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Publications which violate the copyright laws of the country of destination; poisons, and explosive or inflammable substances; fatty substances; liquids, and those which easily liquefy; confections and pastes; live or dead animals, except dead insects and reptiles when thoroughly dried; fruits and vegetables which easily decompose, and substances which exhale a bad odor; lottery tickets, lottery advertisements, or lottery circulars; all obscene or immoral articles; articles

which may in any way damage or destroy the mails, or injure the persons handling them.

ARTICLE III.

A letter or communication of the nature of personal correspondence must not accompany, be written on, or inclosed with any parcel.

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 may collect on the letter or letters, double rates of postage according to the Universal Postal Convention.

No parcel may contain parcels intended for delivery at an address other than that borne by the parcel itself. If such inclosed parcels be detected, they must be sent forward singly, charged with new and distinct parcels-post rates.

ARTICLE IV.

The packages 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 to the following rates of postage, which shall in all cases be required to be FULLY PREPAID, viz:

In the United States; for a parcel not exceeding one pound [455 grams] in weight, 12 cents: and for each additional pound [455 grams] or fraction of a pound, 12 cents;

In Sweden; for a parcel not exceeding 1 kilogram in weight, 80 öre, and for other parcels, 1 krona 40 öre.

ARTICLE V.

The sender of each package must make a Customs Declaration, upon a special form provided for the purpose [see Form 1, “A” annexed hereto], giving the address, a general description of the parcel, an accurate statement of the contents and value,

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date of mailing, and the sender's signature and place of residence; which declaration must accompany the parcel to destination.

Either country may authorize the postoffice where the package is mailed to deliver to the sender of the package at the time of mailing, a certificate of mailing on a form like Form 2 annexed hereto.

The sender of a package may have the same registered by paying the registration fee required for registered articles in the country of origin, and, on demand therefor, will receive a return receipt, without additional charge.

ARTICLE VI.

The addressees of registered articles shall be advised of the arrival of a package addressed to them, by a notice from the postoffice of destination.

The packages shall be delivered to addressees at the postoffices of address in the country of destination free of charge for postage; but the customs duties properly chargeable thereon shall be collected on delivery in accordance with the customs regulations of the country of destination; and the country of destination may, at its option, levy and collect from the addressee for interior service and delivery a charge not exceeding five cents in the United States and 20 öre in Sweden, on each single parcel of whatever weight.

ARTICLE VII.

The packages shall be considered as a component part of the mails exchanged direct between the United States and Sweden to be dispatched by the country of origin to the other at its cost and by such means as it provides, but must be forwarded, at the option of the dispatching office, either in boxes prepared especially for the purpose or in ordinary mail sacks, to be marked "Parcels-post," and not to contain any other articles of mail matter, and to be securely sealed with wax or otherwise, as may be mutually provided by regulations hereunder.

Each country shall promptly return empty to the dispatching office by next mail, all such bags and boxes, but subject to other regulations between the two Administrations.

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

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office in the country of origin and to the office of address in the country of destination.

Each dispatch of a parcels-post mail must be accompanied by a descriptive list, in duplicate, of all the packages 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 inclosed in one of the boxes or sacks of such dispatch. Form 3 annexed hereto.]

ARTICLE VIII.

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

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

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 dispatching office on a form "Verification certificate," which should be sent in a special envelope.

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.

Should a parcel be received in a damaged or imperfect condition, full particulars should be reported on the same form. If no verification certificate or note of error be received, a parcels-mail shall be considered as duly delivered, having been found on examination correct in all respects.

ARTICLE IX.

If the packages can not be delivered as addressed, or if they are refused, they should be reciprocally returned without charge, directly to the dispatching office of exchange, at the expiration of thirty days from their 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;

Provided, however, that parcels prohibited by Article II and those which do not conform to the conditions as to size, weight and value, prescribed by said Article, shall not be returned to the country of origin, but may be disposed of, without recourse, in accordance with the customs laws and regulations of the country of destination.

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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.

ARTICLE X.

The Post-Office Department of either of the contracting countries will not be responsible for the loss or damage of any package; but either country is at liberty to indemnify the sender of any package which may be lost or destroyed on its territory.

ARTICLE XI.

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

ARTICLE XII.

The Postmaster-General of the United States of America, and the Director-General of Posts of Sweden, 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 in packages exchanged under this Convention of any of the articles prohibited by Article II.

ARTICLE XIII.

This Convention shall take effect and operations thereunder shall begin on the first day of February, 1906, 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 14th day of December, 1905, and at Stockholm, the 14th day of November, 1905.

[Seal of the Post-Office

Dept. of the U. S.]

[Sweden seal.]

GEORGE B. CORTELYOU,

Postmaster-General of the
United States of America.

E. VON KRUSENSTJERNA.

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The foregoing Parcels-Post Convention between the United States of America and Sweden has been negotiated and concluded with my advice and consent, and is hereby approved and ratified.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed.

[Seal.]

By the President:

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

ELIHU ROOT, Secretary of State.

WASHINGTON, December 21, 1905.

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