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TREATY OF NEUILLY, AND PROTOCOL THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE BRITISH EMPIRE, FRANCE, ITALY and JAPAN.
PART VII.
REPARATION.
ARTICLE 121.
Bulgaria recognises that, by joining in the war of aggression which Germany and Austria-Hungary waged against the Allied and Associated Powers, she has caused to the latter losses and sacrifices of all kinds, for which she ought to make complete reparation
On the other hand the Allied and Associated Powers recognise that the resources of Bulgaria are not sufficient to enable her to make complete reparation.
Bulgaria, therefore, agrees to pay, and the Allied and Associated Powers agree to accept, as being such reparation as Bulgaria is able to make, the sum of 2,250,000,000 (two and a quarter milliards) francs gold.
This amount shall (except as hereinafter provided) be discharged by a series of half-yearly payments on January 1 and July 1 in each year, beginning on July 1, 1920.
The payments on July 1, 1920, and January 1, 1921, shall represent interest at the rate of 2 per cent. per annum from January 1, 1920, on the total sum due by Bulgaria. Thereafter each half-yearly payment shall include, besides the payment of interest at 5 per cent. per annum, the provision of a sinking fund sufficient to extinguish the total amount due by Bulgaria in 37 years from January 1, 1921.
These sums shall be remitted through the Inter-Allied Commission referred to in Article 130 to the Reparation Commission created by the Treaty of Peace with Germany of June 28, 1919, as constituted by the Treaty with Austria of September 10, 1919 Part VIII, Annex II, paragraph 2 (this Commission is hereinafter referred to as the Reparation Commission), and shall be disposed of by the Reparation Commission in accordance with the arrangements already made.
Payments required in accordance with the preceding stipulations to be made in cash may at any time be accepted by the Repar ation Commission, on the proposal of the Inter-Allied Commission, in the form of chattels, properties, commodities, rights, concessions, within or without Bulgarian territory, ships, bonds, shares or securities of any kind, or currency of Bulgaria or of other States, the value of such substitutes for gold being fixed at a fair and just amount by the Reparation Commission itself.
If the Reparation Commission desires at any time to dispose, either by sale or otherwise, of gold bonds based on the payments to be made by Bulgaria, it shall have power to do so. The nominal amount of the bonds shall be fixed by it, after taking due account of the provisions of Articles 122, 123, and 129 of this Part, in consultation with the Inter-Allied Commission, but shall in no case exceed the total capital sums due by Bulgaria then outstanding.
Bulgaria undertakes in such case to deliver to the Reparation Commission, through the Inter-Allied Commission, the necessary bonds in such form, number, denominations and terms as the Reparation Commission may determine.
These bonds shall be direct obligations of the Bulgarian Government, but all arrangements for the service of the bonds shall be made by the Inter-Allied Commission. The Inter-Allied Commission shall pay all interest, sinking fund, or other charges connected with the bonds out of the half-yearly payments to be made by Bulgaria in accordance with this Article. The surplus, if any, shall continue to be paid to the order of the Reparation Commission.
These bonds shall be free of all taxes and charges of every description established or to be established by Bulgaria.
ARTICLE 122.
The Inter-Allied Commission shall from time to time consider the resources and capacity of Bulgaria, and, after giving her representatives a just opportunity to be heard, shall have discretion to recommend to the Reparation Commission either a reduction or a postponement of any particular payment due or a reduction of the total capital sum to be paid by Bulgaria.
The Reparation Commission shall have power by a majority of votes to make any reduction or postponement up to the extent recommended by the Inter-Allied Commission.
ARTICLE 123.
Bulgaria shall have the power at any time, if she so desires, to make immediate payments in reduction of the total capital sum due over and above the half-yearly payments.
ARTICLE 124.
Bulgaria recognises the transfer to the Allied and Associated Powers of any claims to payment or repayment which Germany, Austria, Hungary or Turkey may have against her, in accordance with Article 261 of the Treaty of Peace with Germany, and the corresponding Articles of the Treaties with Austria, Hungary and Turkey.
The Allied and Associated Powers, on the other hand, agree not to require from Bulgaria any payment in respect of claims so transferred, as they have taken these claims into account in fixing the amount to be paid by Bulgaria under Article 121.
ARTICLE 125.
In addition to the payments mentioned in Article 121, Bulgaria undertakes to return, in accordance with the procedure to be laid down by the Inter-Allied Commission, objects of any nature and securities taken away, seized or sequestrated in the territory invaded in Greece, Roumania or Serbia, in cases in which it is possible to identify them in Bulgarian territory, except in the case of live-stock, which shall be dealt with in accordance with Article 127.
For this purpose the Governments of Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State shall deliver to the Inter-Allied Commission within four months from the coming into force of the present Treaty lists of the objects and securities which they can prove to have been carried off from the invaded territories and which can be identified and found in Bulgarian territory. They will also give at the same time all information possible to assist in the discovery and identification of these articles.
The Bulgarian Government undertakes to facilitate by all means in its power the discovery of the said objects and securities, and to pass within three months from the coming ulto force of the present Treaty a law requiring all Bulgarian nationals to disclose all such objects and securities in their possession under penalty of being treated as receivers of stolen goods.
ARTICLE 126.
Bulgaria undertakes to seek for and forthwith to return to Greece, Roumania, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State respectively any records or archives or any articles of archaeological, historic or artistic interest which have been taken away from the territories of those countries during the present war.
Any dispute between the Powers above named and Bulgaria as to their ownership of any such articles shall be referred to an arbitrator to be appointed by the Inter-Allied Commission, and whose decision shall be final.
ARTICLE 127.
Bulgaria further undertakes to deliver to Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, live-stock of the descriptions and in the numbers set out hereunder:
These animals shall be delivered at such places as may be appointed by the respective Governments. They shall be inspected before delivery by agents appointed by the Inter-Allied Commission, who shall satisfy themselves that the animals so delivered are of average health and condition.
No credit shall be made to Bulgaria in respect of their value; the animals handed over shall be regarded as having been delivered in restitution for animals taken away by Bulgaria during the war from the territories of the countries named.
In addition to the deliveries provided for above, the Inter-Allied Commission shall be at liberty to grant, if they find it possible to do so, to Greece, Roumania and the Serb-Croat Slovene State, within two years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, such quantities of live-stock as they may consider themselves justified in so granting. The value of such deliveries shall be placed to the credit of Bulgaria.
ARTICLE 128.
By way of special compensation for the destruction caused to the coal-mines situated on Serbian territory occupied by the Bulgarian armies, Bulgaria undertakes, subject to the proviso contained in the final paragraph of this Article, to deliver to the Serb-Croat-Slovene State during five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty 50,000 tons of coal a year from the output of the Bulgarian State mines at Pernik. These deliveries shall be made free on rail on the Serb-Croat-Slovene frontier on the Pirot-Sofia railway.
The value of these deliveries will not be credited to Bulgaria, and will not be taken in diminution of the payment required under Article 121.
Provided, nevertheless, that these deliveries will only be made subject to the approval of the Inter-Allied Commission, which approval shall only be given if and in so far as the Commission is satisfied that such deliveries of coal will not unduly interfere with the economic life of Bulgaria; the decision of the Commission on this point shall be final.
ARTICLE 129.
The following shall be reckoned as credits to Bulgaria in respect of her reparation obligations:
Amounts which the Reparation Commission may consider should be credited to Bulgaria under Part VIII (Financial Clauses), Part IX (Economic Clauses) and Part XI (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 130.
In order to facilitate the discharge by Bulgaria of the obligations assumed by her under the present Treaty, there shall be established at Sofia as soon as possible after the coming into force of the present Treaty an Inter-Allied Commission.
The Commission shall be composed of three members to be appointed respectively by the Governments of the British Empire, France and Italy. Each Government represented on the Commission shall have the right to withdraw therefrom upon six months' not ce filed with the Commission.
Bulgaria shall be represented by a Commissioner, who shall take part in the sittings of the Commission whenever invited by the Commission to do so, but shall not have the right to vote.
The Commission shall be constituted in the form and shall possess the powers prescribed by the present Treaty including the Annex to this Part.
The Commission shall continue in existence as long as any of the payments due under the terms of this Part of the present Treaty remain unpaid.
The members of the Commission shall enjoy the same rights and immunities as are enjoyed in Bulgaria by duly accredited diplomatic agents of friendly Powers.
The Bulgarian Government agrees to provide by law, within six months of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the authority necessary for enabling the Commission to carry out its duties. The text of this law must be approved in advance by the Powers represented on the Commission. It must conform to the principles and rules laid down in the Annex to this Part, and also to any other relevant provisions laid down in the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 131.
Bulgaria undertakes to pass, issue and maintain in force any legislation, orders and decrees that may be necessary to give effect to the provisions of this Part.
ANNEX.
I. The Commission shall elect a Chairman annually from its members, and it shall establish its own rules and procedure.
Each member shall have the right to nominate a deputy to act for him in his absence.
Decisions shall be taken by the vote of the majority, except when a unanimous vote is expressly required. Abstention from voting is to be treated as a vote against the proposal under discussion.
The Commission shall appoint such agents and employees as it may deem necessary for its work.
The costs and expenses of the Commission shall be paid by Bulgaria and shall be a first charge on the revenues payable to the Commission. The salaries of the members of the Commission shall be fixed on a reasonable scale by agreement from time to time between the Governments represented on the Commission.
2. Bulgaria undertakes to afford to the members, offficers and agents of the Commission full power to visit and inspect at all reasonable times any places, public works or undertakings in Bulgaria, and to furnish to the said Commission all records, documents and information which it may require.
3. The Bulgarian Government undertakes to place at the disposal of the Commission in each half-year suffficient sums in francs gold, or such other currency as the Commission may decide, to enable it to remit at due date the payments due on account of reparation or of other obligations undertaken by Bulgaria under the present Treaty.
In the law relating to the working of the Commission, there shall be prescribed a list of the taxes and revenues (now existing or hereafter to be created) estimated to be sufficient to produce the sums above referred to. This list of taxes and revenues shall include all revenues or receipts arising from concessions made or to be made for the working of mines or quarries or for the carrying on of any works of public utility or of any monopolies for the manufacture or sale of any articles in Bulgaria. This list of taxes and revenues may be altered from time to time with the unanimous consent of the Commission.
If at any time the revenues so assigned shall prove insufficient, the Bulgarian Government undertakes to assign additional revenues. If the Bulgarian Government does not assign suffficient revenues within three months of a demand by the Commission, the Commission shall have the right to add to the list additional revenues created or to be created, and the Bulgarian Government undertakes to pass the necessary legislation.
In case of default by Bulgaria in the performance of her obligations under Articles 121 and 130 and this Annex the Commission shall be entitled to assume to the extent and for the period fixed by it the full control and management of and to undertake the collection of such taxes and sources of revenue and to hold and disburse the proceeds thereof and to apply any net proceeds after meeting the cost of administration and collection to the satisfaction of the reparation obligations of Bulgaria, subject to any priorities laid down in the present Treaty.
In the case of such action by the Commission, Bulgaria undertakes to recognise the authority and powers of the said Commission, to abide by its decisions and to obey its directions.
4. By agreement with the Bulgarian Government, the Commission shall have power to assume the control and management and the collection of any taxes, even if no default has occurred.
5. The Commission shall also take over any other duties which may be assigned to it under the present Treaty.
6. No member of the Commission shall be responsible, except to the Govermllent appointing him, for any action or omission in the performance of his duties. No one of the Allied or Associated Governments assumes any responsibility in respect of any other Government.
PART VIII.
FINANCIAL CLAUSES.
ARTICLE 132.
Subject to the provisions of Article 138, and to such exceptions as the Inter-Allied Commission established by Article 130, Part VII (Reparation) of the present Treaty, may unanimously approve, a first charge upon all the assets and revenues of Bulgaria shall be the cost of reparation and all other costs arising under the present Treaty or any treaties or agreements supplementary thereto, or under arrangements concluded between Bulgaria and the Allied and Associated Powers during the Armistice signed on September 29, 1918.
Up to May 1, 192I, the Bulgarian Government shall not export or dispose of, and shall prohibit the export or disposal of, gold without the previous approval of the Inter-Allied Commission.
ARTICLE 133
There shall be paid by Bulgaria the total cost of all armies of the Allied and Associated Governments occupying territory within her boundaries, as defined in the present Treaty, from the date of the signature of the Armistice of September 29, 1918, until the coming into force of the present Treaty, including the keep of men and beasts, lodging and billeting, pay and allow- ances, salaries and wages, bedding, heating, lighting, clothing, equipment, harness and saddlery, armament and rolling stock, air services, treatment of sick and wounded, veterinary and remount services, transport services of all sorts (such as by rail, sea or river, motor lorries), communications and correspondence, and, in general, the cost of all administrative or technical services, the working of which is necessary for the training of troops and for keeping their numbers up to strength and preserving their military efficiency.
The cost of such liabilities under the above heads, so far as they relate to purchases or requisitions by the Allied and Associated Governments in the occupied territory, shall be paid by the Bulgarian Government to the Allied and Associated Governments in any legal currency of Bulgaria. In cases where an Allied or Associated Government, in order to make such purchases or requisitions in the occupied territory, has incurred expenditure in a currency other than Bulgarian currency, such expenditure shall be reimbursed in Bulgarian currency at the rate of exchange current at the date of reimbursement, or at an agreed rate.
All other of the above costs shall be paid in the currency of the country to which the payment is due.
ARTICLE 134.
Bulgaria engages to pay towards the charge for the service of the external pre-war Ottoman Public Debt, both in respect of territory ceded by Turkey under the Treaty of Constantinople 1913, for the period during which such territory was under Bulgarian sovereignty, and in respect of territory the cession of which is confirmed by the present Treaty, such sums as may be determined hereafter by a Commission to be appointed for the purpose of determining to what extent the cession of Ottoman territory will involve the obligation to contribute to that debt.
ARTICLE 135.
The priority of the charges established by Articles 132, 133 and 134 of this Part shall be as follows:
(a) the cost of military occupation as defined by Article 133;
(b) the service of such part of the external pre-war Ottoman Public Debt as may be attributed to Bulgaria under the present Treaty or any treaties or agreements supplementary thereto in respect of the cession to Bulgaria of territory formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire;
(c) the cost of reparation as prescribed by the present Treaty or any treaties or agreements supplementary thereto.
ARTICLE 136.
Bulgaria confirms the surrender of all material handed over or to be handed over to the Allied and Associated Powers in accordance with the Armistice of September 29, 1918, and recognises the title of the Allied and Associated Powers to such material
There shall be credited to Bulgaria against the sums due from her to the Allied and Associated Powers for reparation the value, as assessed by the Reparation Commission referred to in Article 121, Part Vll (Reparation) of the present Treaty, acting through the Inter-Allied Commission, of such of the above material for which, as having non-military value, credit should, in the judgment of the Reparation Commission, be allowed.
Property belonging to the Allied and Associated Governments or their nationals, restored or surrendered under the Armistice Agreement in specie, shall not be credited to Bulgaria.
ARTICLE 137.
The right of each of the Allied and Associated Powers to dispose of enemy assets and property within its jurisdiction at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty is not affected by the foregoing provisions.
ARTICLE 138.
All rights created and all securities specifically assigned in connection with loans contracted or guaranteed by the Bulgarian Government which were actually contracted or guaranteed before August 1, 1914, are maintained in force without any modification.
ARTICLE 139.
If, in accordance with Articles 235 and 260 of the Treaty of Peace with Germany, signed on June 28, 19l9, and the corresponding Articles in the Treaties with Austria and Hungary, all rights, interests and securities held by any German, Austrian or Hungarian national under the contracts and agreements regulating the loan contracted by Bulgaria in Germany in July, 1914, are taken over by the Reparation Commission, the Bulgarian Government undertakes to do everything in its power to facilitate this transfer. The Bulgarian Government likewise undertakes to hand over to the Reparation Commission within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty all such rights, interests and securities held by Bulgarian nationals under the contracts and agreements regulating the said loan. The rights, inl:erests and securities held by Bulgarian nationals will be valued by the Reparation Commission, and their value will be credited to Bulgaria on account of the sums due for reparation, andBulgaria shal1 be responsible for indemnifying her nationals so dispossessed.
Notwithstanding anything in the preceding Article, the Reparation Commission shall have full power, in the event of the transfer to it of the interests mentioned above, to modify the terms of the contracts and agreements regulating the loan, or to make any other arrangements connected therewith which it shall deem necessary, provided that (I) the rights under the contrlcts and agreements of any persons interested therein other than German, Austrian, Hungarian or Bulgarian nationals, and (2) the rights of the holders of Bulgarian Treasury Bills issued in France in 1912 and 1913 to be reimbursed out of the proceeds of the next financial operation undertaken by Bulgaria, are not prejudiced thereby. By agreement with the parties concerned, the claims referred to above may be paid off either in cash or in an agreed amount of the bonds of the loan.
Any arrangement with regard to the loan and the contracts and agreements connected therewith shall be made after consultation with the Inter-Allied Commission, and the Inter-Allied Commission shall act as agent of the Reparation Commission in any matters connected with the loan, if the Reparation Commission so decides.
ARTICLE 140.
Nothing in the provisions of this Part shall prejudice in any manner charges or mortgages lawfully effected in favour of the Allied and Associated Powers or their nationals respectively, before the date at which a state of war existed between Bulgaria and the Allied or Associated Powers concerned, by the Government of Bulgaria or by Bulgarian nationals on assets in their ownership at that date, except in so far as variations of such charges or mortgages are specifically provided for under the terms of the present Treaty or any treaties or agreements supplementary thereto.
ARTICLE 141.
Any Power to which Bulgarian territory is ceded in accordance with the present Treaty undertakes to pay a contribution towards the charge for the Bulgarian Public Debt as it stood on October 11, 1915, including the share of the Ottoman Public Debt attaching to Bulgaria in accordance with the principles laid down in Article 134.
The Reparation Commission, acting through the Inter-Allied Commission, will fix the amount of the Bulgarian Public Debt on October 1l, 19l5, taking into account only such portion of the debt contracted after August 1, 19I4, as was not employed by Bulgaria in preparing the war of aggression.
The portion of the Bulgarian Public Debt for which each State is to assume responsibility will be such as the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, acting through the Inter-Allied Commission, may determine to be equitable, having regard to the ratio between the revenues of the ceded territory and the total revenues of Bulgaria for the average of the three complete financial years next before the Balkan War of 1912.
ARTICLE 142.
Any Power to which Bulgarian territory is ceded in accordance vith the present Treaty shall acquire all property and possessions situated within such territory belonging to the Bulgarian Govern- ment, and the value of such property and possessions so acquired shall be fixed by the Reparation Commission and placed by it to the credit of Bulgaria (or of Turkey in the case of property and possessions ceded to Bulgaria under the Treaty of Constantinople, I913), and to the debit of the Power acquiring such property or possessions.
For the purposes of this Article the property and possessions of the Bulgarian Government shall be deemed to include all the property of the Crown.
ARTICLE 143.
Bulgaria renounces any benefit disclosed by the Treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk, 1918, and by the Treaties supplementary thereto, and undertakes to transfer either to Roumania or to the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, as the case may be, any monetary instruments, specie, securities and negotiable instruments or goods which she may have received under the aforesaid Treaties.
Any sums of money and all securities, instruments and goods, of whatsoever nature, to be paid, delivered or transferred under the provisions of this Article, shall be disposed of by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in a manner hereafter to be determined by those Powers.
ARTICLE 144.
The Bulgarian Government undertakes to refrain from preventing or impeding such acquisition by the German, Austrian, Hungarian or Turkish Governments of any rights and interests of German, Austrian, Hungarian or Turkish nationals in public utility undertakings or concessions operating in Bulgaria as may be required by the Reparation Commission under the terms of the Treaties of Peace between Germany, Austria, Hungary and Turkey and the Allied and Associated Powers.
ARTICLE 145.
Bulgaria undertakes to transfer to the Reparation Commission any claims which she or Bulgarian nationals who acted on her behalf may have to payment or reparation by Germany, Austria, Hungary or Turkey, or their nationals, particularly any claims which may arise now or hereafter in the fulfilment of undertakings made between Bulgaria and those Powers during the war.
Any sums which the Reparation Commission may recover in respect of such claims shall be transferred to the credit of Bulgaria on account of the sums due for reparation.
ARTICLE 146.
Any monetary obligation arising out of the present Treaty shall be understood to be expressed in terms of gold, and shall, unless some other arrangement is specifical provided for in any particular case under the terms of this Treaty or any treaty or agreement supplementary thereto, be payable at the option of the creditors in pounds sterling payable in London, gold dollars of the United States of America payable in New York, gold francs payable in Paris, or gold lire payable in Rome.
For the purposes of this Article the gold coins mentioned above shall be defined as being of the weight and fineness of gold as enacted by law on January 1, 1914.
PART IX.
ECONOMIC CLAUSES.
SECTION I.
COMMERCIAL RELATIONS.
CHAPTER 1.
CUSTOMS REGULATIONS, DUTIES AND RESTRICTIONS.
ARTICLE 147.
Bulgaria undertakes that goods the produce or manufacture of any one of the Allied or Assoc ated States imported into Bulgarian territory, from whatsoever place arriving, shall not be subjected to other or higher duties or charges (including internal charges) than those to which the like goods the produce or manufacture of any other such State or of any other foreign country are subject.
Bulgaria will not maintain or impose any prohibition or restriction on the importation into Bulgarian territory of any goods the produce or manufacture of the territories of any one of the Allied or Associated States, from whatsoever place arriving, which shall not equally extend to the importation of the like goods the produce or manufacture of any other such State or of any other foreign country.
ARTICLE 148.
Bulgaria further undertakes that, in the matter of the regime applicable on importation, no discrimination against the com- merce of any of the Allied and Associated States, as compared with any other of the said States or any other foreign country shall be made, even by indirect means, such as customs regulations or procedure, methods of verification or analysis, conditions of payment of duties, tariff classification or interpretation, or the operation of monopolies.
ARTICLE 149.
In all that concerns exportation Bulgaria undertakes that goods, natural products or manufactured articles exported from Bulgarian territory to the territories of any one of the Allied or Associated States shall not be subjected to other or higher duties or charges (including internal charges) than those paid on the like goods exported to any other such State or to any other foreign country.
Bulgaria will not maintain or impose any prohibition or restriction on the exportation of any goods sent from her territory to any one of the Allied or Associated States which shall not equally extend to the exportation of the like goods, natural products or manufactured articles sent to any other such State or to any other foreign country
ARTICLE 150.
Every favour, immunity or privilege in regard to the importation, exportation or transit of goods granted by Bulgaria to any Allied or Associated State or to any other foreign country whatever shall simultaneously and unconditionally, without request and without compensation, be extended to all the Allied and Associated States.
ARTICLE 151
During the period of one year after the coming into force of the present Treaty, the duties imposed by Bulgaria on imports from Allied and Associated States shall not be higher than the most favourable duties which were applied to imports into Bulgaria on July 28, 1914.
The payment of customs duties on such imports on a gold basis may, subject to the provisions of Article 150, be required in all cases where by Bulgarian law such payment in gold could be required on July 28, 19I4, provided that the rate of conversion of gold notes shall be periodically fixed by the Reparation Commission.
CHAPTER II.
SHIPPING.
ARTICLE 152.
As regards sea fishing, maritime coasting trade and maritime towage, vessels of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy in Bulgaria, even in territorial waters the treatment accorded to vessels of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE 153.
In the case of vessels of the Allied or Associated Powers, all classes of certificates or documents relating to the vessel which were recognised as valid by Bulgaria before the war, or which may hereafter be recognised as valid by the principal maritime States, shall be recognised by Bulgaria as valid and as equivalent to the corresponding certificates issued to Bulgarian vessels.
A similar recognition shall be accorded to the certificates and documents issued to their vessels by the Governments of new States, whether they have a seawcoast or not, provided that such certificates and documents shall be issued in conformity with the general practice observed in the principal maritime States.
The High Contracting Parties agree to recognise the flag flown by the vessels of an Allied or Associated Power having no sea-coast which are registered at some one specified place situated in its territory; such place shall serve as the port of registry of such vessels.
CHAPTER III
UNFAIR COMPETITION.
ARTICLE 154.
Bulgaria undertakes to adopt all the necessary legislative and administrative measures to protect goods the produce or manufacture of any one of the Allied and Associated Powers from all forms of unfair competition in commercial transactions.
Bulgaria undertakes to prohibit and repress by seizure and by other appropriate remedies the importation, exportation, manufacture, distribution, sale or offering for sale in her territory of all goods bearing upon themselves or their usual get-up or wrappings any marks, names, devices or descriptions whatsoever which are calculated to convey, directly or indrectly, a false indication of the origin, type, nature or special characteristics of such goods.
ARTICLE 155.
Bulgaria undertakes, on condition that reciprocity is accorded in these matters, to respect any law, or any administrative or judicial decision given in conformity with such law, in force in any Allied or Associated State and duly communicated to her by the proper authorities, defining or regulating the right to any regional appellation in respect of wines or spirits produced in the State to which the region belongs or the conditions under which the use of any such appellation may be permitted and the impor tation, exportation, manufacture distribution, saie or offering for sale of products or articles bearing regional appellations inconsistent with such law or order shall be prohibited by Bulgaria and repressed by the measures prescribed in the preceding Article.
CHAPTER IV.
TREATMENT OF NATIONALS OF ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS.
ARTICLE 156.
Bulgaria undertakes:
(a) Not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers to any prohibition in regard to the exercise of occupations, professions, trade and industry, which shall not be equally applicable to all aliens without exception.
(b) Not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers in regard to the rights referred to in paragraph (a) to any regulation or restriction which might contravene, directly or indirectly, the stipulations of the said paragraph, or which shall be other or more disadvantageous than those which are applicable to nationals of the most favoured nation
(c) Not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers, their property, rights or interests, including companies and associations in which they are interested, to any charge, tax or impost, direct or indirect, other or higher than those which are or may be imposed on her own nationals or their property, rights or interests, or on the nationals of any more favoured nation or their property, rights or interests;
(d) Not to subject the nationals of any one of the Allied and Associated Powers to any restriction which was not applicable on July 1, 1914, to the nationals of such Powers unless such restriction is likewise imposed on her own nationals.
ARTICLE 157.
The nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy in Bulgarian territory a constant protection for their persons and for their property, rights and interests, and shall have free access to the courts of law.
ARTICLE 158.
Bulgaria undertakes to recognise any new nationality which has been or may be acquired by her nationals under the laws of the Allied and Associated Powers and in accordance with the decisions of the competent authorities of these Powers pursuant to naturalisation laws or under treaty stipulations, and to regard such persons as having, in consequence of the acquisition of such new nationality, in all respects severed their allegiance to their country of origin.
ARTICLE 159.
The Allied and Associated Powers may appoint consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, and consular agents in Bulgarian towns and ports. Bulgaria undertakes to approve the designation of the consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, and consular agents whose names shall be notified to her, and to admit them to the exercise of their functions in conformity with the usual rules and customs
CHAPTER V.
GENERAL ARTICLES.
ARTICLE 160.
The obligations imposed on Bulgaria by Chapter I and by Article I52 of Chapter II above shall cease to have effect five years from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, unless otherwise provided in the text, or unless the Council of the League of Nations shall, at least twelve months before the expiration of that period, decide that these obligations shall be maintained for a further period with or without amendment.
Article 156 of Chapter IV shall remain in operation, with or without amendment, after the period of five years for such further period, if any, not exceeding five years, as may be determined by a majority of the Council of the League ot Nations.
ARTICLE 161.
If the Bulgarian Government engages in international trade, it shall not in respect thereof have or be deemed to have any rights, privileges, or immunities of sovereignty.
SECTION II.
TREATIES.
ARTICLE 162.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty and subject to the provisions thereof, the multilateral treaties, conventions, and agreements of an economic or technical character enumerated below and in the subsequent Articles shall alone be applied as between Bulgaria and those of the Allied and Associated Powers party thereto:
(I) Convention of October II, 1909, regarding the international circulation of motor-cars.
(2) Agreement of May I5, 1886, regarding the sealing of railway trucks subject to customs inspection, and Protocol of May 18, 1907.
(3) Agreement of May 15, I886, regarding the technical standardisation of railways.
(4) Convention of July 5, I890, regarding the publication of customs tariffs and the organisation of an International Union for the publication of customs tariffs.
(5) Convention of May 20, 1875, regarding the unification and improvement of the metric system.
(6) Convention of November 29, 1906, regarding the unifica- tion of pharmacopseial formulae, for potent drugs.
(7) Convention of June 7, 1905, regarding the creation of an International Agricultural Institute at Rome.
(8) Arrangement of December 9, 1907, for the creation of an International Office of Public Hygiene at Paris.
ARTICLE 163.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty the High Contracting Parties shall apply the conventions and agreements hereinafter mentioned, in so far as concerns them, Bulgaria undertaking to comply with the special stipulations contained in this Article.
Postal Conventions.
Conventions and agreements of the Universal Postal Union concluded at Vienna on July 4, 1891.
Conventions and agreements of the Postal Union signed at Washington on June 15, 1897
Conventions and agreements of the Postal Union signed at Rome on May 26, 1906.
Telegraphic Conventions.
International telegraphic conventions signed at St. Petersburg on July 10/22, 1875.
Regulations and tariffs drawn up by the International Telegraphic Conference, Lisbon, June 11, 1908.
Bulgaria undertakes not to refuse her assent to the conclusion by the new States of the special arrangements referred to in the conventions and agreements relating to the Universal Postal Union and to the International Telegraphic Union, to which the said new States have adhered or may adhere.
ARTICLE I64.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty the High Contracting Parties shall apply, in so far as concerns them, the International Radio-Telegraphic Convention of July 5, 1912, Bulgaria undertaking to comply with the provisional regulations which will be indicated to her by the Allied and Associated Powers.
If within five years after the coming into force of the present Treaty a new convention regulating international radio-telegraphic communication should have been concluded to take the place of the Convention of July 5, 1912, this new convention shall bind Bulgaria, even if Bulgaria should refuse either to take part in drawing up the convention or to subscribe thereto.
This new convention will likewise replace the provisional regulations in force.
ARTICLE 165.
Until the conclusion of a new convention concerning fishing in the waters of the Danube to replace the Convention of November 29, 1901, the transitory regime to be established will be settled by an arbitrator appointed by the European Commission of the Danube.
ARTICLE 166.
Bulgaria undertakes:
(I) Within a period of twelve months from the coming into force of the present Treaty to adhere in the prescribed form to the International Convention of Paris of March 20, 1883, fowr the protection of industrial property revised at Washington on June 2, 19ll, and the Internationai Convention of Berne of September 9, 1886, for the protection of literary and artistic works, revised at Berlin on November 13, 1908, and the Additional Protocol of Berne of March 20, 1914, relating to the protection of literary and artistic works;
(2) Within the same period to recognise and protect by PART VII.
Conventions the industrial, literary, and artistic property of
nationals of the Allied and Associated States.
In addition and independently of the obligations mentioned above, Bulgaria undertakes to continue to assure such recognition and such protection to all the industrial, literary, and artistic property of the nationals of each of the Allied and Associated States to an extent at least as great as upon July 28, 19l4, and upon the same conditions.
ARTICLE 167.
Bulgaria undertakes to adhere to the conventions and agree. ments hereunder enumerated, or to ratify them:
(I) Conventions of March 14, 1884, December 1, 1886, and March 23,1887, and Final Protocol of July 7, 1887, regarding the protection of submarine cables.
(2) Convention of December 31, 1913, regarding the unification of commercial statistics.
(3) Conventions of September 23, 19l0, respecting the unification of certain regulations regarding collisions and salvage at sea.
(4) Convention of December 21, 1904, regarding the exemption of hospital ships from dues and charges in ports.
(5) Convention of September 26, 1906, for the suppression of night work for women.
(6) Convention of September 26, 1906 for the suppression of the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches.
(7) Conventions of May 18, 1904, and May 4, 1910, regarding the suppression of the White Slave Traffic.
(8) Convention of May 4, 1910, regarding the suppression of obscene publications.
(9) Sanitary Conventions of January 30, 1892, April 15, 1893, April 3, 1894, March 19, 1897, and December 3, 1903.
(l0) Conventions of November 3, 1881, and April 15, 1889, regarding precautionary measures against phylloxera.
(11) Convention of March 19, 1902, regarding the protection of birds useful to agriculture.
ARTICLE 168.
Each of the Allied or Associated Powers, being guided by the general principles or special provisions of the present Treaty, shall notify to Bulgaria the bilateral treaties or conventions of all kinds which such Allied or Associated Power wishes to revive with Bulgaria.
The notification referred to in the present Article shall be made either directly or through the intermediary of another Power Receipt thereof shall be acknowledged in writing by Bulgaria The date of the revival shall be that of the notification.
The Allied and Associated Powers undertake among themselves not to revive with Bulgalia any conventions or treaties which are not in accordance with the terms of the present Treaty.
The notification shall mention any provisions of the said conventions and treaties which, not being in accordance with the terms of the present Treaty, shall not be considered as revived.
In case of any difference of opinion, the League of Nations will be called on to decide.
A period of six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty is allowed to the Allied and Associated Powers within which to make the notification.
Only those bilateral treaties and conventions which have been the subject of such a notification shall be revived between the Allied and Associated Powers and Bulgaria; all the others are and shall remain abrogated.
The above mles apply to all bilateral treaties or conventions existing between the Allied and Associated Powers and Bulgaria even if the said Allied and Associated Powers have not been in a state of war with Bulgaria.
ARTICLE 169.
Bulgaria recognises that all the treaties, conventions or agreements which she has concluded with Germany, Austria, Hungary or Turkey since August 1, 1914, until the coming into force of the present Treaty are and remain abrogated by the present Treaty.
ARTICLE 170.
Bulgaria undertakes to secure to the Allied and Associated Powers, and to the officials and nationals of the said Powers, the enjoyment of all the rights and advantages of any kind which she may have granted to Germany, Austria, Hungary or Turkey, or to the offficials and nationals of these States by treaties, conventions or arrangements concluded before August x, 1914, so long as those treaties, conventions or arrangements remain in force.
The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to accept or not the enjoyment of these rights and advantages.
ARTICLE 171.
Bulgaria recognises that all treaties, conventions or arrangements which she concluded with Russia, or with any State or Government of which the territory previously formed a part of Russia, before August 1, 1914, or after that date until the coming into force of the present Treaty, or with Roumania after August 15, 1916, until the coming into force of the present Treaty, are and remain abrogated.
ARTICLE 172.
Should an Allied or Associated Power, Russia, or a State or Government of which the territory formerly constituted a part of Russia, have been forced since August 1, 19l4, by reason of military occupation or by any other means or for any other cause, to grant or to allow to be granted by the act of any public authority, concessions, privileges and favours of any kind to Bulgaria or to a Bulgarian national, such concessions, privileges and favours are ipso facto annulled by the present Treaty.
No claims or indemnities which may result from this annulment shall be charged against the Allied or Associated Powers or the Powers, States, Governments or public authorities which are released from their engagements by the present Article.
ARTICLE 173.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty Bulgaria undertakes to give the Allied and Associated Powers and their nationals the benefit ipsofacto of the rights and advantages of any kind which she has granted by treaties, conventions or arrangements to non-belligerent States or their nationals since August 1, 19l4, until the coming into force of the present Treaty, so long as those treaties, conventions or arrangements remain in force.
ARTICLE 174.
Those of the High Contracting Parties who have not yet signed, or who have signed but not yet ratified, the Opium Convention signed at The Hague on January 23, 1912, agree to bring the said Convention into force, and for this purpose to enact the necessary legislation without delay and in any case within a period of twelve months from the coming into force of the present Treaty.
Furthermore, they agree that ratification of the present Treaty should, in the case of Powers which have not yet ratified the Opium Convention, be deemed in all respects equivalent to the ratification of that Convention, and to the signature of the Special Protocol which was opened at The Hague in accordance with the resolutions adopted by the Third Opium Conference in 1914 for bringing the said Convention into force.
For this purpose the Government of the French Republic will communicate to the Government of the Netherlands a certified copy of the protocol of the deposit of ratifications of the present Treaty, and will invite the Government of the Netherlands to accept and deposit the said certified copy as if it were a deposit of ratifications of the Opium Convention and a signature of the Additional Protocol of 19l4.
ARTICLE 175.
The immunities and privileges ot foreigners as well as the rights of jurisdiction and of consular protection enjoyed by the Allied and Associated Powers in Bulgaria by virtue ot the capitulations, usages and treaties, may form the subject of special conventions between each of the Allied and Associated Powers concerned and Bulgaria.
The Principal Allied and Associated Powers will enjoy in Bulgaria in the matters mentioned above most favoured nation treatment.
The Allied and Associated Powers concerned undertake among themselves to conclude only such conventions as shall conform to the stipulations of the present Treaty. In case of difference of opinion among them, the League of Nations will be called upon to decide.
SECTION III
DEBTS.
ARTICLE 176.
There shall be settled through the intervention of Clearing Offices to be established by each of the High Contracting Parties within three months of the notification referred to in paragraph (e) hereafter the following classes of pecuniary obligations:
(1) Debts payable befcre the war and due by a national of one of the Contracting Powerss residing within its territory, to a national of an Opposing Power, residing within its terntory;
(2) Debts which became payable during the war to nationals of one Contracting Power residing within its territory and arose out of transactions or corxtracts with the nationals of an Opposing Power, resident within its territory, of which the total or partial execution was suspended on account of the existence of a state of war.
(3) Interest which has accrued due before and during the war to a national of one of the Contracting Powers in respect of securities issued or taken over by an Opposing Power, provided that the payment of interest on such securities to the nationals of that Power or to neutrals has not been suspended during the war;
(4) Capital sums which have become payable before and during the war to nationals of one of the Contracting Powers in respect of securities issued by one of the Opposing Powers, provided that the payment of such capital sums to nationals of that Power or to neutrals has not been suspended during the war.
The proceeds of liquidation of enemy property, rights and interests mentioned in Section IV and in the Annex thereto will be accounted for throagh the Clearing Offices, in the currency and at the rate of exchange hereinafter provided in paragraph (d), and disposed of by them under the conditions provided by the said Section and Annex.
The settlements provided for in this Article shall be effected According to the following principles and in accordance with the Annex to this Section:
(a) Each of the High Contracting Parties shall prohibit, as from the coming into force of the present Treaty, both the payment and the acceptance of payment of such debts, and also all communications between the interested parties with regard to the settlement of the said debts otherwise than through the Clearing Offices;
(b) Each of the High Contracting Parties shall be respectively responsible for the payment of such debts due by its nationals except in the cases where before the war the debtor was in a state of bankruptcy or failure, or had given formal indication of insolvency, or where the debt was due by a company whose business has been liquidated under emergency legislation during the war. Nevertheless, debts due by the inhabitants of territory invaded or occupied by the enemy before the Armistice will not be guaranteed by the States of which those territories form part;
(c) The sums due to the nationals of one of the Contracting Powers by the nationals of an Opposing Power will be debited to the Clearing Office of the country of the debtor, and paid to the creditor by the Clearing Office of the country of the creditor
(d) Debts shall be paid or credited in the currency of such one of the Allied and Associated Powers, their colonies or protectorates, or the British Dominions or India, as may be concerned. lf the debts are payable in some other currency they shall be paid or credited in the currency of the country concerned whether an Allied or Associated Power, Colony, Protectorate, British Dominion or India, at the pre-war rate of exchange
For the purpose of this provision, the pre-war rate of exchange shall be defined as the average cable transfer rate prevailing in the Allied or Associated country concerned during the month immediately preceding the outbreak of war between the Power concerned and Bulgaria.
If a contract provides for a fixed rate of exchange governing the conversion of the currency in which the debt is stated into the currency of the Allied or Associated Power concerned, then the above provisions concerning the rate of exchange shall not apply.
In the case of the new States of Poland and Czecho-Slovakia the currency in which and the rate of exchange at which debts shall be paid or credited shall be determined by the Reparation Commission provided for in Part VII (Reparation), unless they shall have been previously settled by agreement between the States interested;
(e) The provisions of this Article and of the Annex hereto shall not apply as between Bulgaria on the one hand and any one of the Allied and Associated Powers, their colonies or protectorates, or any one of the British Dominions or India, on the other hand, unless within a period of one month from the deposit of the ratification of the present Treatybby the Power in question, or of the ratification on behalf of such Dominion or of India, notice to that effect is given to Bulgaria bythe Government of such Allied or Associated Power or of such Dominion or of India as the case may be;
(f) The Allied and Associated Powers who have adopted this Article and the Annex hereto agree between themselves to apply them to their respectivenationals established in their territory so far as regards matters between their nationals and Bulgarian nationals. In this casetie payments made by application of this provision will be subjet to arrangements between the Allied and Associated Clearing Offices concerned.
ANNEX.
1.
Each of the High Contracting Parties will, within three months from the notification provided for in Article 176, paragraph (e), establish a Clearing Office for the collection and payment of enemy debts.
Local Clearing Offices maybe established for any particular portion of the territories of the High Contracting Parties. Such local Clearing Offices may perform all the functions of a central Clearing Office in their respeetive districts, except that all transactions with the Clearing øfice in the opposing State must be effected through the central Clearing Office.
2.
In this Annex the pecuniary obligations referred to in the first paragraph of Article 176 are described as "enemy debts," the persons from whom the sarne are due as "enemy debtors," the persons to whom they are due as "enemy creditors," the Clearing Office in the country of the creditor is called the "Creditor Clearing Office," and the Clearing office in the country of the debtor is called the Debtor Clearing Office. "
3
The High Contracting Parties will subject contraventions of paragraph (a) of Article 176 to the same penalties as are at present provided by their legislation for trading with the enemy. They will similarly prohibit within their territory all legal process relating to payment of enemy debts, except in accordance with the provisions of this Annex.
4
The Government guarantee specified in paragraph (b) of Article 176 shall take effect whenever, for any reason, a debt shall not be recoverable, except in a case where at the date of the outbreak of war the debt was barred by the laws of prescription in force in the country of the debtor, or where the debtor was at that time in a state of bankruptcy or failure or had given formal indication of insolvency, or where the debt was due by a company whose business has been liquidated under emergency legislation during the war In such case the procedure specified by this Annex shall apply to payment of the dividends.
The terms abankruptcy" and "failure" refer to the application of legislation providing for such juridical conditions. The expression "formal indication of insolvency" bears the same meaning as it has in English law.
5
Creditors shall give notice to the Creditor Clearing Office within six months of its establishment of debts due to them, and shall furnish the Clearing Office with any documents and information required of them.
The High Contracting Parties will take all suitable measures to trace and punish collusion between enemy creditors and debtors. The Clearing Offices will communicate to one another any evidence and information which might help the discovery and punishment of such collusion.
The High Contracting Parties will facilitate as much as possible postal and telegraphic communication at the expense of the parties concerned and through the intervention of the Clearing Offices between debtors and creditors desirous of coming to an agreement as to the amount of their debt.
The Creditor Clearing Office will notify the Debtor Clearing Office of all debts declared to it. The Debtor Clearing Office will, in due course, inform the Creditor Clearing Office which debts are admitted and which debts are contested. In the latter case, the Debtor Clearing Office will give the grounds for the non-admission of debt.
6.
When a debt has been admitted, in whole or in part, the Debtor Clearing Office will at once credit the Creditor Clearing Office with the amount admitted, and at the same time notify it of such credit.
7
The debt shall be deemed to be admitted in full and shall be credited forthwith to the Creditor Clearing Office unless within three months from the receipt of the notification or such longer time as may be agreed to by the Creditor Clearing Office notice has been given by the Debtor Clearing Office that it is not admitted.
8.
When the whole or part of a debt is not admitted the two Clearing Offices will examine into the matter jointly and will endeavour to bring the parties to an agreement.
9
The Creditor Clearing Office will pay to the individual creditor the sums credited to it out of the funds placed at its disposal by the Government of its country and in accordance with the conditions fixed by the said Government, retaining any sums considered necessary to cover risks, expenses or commissions.
10.
Any person having claimed payment of an enemy debt which is not admitted in whole or in part shall pay to the Clearing Office, by way of fine, interest at 5 per cent. on the part not admitted. Any person having unduly refused to admit the whole or part of a debt claimed from him shall pay, by way of fine, interest at 5 per cent. on the amount with regard to which his refusal shall be disallowed.
Such interest shall run from the date of expiration of the period provided for in paragraph 7 until the date on which the claim shall have been disallowed or the debt paid.
Each Clearing Office shall, in so far as it is concerned, take steps to collect the fines above provided for, and will be responsible if such fines cannot be collected.
The fines will be credited to the other Clearing Office, which shall retain them as a contribution towards the cost of carrying out the present provisions.
11.
The balance between the Clearing Offices shall be struck every three months and the credit balance paid in cash by the debtor State within a month.
Nevertheless, any credit balances which may be due by one or more of the Allied and Associated Powers shall be retained until complete payment shall have been effected of the sums due to the Allied or Associated Powers or their nationals on account of the war.
12.
To facilitate discussion between the Clearing Offices each of them shall have a representative at the place where the other is established.
13.
Except for special reasons all discussions in regard to claims will, so far as possible, take place at the Debtor Clearing Office.
14.
In conformity with Article 176, paragraph (b), the High Contracting Parties are responsible for the payment of the enemy debts owing by their nationals.
The Debtor Clearing Office will therefore credit the Creditor Clearing Office with all debts admitted, even in case of inability to collect them from the individual debtor. The Governments concerned will, nevertheless, invest their respective Clearing Offices with all necessary powers for the recovery of debts which have been admitted.
As an exception, the admitted debts owing by persons having suffered injury from acts of war shall only be credited to the Creditor Clearing Office when the compensation due to the person concerned in respect of such injury shall have been paid.
15.
Each Government will defray the expenses of the Clearing Office set up in its territory, including the salaries of the staff.
16.
Where the two Clearing Offices are unable to agree whether a debt claimed is due, or in case of a difference between an enemy debtor and an enemy cfeditor, or between the Clearing Offices, the dispute shall either be referred to arbitration if the parties so agree under conditions fixed by agreement between them, or referred to the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal provided for in Section VI hereafter.
At the request of the Creditor Clearing Office the dispute may, however, be submitted to the jurisdiction of the Courts of the place of domicile of the debtor.
17.
Recovery of sums found by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal, the Court, or the Arbitration Tribunal to be due shall be effected through the Clearing Offices as if these sums were debts admitted by the Debtor Clearing Office.
18.
Each of the Governments concerned shall appoint an agent who will be responsible for the presentation to the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal of the cases conducted on behalf of its Clearing Office. This agent will exercise a general control over the representatives or counsel employed by its nationals.
Decisions will be arrived at on documentary evidence, but it will be open to the Tribunal to hear the parties in person, or according to their preference by their representatives approved by the two Governments, or by the agent referred to above, who shall be competent to intervene along with the party or to reopen and maintain a claim abandoned by the same.
19.
The Clearing Offices concerned will lay before the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal all the information and documents in their possession, so as to enable the Tribunal to decide rapidly on the cases which are brought before it.
20.
Where one of the parties concerned appeals against the joint decision of the two Clearing Offices he shall make a deposit against the costs, which deposit shall only be refunded when the first judgment is modified in favour of the appellant and in proportion to the success he may attain, his opponent in case of such a refund being required to pay an equivalent proportion of the costs and expenses. Security accepted by the Tribunal may be substituted for a deposit.
A fee of 5 per cent. of the amount in dispute shall be charged in respect of all cases brought before the Tribunal. This fee shall, unless the Tribunal directs otherwise, be borne by the unsuccessful party. Such fee shall be added to the deposit referred to. It is also independent of the security.
The Tribunal may award to one of the parties a sum in respect of the expenses of the proceedings.
Any sum payable under this paragraph shall be credited to the Clearing Office of the successful party as a separate item.
21.
With a view to the rapid settlement of claims, due regard shall be paid in the appointment of all persons connected with the Clearing Offices or with the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal to their knowledge of the language of the other country concerned.
Each of the Clearing Offices will be at liberty to correspond with the other and to forward documents in its own language.
22.
Subject to any special agreement to the contrary between the Governments concerned, debts shall carry interest in accordance with the following provisions:
Interest shall not be payable on sums of money due by way of dividend, interest, or other periodical payments which themselves represent interest on capital.
The rate of interest shall be 5 per cent. per annum except in cases where, by contract, law, or custom, the creditor is entitled to payment of interest at a different rate. In such cases the rate to which he is entitled shall prevail.
Interest shall run from the date of commencement of hostilities (or, if the sum of money to be recovered fell due during the war, from the date at which it fell due) until the sum is credited to the Clearing Office of the creditor.
Sums due by way of interest shall be treated as debts admitted by the Clearing Offices and shall be credited to the Creditor Clearing Office in the same way as such debts.
23.
Where by a decision of the Clearing Offices or the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal a claim is held not to fall within Article 176, the creditor shall be at liberty to prosecute the claim before the Courts or to take such other proceedings as may be open to him.
The presentation of a claim to the Clearing Office suspends the operation of any period of prescription.
24.
The High Contracting Parties agree to regard the decisions of the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal as final and conclusive and to render them binding upon their nationals.
25.
In any case where a Creditor Clearing Office declines to notify a claim to the Debtor Clearing Office, or to take any step provided for in this Annex, intended to make effective in whole or in part a request of which it has received due notice, the enemy creditor shall be entitled to receive from the Clearing Office a certificate setting out the amount of the claim, and shall then be entitled to prosecute the claim before the courts or to take such other proceedings as may be open to him.
