Letters must not accompany parcels. Rejection. Address. Rates of postage. Delivery. Receipt. Registry. Return receipt. Notice to addressee. Customs declaration. Collection of duties. ARTICLE III. 1. A letter or communication of the nature of personal correspondence must not accompany, be written on, or enclosed with any parcel. 2. If such be found, the letter will be placed in the mails if separable, and if the communication be inseparably attached, the whole package will be rejected. If, however, any such should inadvertently be forwarded, the country of destination will collect double rates of postage according to the Universal Postal Union Convention. 3. No parcel may contain packages intended for delivery at an address other than that borne by the parcel itself. If such enclosed packages be detected, they must be sent forward singly, charged with new and distinct Parcel-Post rates. ARTICLE IV. 1. The following rates of postage shall in all cases be required to be fully prepaid with postage stamps of the country of origin, viz:— 2. In the United States, for a parcel not exceeding one pound in weight, twelve cents; and for each additional pound, or fraction of a pound, twelve cents. 3. In New Zealand, for a parcel not exceeding one pound in weight, sixpence; and for each additional pound, or fraction of a pound, sixpence. 4. The parcels shall be promptly delivered to addressees at the postoffices of address in the country of destination free of charge for postage; but the country of destination may, at its option, levy and collect from the addressee for interior service and delivery a charge the amount of which is to be fixed according to its own regulations, but which shall in no case exceed five cents (or two and one-half pence) for each parcel, whatever its weight. ARTICLE V. 1. The sender will, at the time of mailing the package, receive a certificate of mailing from the post-office where the package is mailed on a form like Form 1 annexed hereto. 2. The sender of a package may have the same registered in accordance with the regulations of the country of origin. 3. An acknowledgment of the delivery of a registered article shall be returned to the sender when requested; but either country may require of the sender prepayment of a fee therefor not exceeding five cents. 4. The addressees of registered articles shall be advised of the arri val of a package addressed to them, by a notice from the post-office of destination. ARTICLE VI. 1. The sender of each parcel shall make a Customs declaration, pasted upon or attached to the package, upon a special form provided for the purpose (see Form 2 annexed hereto) giving a general description of the parcel, an accurate statement of its contents and value, date of mailing, and the sender's signature and place of residence, and place of address. 2. The parcels in question shall be subject in the country of destination to all Customs duties and all Customs regulations in force in that country for the protection of its Customs revenues; and the Customs duties properly chargeable thereon shall be collected on delivery, in accordance with the Customs regulations of the country of destination: but neither sender nor addressee shall be subject to the payment of APRIL 18, 1900. any charge for fines or penalties on account of failure to comply with any Customs regulation. ARTICLE VII. 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. ARTICLE VIII. Fees to be retained. 1. The parcels shall be considered as a component part of the mails Transportation. exchanged direct between the United States and New Zealand 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. Unless otherwise mutually agreed upon, 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). ARTICLE IX. Exchanges of mails under this Convention from any place in either country to any place in the other shall be effected through the postoffices 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 mails and the protection of the customs revenues. ARTICLE X. 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 Return of sacks, etc. Packing. Descriptive list. Damaged parcels. Correct mails. Failure to deliver. Disposal of perishable articles. Return postage orders for reforwarding. No responsibility for loss, etc. Further regulations. Duration, etc. Signatures. APRIL 18, 1900. 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. ARTICLE XI. 1. If a parcel can not be delivered as addressed, or is refused, it must be returned without charge directly to the despatching office of exchange, at the expiration of thirty days from its receipt at the office of destination; and the country of origin may collect from the sender for the return of the parcel a sum equal to the postage when first mailed. 2. When the contents of a parcel which can not be delivered are liable to deterioration or corruption, they may be destroyed at once if necessary, or, if expedient, sold, without previous notice or judicial formality, for the benefit of the right person, the particulars of each sale being noticed by one post-office to the other. 3. An order for redirection or reforwarding must be accompanied by the amount due for postage necessary for the return of the article to the office of origin, at the ordinary parcel rates. ARTICLE XII. The Post Office Department of either of the contracting countries will not be responsible for the loss or damage of any parcel, and consequently no indemnity can be claimed by the sender or addressee in either country. ARTICLE XIII. The Postmaster General of the United States of America and the Postmaster General of New Zealand shall have authority to jointly make such further regulations of order and detail as may be found necessary to carry out the present Convention from time to time; and may, by agreement, prescribe conditions for the admission to the mails of any of the articles prohibited by Article II of this Convention. ARTICLE XIV. This Convention shall take effect, and operations thereunder shall begin, on the first day of July, 1900; and shall continue in force until terminated by mutual agreement, but may be annulled at the desire of either Department, upon six months' previous notice given to the other. Done in duplicate, and signed at Washington, the eighteenth day of April, one thousand nine hundred, and at Wellington the twelfth day of February, one thousand nine hundred. [SEAL.] [SEAL.] CH. EMORY SMITH, Postmaster General of the United States of America. Signed; sealed and delivered by the Honorable Joseph George Ward as Postmaster General of the Colony of New Zealand in the presence of FRANK HYDE, Private Secretary, Wellington. APRIL 18, 1900. The foregoing Parcels-Post Convention between the United States of Approval. America and the Colony of New Zealand has been negotiated and concluded with my advice and consent, and is hereby approved and ratified. In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. This certificate is given to inform the sender of the posting of a parcel, and does not indicate that any liability in respect of such parcel attaches to the Postmaster General. Form 1. APRIL 18, 1900. Place to which the parcel is addressed. Total Contents. Value. Per cent. customs charges. Parcel post from... The import duty assessed by an officer of customs on contents of this parcel amounts to $. which must be paid before the parcel is delivered. Parcel post from.. C. This parcel has been passed by an officer of customs, and must be delivered Date. Stamp. Customs Officer. Date. Stamp. Postmaster-General. |