The Anglo-Spanish commercial treaty,' signed October 31, 1922, and promptly put into effect as a modus vivendi pending ratification, provides in the first place for "reciprocal freedom of commerce and navigation" between the territories of the two contracting parties. Article 2 is a general most-favored-nation clause, as follows:

The Contracting Parties agree that, in all matters relating to commerce, navigation, and industry, any privilege, favour, or immunity which either Contracting Party has actually granted or may hereafter grant, to the ships and subjects or citizens of any other foreign State, shall be extended simultaneously and unconditionally without request and without compensation to the ships and subjects of the other, it being their intention that the commerce, navigation, and industry of each Contracting Party shall be placed in all respects on the footing of the most favoured nation.

National or most-favored-nation treatment or both are reciprocally provided for in the first four articles with respect to a variety of economic matters.

Article 5 sets forth the customs treatment to be accorded to British goods entering Spain.-(1) There is a group of specified articles which, if produced or manufactured in "His Britannic Majesty's Territories," shall not be subjected to higher rates than those mentioned in an appended schedule.2 These embrace more than one hundred and thirty items of the Spanish Tariff and the fixed rates are in most instances materially lower than those of the secondcolumn schedule. Iron and steel plates, bars and sheets;

1 Text: Board of Trade Journal, November 9, 1922; May 1, 1924. Ratifications exchanged April 23, 1924.

'A note to the schedule states that British articles shall enjoy the reductions conceded by Spain to similar goods of French or Swiss production or manufacture by the treaties of July 8 and May 15, 1922, respectively.

copper, brass and bronze plates, tubes and pipes; locomotives; motor cars; and certain cotton and woolen fabrics may be mentioned as important instances. (2) A group including 1258 of the 1540 headings in the Spanish tariff is guaranteed most-favored-nation treatment. (3) All articles included in the 282 remaining tariff headings are guaranteed second-column rates, provided—

that if at any time any benefit or advantage is conceded to any foreign country in respect of any specified article which is of interest to the trade of His Britannic Majesty's territories, the Government of His Catholic Majesty will be prepared to extend such benefit or advantage to similar articles produced or manufactured in His Britannic Majesty's territories, on receiving an application for such extension from His Britannic Majesty's Representative at Madrid.

(4) Most-favored-nation treatment with respect to modifications in the Spanish customs regulations governing the classification of goods not specially mentioned in the tariff, and respecting packing and tare allowance, is also provided for. The special treatment that is or may be accorded to the products of Portugal or of the Spanish Zone of Morocco, is, however, excepted from these guarantees.

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Article 6 sets forth the reciprocal customs treatment to be accorded the products of Spain when imported into “ His Britannic Majesty's territories"— (1) Free entry (except for prohibitions in time of war) is provided for iron ore, cork, cork discs, grapes, walnuts, hazel nuts, almonds, onions, tomatoes, oranges, bananas, olive oil and preserved vegetables. (2) Wine and wine lees, brandy and raisins may not be subjected to higher import duties than those in force at the date of the signature of the treaty. (3) All Spanish products are to be accorded most-favored-nation

treatment.

Most-favored-nation treatment, with respect to prohibited imports, with exceptions for sanitary and other reasons, is provided for in Article 7. Articles 8 to 25 embrace a variety of subjects normally found in commercial treaties, such as industrial property, corporations and companies, transit and commercial travelers.

Most-favored-nation treatment with respect to export, tonnage, port and other duties and restrictions is to be mutually accorded. The treaty applies only to the United Kingdom, so far as the British Empire is concerned, unless subsequent notification is given of the adherence of other portions. For six months, however, from the coming into force of the treaty, according to an arrangement effected by exchange of notes, goods originating elsewhere in the empire were to be dutiable at Spanish second-column rates, provided Spanish goods were accorded most-favored-nation

treatment.

The Franco-Spanish Treaty,' signed July 8, 1922, and provisionally put into effect a week later, resembles the treaty subsequently entered into between Spain and Great Britain in its general-though less complete-basis of mostfavored-nation treatment, and in the fact of special concessions provided for in addition or exception thereto.

Certain enumerated articles, products of Spain and its possessions, are to be admitted into France and its possessions in which the French customs tariff is in force, at the rates of the minimum schedule and certain others at rates intermediate between the minimum and general schedules. Spain may not, however, claim with respect to such articles the preferential rates that may be accorded (1) to French protectorates; (2) under special régimes resulting from economic unions with neighboring countries; (3) temporarily

1 For outline, see Board of Trade Journal, July 20, 1922.

in order to facilitate the operation of financial arrangements with countries at war with France in the period 1914-1918. France promises with respect to the goods accorded minimum rates to extend to them most-favored-nation treatment, including any reductions that may be effected by modifications in tariff nomenclature or from specializations that may be introduced into the tariffs through legal or administrative measures.

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1

Spain agrees on its part to accord to a long list of products of France and its possessions, entering the Spanish mainland or the Balearic Islands, specific rates lower than those of the Spanish second-column schedule. These rates may not be increased and France is to have, through the guarantee of most-favored-nation treatment, the benefit of any reductions that may be made, with respect to the products enumerated, to countries other than Portugal or the Spanish Zone of Morocco. Future administrative and other modifications that may result in reductions in duties affecting these goods, are to be extended to France. All other French goods are to enjoy second-column rates and many of them are, in accordance with a most-favored-nation clause, to enjoy, with the same exceptions, any reductions that Spain may later make to third countries.

Spain promises most-favored-nation treatment to the goods of France and possessions entering the Canary Islands and the Spanish possessions in northern Africa.

General most-favored-nation treatment with respect to export duties and the relaxation of import prohibitions is mutually guaranteed. Should either France or Spain establish new import or export prohibitions, the possibility of relaxing such prohibitions or of fixing contingents is to be

'Numbering over 300.

"There appears to be an occasional instance where the second-column and the treaty rates are the same.

studied by either country at the request of the other with a view to the avoidance of unnecessary interference with commercial relations between the two countries. Most-favorednation treatment in all that concerns import and export duties and customs facilities in each country's overseas colonies having special customs régimes is mutually accorded.

The treaty contains numerous other provisions commonly a part of commercial arrangements.

The Spanish-Swiss Treaty,' provisionally effective May 16, 1922, provides in the first place for mutual most-favorednation treatment with respect to imports, exports and transit shipments. This provision is, however, modified by a number of special arrangements. Each country concedes to the other the importation of articles specified in extensive lists at rates lower than the statutory tariffs. Thus Switzerland accords special rates to certain articles for which Spain wishes particularly to find foreign markets, for instance, specified fruits, nuts, wines and cork products. In return Spain accords a number of rates reduced below those of the second column of the Spanish tariff in amounts generally from five to fifteen per centum; also reductions as great as thirty per centum in the case of certain machinery and eighty per centum in the case of certain varieties of watches.

Spain, in promising most-favored-nation treatment, makes the usual exception of the rates accorded to Portugal and the Spanish Zone of Morocco. Moreover, an unusual arrangement is included which prevents Switzerland from later claiming, for certain products, the benefit of any reductions from second-column rates which Spain may accord to a third country. This provision is of obvious importance in view of the numerous reductions below second-column

'For outline, see Board of Trade Journal, May 25, 1922. See also ibid., May 11, 1922; Commerce Reports, June 19, 1922.