File 3372/1916 Pt 2 'Arabia: French and Italian policy' [‎97r] (202/498)

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Articles 12 and 13.
Articles 8 -11 do not apply to vessek flrmo-n r i>
1 ms not ratified tbe General Act in full.' But provi/onVn aTfol ihe
Article 14.
Two International Bureaux one at Aden and the other on the west coast
ol Alnca, aie to be established, with the object of co-ordinating information
Ac., tending to the suppression of the arms traffic within the prohibited area'
for this purpose, the functions of the Bureaux will he
(1) To receive information furnished to them by the authorities of the
various States relating to the traffic in arms and ammunition, the
permits granted and the repressive measures adopted within
their several territories ; and
(-) rj '° notify difficulties experienced, and to give their opinion as to
the means of removing them.
All infoiniation furnished by the Bureaux will he communicated to the
1 See Note ( 1 ), last paragraph. I Tntral Bureau at Brussels,1 and will
be brought by the latter periodically
to the notice of all the signatory Powers.
The Bureaux to be composed of delegates from the signatory Powers and
to come into existence as soon as three Powers have nominated their repre
sentatives. The expenses of the Bureaux will be borne in equal shares by
the I ’owers represented on them.
Articles 15 and 16.
Each signatory State to take the necessary powers to proceed against
persons guilty of offences under the Additional Act; and to notify the
competent Bureau of the judicial authority in each of its possessions
authorised to deal with such cases.
Articles 18 21.
The Additional Act to remain in force for six years ; provision is made for
ratification, adherence of Powers not represented at the Conference, &c.
NOTES.
(1) The Brussels General Act, 1890. -The draft Additional
Brussels Arms Conference of 1908 was “additional” in the sense of being supplementary to
the “ General Act” signed at Brussels on the 2nd July 1890. 1 he parties to the latter
were Great Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the Congo, the
United States, France, Italy, Holland, Persia, Portugal. Russia, Norway and Sweden, Turkey
and Zanzibar. Abyssinia, Liberia, and the Orange Free State subsequently adhered.
Franco attached important reservations to her acceptance of the General Act, declining,
inter alia, to ratify the Articles providing for the detention of suspected vessels and for
their examination and trial. The Act ot 1890 dealt primarily with the Ma\e Frade ; but
it also contained certain Articles (8-140, which were ratified by France, regulating the traffic
in arms and ammunition in Africa within a specified area, viz., the territories comprised
“ between lat. 20° N. and lat. 22° S M and extending westward to the Atlantic Ocean, and east-
“ ward to the Indian Ocean and its dependencies, comprising the islands adjacent to the coast as
“ far as 100 nautical miles from the shore (Article 8). ^ ithin this area, the Act icquires any
signatory Power having occasion to authorise the traffic in its own territories to estab isb
public warehouse under tbe control of its local administration, in which all imported arms ™iist
be deposited, and from which they must not be withdrawn without special authority. Article 10.
however, authorises the transit of arms, &c., through the territory o a, signa my oi
adherent Power m occupation of the coast into that of nnothei signatoij m a< ^pen
Power occupying inland territory with no direct access to the sea, piovi e ie) aie eei i ei
by the Government of the inland state to be required for Government purposes, and not
destined for sale. In permitting the import of arms from Jibuti (which is Awthm the
prohibited area) into Abyssinia, France has always claimed to be acting in accordance with