral tribunal selected by them, whether or not there has previously been recourse to the procedure laid down in the first paragraph.

In the event of any difference of opinion as to whether a dispute is of a legal nature or not, the question shall be referred for decision to the Permanent Court of International Justice or to the arbitral tribunal selected by the parties.

The procedure before the body referred to in the first paragraph above or the opinion given by it will in no case involve the suspension of the measures to which the dispute refers; the same will apply in the event of proceedings being taken before the Permanent Court of

International Justice-unless the Court decides otherwise under Article 41 of its statute or before the arbitral tribunal selected by the parties.

Nothing in the present Convention shall be construed as prejudicing the rights and obligations derived by the High Contracting Parties from the engagements into which they have entered with reference to the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of International Justice, or from any bilateral conciliation or arbitration conventions between them.

ARTICLE 9

Any High Contracting Party may, either upon ratifying the present Convention or thereafter, declare that he undertakes, in regard to any other High Contracting Party accepting the same obligation, to extend the application of the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 8 to any dispute which may arise in connection with the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present Convention, including all or part of Articles 4, 5 and 6, and whether or not the dispute is of a legal nature.

Any High Contracting Parties who do not give the undertaking referred to in paragraph 1 as regards Articles 4, 5, and 6, or certain parts of these Articles, and as regards the provisions of the Protocol relating thereto, may make the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 8 applicable to these matters as between themselves.

ARTICLE 10

Any High Contracting Party may at the time of signature, ratification or accession declare that, in accepting the present Convention, he does not assume any obligations in respect of all or any of his colonies, protectorates or territories under suzerainty or mandate; and the present Convention shall not apply to any territories named in such declaration.

Any High Contracting Party may give notice to the SecretaryGeneral of the League of Nations at any time subsequently that he desires that the Convention shall apply to all or any of his territories which have been made the subject of a declaration under the preceding paragraph, and the Convention shall apply to all the territories named in such notice ninety days after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

Any High Contracting Party may at any time declare that he desires that the present Convention shall cease to apply to all or any of his colonies, protectorates or territories under suzerainty or mandate, and the Convention shall cease to apply to the territories named in such declaration one year after its receipt by the SecretaryGeneral of the League of Nations.

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