CONVENTION INSTITUTING THE DEFINITIVE STATUTE OF THE DANUBE (Conventie houdende het definitef statuut van de Donau), PARIJS , 23 JULI 1921

Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Romania, the Serb-Croat-Slovene State and Czecho-Slovakia
Being desirous of determing jointly, in accordance with the stipulations of the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, Neuilly and Trianon, the general regulations by which the unrestricted navigation of the Danube shall be definitely assured,
Have resolved to conclude a Convention, and, for that purpose, have appointed as their respective Plenipotentiaries, that is to say
…
Agreed upon the following provisions:

I. General Provisions

Article 1. Navigation on the Danube is unrestricted and open to all flags on a footing of complete equality over the whole navigable course of the river, that is to say, between Ulm and the Black Sea, and over all the internationalised river system as defined in the succeeding article, so that no distinction is made, to the detriment of the subjects, goods and flag of any Power, between them and the subjects, goods and flag of the riparian State itself or of the State of which the subjects, goods and flag enjoy the most favoured treatment.
These provisions shall be read with the reservations contained in articles 22 and 43 of the present Convention.

Article 2. The international river system referred to in the preceding article consists of:
The Morava and the That where, in their courses, they form the frontier between Austria and Czechoslovakia;
The Drave from Baros;
The Tisza from the Mouth of the Szamos;
The Maros from Arad;
Any lateral canal or waterways which may be constructed, whether to duplicate or improve naturally navigable portions of the river system, or to connect two naturall navigable portions of one of these waterways.

Article 3. Freedom of navigation and the equal treatment of all flags are assured by two separate Commissions, that is to say, the European Commission of the Danube, of which the administrative sphere, as defined in Chapter II, extends over that part of the river known as the maritime Danube, and the International Commission of the Danube, of which the administrative sphere, as defined in Chapter III, extends over the navigable fluvial Danube as well as over those waterways which are declared by article 2 to be international.

II. Maritime Danube

Article 4. The European Commission of the Danube is composed provisionally of one representative each of France, Great Britain, Italy and Roumania.
Nevertheless, any European State which, in future, is able to prove its possession of sufficient maritime commercial and European interests at the mouths of the Danube may, at its request, be accorded representation on the Commission by a unanimous decision of the Governments already represented.

Article 5. The European Commission retains the powers which it possessed before the war.
No alteration is made in the rights, prerogatives and privileges which it possesses in virtue of the Treaties, Conventions, International Acts and Agreements relative to the Danube and its Mouths.

Article 6. The authority of the European Commission extends, under the same conditions as before, and without any modification of its existing limits, over the maritime Danube, that is to say, from the Mouths of the river to the point where the authority of the International Commission commences.

Article 7. The powers of the European Commission can only come to an end as the result of an international agreement concluded by all the States represented on the Commission.
The statutory seat of the Commission shall continue to be at Galatz.

III. Fluvial Danube

Article 8. The International Commission is composed, in accordance with article 347 of the Treaty of Versailles, 302, of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, 230 of the Treaty of Neuilly, and 286 of the Treaty of Trianon, of two representatives of the German riparian States, one representative of each of the other riparian States and one representatie of each of the non-riparian States which are, or which may be in future, represented on the European Commission of the Danube.

Article 9. The authority of the International Commission extends over the Danube between Ulm and Braila and over the river system defined as international in article 2.
No waterway, other than those enumerated in article 2, shall be placed under the authority of the International Commission without the unanimous consent of the said Commission.

Article 10. On the portion of the Danube and river system placed under its authority, and within the limits of the powers derived from this Convention, the International Commission is responsible that no obstacle of any description due to the action of one or more States is placed on the unrestricted navigation of the river; that in respect of acces to and use of ports and their equipment, the subjects, goods and flags of all Powers are treated on a footing of complete equality, and, generally, that the international character which has been assigned by the Treaties to the river system of the Danube suffers no prejudice.

Article 11. On the basis of proposals and plans submitted by the riparian States, the International Commission draws up the general programme or important works of improvement which should be carried out in the interests of the navigability of the international river system and of which the execution may be spread over a period of several years.
The annual programme of current works of maintenance and improvement of the waterway is drawn up by each riparian State in respect of its own territory and communicatted to the Commission, which decides whether this programme is in conformity with the requirements of navigation; if necessary, the Commission may modify the programme.
The Commission, in all its decisions, shall take account of the technical, economic and financial interests of the riparian States.
Article 12. The works included in these two programmes shall be undertaken by the riparian States, each within the limits of its own frontiers. The Commission will satisfy itself that the works are carried out and that they are in conformity with the relevant programme.
In case a riparian State is unable itself to undertake the works which relate to its own territory, it is obliged to allow the International Commission to carry them out under conditions determined by the Commission. The Commission may not, however, entrust the execution of works to another State unless the section in question of the waterway is a frontier, in which case the Commission shall decide, having regard to the special provisions of the treaties, the manner in which the works shall be carried out.
The riparian States concerned are obliged to afford the Commission or the executory State, as the case may be, all necessary facilities for carrying out the said works.

Article 13 The riparian States will have the right to carry out within the limits of their own frontiers, and without the previous consent of the Commission, any works which may be necessitated by unforeseen and urgent circumstances. They must, without delay apprise the Commission of the reasons which have necessitated the works, of which a summary description musr be furnished.

Article 14. The riparian States shall supply the International Commission with a summary description of all works to be carried out on the portion of the waterway situated within their own frontiers which they consider necessary for their economic development, especially works designed to prevent inundation and those undertaken for purposes connected with irrigation and the utilisation of hydraulic power.
The Commission may not forbid the construction of such works except in so far as they may be detrimental to navigation.
If, within a period of two months from the date of the communication, the Commission has made no observation, the execution of the works in question may be proceeded without further formality. Should the contrary be the case, the Commission shall take a definite decision in as short time as possible and, at latestn within four months after the expiration of the first period.

Article 15. The costs of current works of maintenance are borne by the riparian States concerned.
Nevertheless, in the event of a State being able to prove that the expenditure involved for the maintenance of the navigable channel substantially exceeds what would be required in the interests of its own traffic, it may request the Commission to distribute the expenditure equitably between it and the riparian States directly interested in the execution of works in question. The Commission, in that event, will determine the amount to be contributed by each State and will ensure the settlement of the accounts.
In the event of the Commission itself undertaking works of maintenance within the frontiers of a State, it will receive from that State its contributor share of the expenditure.

Article 16. With regard to works of improvement properly so called and to works in respect of the maintenance of works of improvement of special importance, the State which carries them out may be authorised by the Commission to cover their cost by the imposition of navigation dues.
If the Commission itself undertakes works of this description, it may cover its expenditure by the imposition of dues.

Article 17. On those portions of the Danube which form the frontiers between two or more States, the execution of the necessary works and the appointment of the expenditure, involved shall be determined by agreemnte between the States concerned. Failing an agreement, the Commission, with due regard for the provisions of the treaties, shall itsel determine the conditions under which the works shall be carried out and, eventually, the apportionment of the expenditure incurred in their execution.

Article 18. Dues, when levied on navigation, shall be moderate in amount. They shall be assessed on the ship’s tonnage and may in no case be based on the goods transported. This system of assessment may be revised by a unanimous decision of the Commission at the expiration of a period of five years.
Revenue derived form navigation dues shall be exclusively applied to the works for which they were imposed. The International Commission shall fix and publish the tariffs and shall control the collection and the application of the dues.
The incidence of navigation dues may in no case involve differential treatment in respect of the flag of the vessels or the nationality of persons and goods or in respect of ports of departure or destination or control of the vessels; the dues may in no case provide revenue for either the collecting State or for the Commission, nor, unless there exists a suspicion of fraud or transgression, may their collection render necessary a detailed examination of the cargo.
In cases where the International Commission itself undertakes the execution of works, it will collect the dues necessary to cover its expenditure through the riparian State concerned.

Article 19. Custom duties, tolls and other taxes imposed by riparians States on goods loaded or discharged in ports or on the banks of the Danube shall be levied without distinction of flag and in such a manner as to cause no hindrance to navigation.
Customs duties may not be higher than those levied at the other customs frontiers of the same State on goods of the same description, origin and destination.

Article 20. Ports and other places on the international waterway where public loading and discharging is carried out, together with their machinery and equipment, shalle be accessible to navigation and utilisable without distinction in respect of flag, country or origin or of destination, nor shall preferential treatment be accorded by the local authorities to any vessel at the expense of any other vessel save in exceptional cases where it is manifest that the exigencies of the moment and the interests of the country demand a modification of the principle. In these cases, the preferential treatment must be accorded so as not to constitue a real hindrance to the unrestirtced execise of navigation nor impair the principle of the equality of flags.
The same authorities shall be responsible that all traffic operations, such as loading, discharging, lighering, warehousing, transhipping, etc., are carried out as easily and rapidly as possible and in such a manner as not in any way to hinder navigation.
Taxes and dues, which shall be reasonable, equally applied to all flags and corresponding in amount to the expenses of construction, maintenance and working of the ports and their equipment, may be levied for the use of ports and places where public loading and discharging is carried out. The scale of taxes and dues shall be published and brought to the notice of those in respect of which they have been imposed.
The riparian States shall not hinder navigation companies from establishing on their territories the agencies necessary for the exercise of their business, subject to the observance of the laws and regulations of the country.

Article 21. In the event of riparian States deciding to create free ports or free zones in ports where transhipment is necessarily or generally carried out, the regulations relating to the use of these ports or zones shall be communicated to the International Commission.

Article 22. On the international waterway of the Danube, the transport of goods and passengers between the ports of riparian States as well as between the ports of the same State is unrestricted and open to all flags on a footing of perfect equality.
Nevertheless, a regular local service for passenger or for national or nationalised goods between the ports of one and the same State may only be carried out by a vessel under a foreign flag in accordance with the national laws and in agreement with the authorities of the riparian State concerned.

Article 23. The passage in transit of vessels, rafts, passengers and goods, whether effected directly or after transhipment or after warehousing, is free on the internationalised waterway of the Danube.
Traffici in transit shall not be subject to customs duties or other special dues based solely on the fact of transit.
When both banks of a waterway belong to the same State, goods in transit may be placed under seal, under lock or under the guard of customs officers.
The State through whose territory the traffic passes shall have the right to require the captain or owner of a vessel to make a written declaration, on oath if necessarry, stating whether or not he is carrying goods of which the carriage is subject to regulations or of which the impor-tation os prohibited by the State through whose territory the traffic is in transit. A list of these goods will be communicated as soon as possible to the International Commission.
The authorities of the State through whose territory the traffic is in transit cannot require the production of a ship’s manifest unless the captain has been convicted of attempted smuggling or the customs seals or locks have been forced. If, in this event, a discrepancy is discovered between the cargo and the manifest, the captain or owner may not invoke the principle of free transit of goods in order to shelter himself or the goods which he proposed to transport fraudulently from any legal action which, in accordance with the laws of the country, may be directed against him by the customs authorities.
When the waterway forms the frontier between two States, vessels, rafts, passengers and goods in transit shall be exempted from all customs formalities.

Article 24. The International Commission shall draw up, on the basis of territory by a legislative or administrative act produced by the riparian States, police regulations which, as far as possible, shall be uniform for the waterway placed under its authority.

Each State shall bring these regulations into force in its own territory by a legislative or administrative act and shall be responsible for their application under the conditions of control recognised by articles 27 to 30 appertaining to the Commission.
On frontier sections, the application of the regulations shall be assured under the same conditions by agreement between the riparian States or, in default of an agreement, by each riparian State within its own territorial boundaries.

Article 25. The general policing of the international waterway shall be exercised by the riparian States, who will communicate the relevant regulations to the International Commission to enable the latter to satisfy itself that their provisions do not infringe the principle of freedom of navigation.

Article 26. All vessels specially employed by riparian States on river police work shall carry, in addition to the national flag, a distinctive and uniform flag. The names, descriptions and numbers of the vessels thus employed shall be communicated to the International Commission.

Article 27. To carry out the task which has been confided to it by the terms of the present Convention, the International Commission shall establish such administrative, technical, sanitary and financial services as may be considered necessary. The Commision shal appoint and pay the personnel of these services and define their duties.
The Commission may thus establish at its headquarters:

1. A permanent Secretariat, of which the departmental chief shall be chosen from among the subjects of a non-riparian State represented on the Commission.
2. A technical department, of which the chief shall be appointed, if he belongs to a non-riparian State, whether represented or not on the Commission, by the statutory majority of its members, or, if he belongs to a riparian State of the Danube, by the unanimus vote of the Commission.
3. A navigation service, of which the departmental chief shall be selected from among the subjects of a European State not represented on the Commission.
4. An accounting and tax-controlling department, of which the chief shall be chosen from among the subjects of the riparian States. These functionaries are international; they are appointed, paid and may only be dismissed by the Commission.

Article 28. Each riparian State shall designate suitable functionaries, whose duties, within the limits of the frontiers of their respective States, shall be to place their services and local experience at the disposal of the higher functionaries of the International Commissian and to assist them in the execution of their work.

Article 29. Riparian States shall afford the Commission’s functionaries all necessary facilities for the accomplishment of their duties. These functionaries, who shall be in possession of a warrant from the Commission setting fort their official position, shall have the right to circulate freely on the river and in the ports and other places where public loading and discharging is carried out; the local authorities in every riparian State shall afford them assistance in the execution or their duties. The police and customs formalities to which they may necessarily be subjected shall be carried out so as not to interfere with their duties.

Article 30. The properly qualified functionaries of the Commission shall report every offence against the navigation and police regulations to the competent local authorities, who are required to apply the appropriate punishments and to inform the Commission of the measures taken in respect of the offence of which they were notified.
Each riparian State shall indicate to the Commission the Courts which are appointed to deal in first instance and on appeal with the offences referred to in the preceding paragraph.

Article 31. In judicial actions relative to navigation on the Danube which may be brought before a Court of a riparian State, special bail (caution judicatum solvi) may not be demanded from foreigners either on account of their nationality or woing to their not having a domicile or residence or not possessing effects in the country in which the tribunal is situated.
The captain of a vessel may not be prevented from continuing his voyage on account of an action having been instituted against him once he has furnished the surety required by the judge in respect of the action itself.

Article 32. In order to maintain and improve navigation conditions on the section of the Danube between Turnu-Severin and Moldova, known as the Iron Gates and Cataracts, the two riparian States concerned and the International Commission shall by agreement set up special technical and administrative services with central headquarters at Orsova, without prejudice to other auxiliary services which, in case of necessity, may be established at other points of the section. With the exception of the pilots, who may be selected from the subjects of any country, the personnel shall be placed under the direction of heads of services selected by the same States and approved by the International Commission.

Article 33. The Commission, on the basis of proposals made by the services referred to in the preceding article, shall decide on the measures which may be usefully undertaken in respect of the upkeep and improvement of the navigable conditions and of the administration of the section, as well as of the dues or other resources required to meet the expediture involved, subject to the condition, however, that no financial obligation shall be imposed on any of the Governments represented on the Commission.
The Commission shall draw up special regulations to govern the working of these services, the method of collecting the dues and the payment of the personnel.
The Commission shall place at the disposal of these services the equipment, buildings and fixtures referred to in article 288 of the Treaty of Trianon.
When the natural difficulties which have occasioned the institution of these special admini-strative measures have disappeared, the Commission may decide to abolish them and to place the section under the administrative system, in respect of works and dues, which obtains on other frontier sections of the waterway.

Article 34. The Commission may, if it so decides, apply a similar administrative system to other parts of the waterway, which offer the same natural difficulties to navigation, and may likewise abolish that system under the conditions seth forth in the preceding article.

Article 35. The International Commission determines its own method of procedure by regulations drawn up in plenary session. When establishing the annual budget, the Commission will decide upon the measures to be adopted to meet the general expenses of its administration. The Commission fixes the number of its ordinary and extraordinary sessions and the place where they shall be held, and constitues a permanent executive committee, composed of the Commissioners of their deputies present at the seat of the Commission, and responsible for caarying out the decisions taken during the plenary session and for the proper conduct of the service.
The presidency of the Commission is held for a period of six months by each delegation in turn in the alphabetical order of the States represented.
The Commission may only validly deliberate when two-thirds of the members present.

Article 36. The statutory seat of the International Commission shal be at Bratislava for a period of five years from the date of the coming into force of this Convention.
At the expiration of that period, the Commission shall have the right to change its seat, for a further period of five years, to another town situated on the Danube, by virtue of a system of rotation which shall be decided by the Commission.

Article 37. The property of the International Commission and the person of the Commissioners are entitled to the privileges and immunities which are accorded in peace and war to accredited diplomatic agents.
The Commission shall have the right to fly on its buildings and vessels a flag, of which it shall itsel determine the description and colour.

Article 38. All questions relative to the interpretation and application of the present Convention shall be submitted to the Commission.
A State which is prepared to allege that a decision of the International Commission is ultra vires or violates the Convention may, within six months, submit the matter to the special jurisdiction set up for that purpose by the League of Nations. A demand for a ruling under the aforesaid conditions, based on any other grounds, may only be preferred by the State or States territorially interested.
When a State neglects to carry out a decision taken by the Commission in virtue of the powers which it holds from the Convention, the dispute may be submitted to the jurisdiction referred to in the preceding paragraph. In the conditions provided for in the rules of the said jurisdiction.

IV. General Stipulations

Article 39. The International Commission of the Danube and the European Commission of the Danube shall take all measures necessary to ensure, so far as it is possible and advisable, a uniform system of administration for the Danube.
The two Commissions shall, for this purpose, regularly exchange all information, documents, minutes, plans and projects which may interest both. They may by agreement draw up certain identical regulations relative to the navigation and policing of the river.

Article 40
The States signatory of the present Convention shall endeavour, by the conclusion of separate conventions, to establish uniform civil, commercial, sanitary and veterinary regulations relative to the exercise of navigation and to shipping contracts.

Article 41. All treaties, conventions, acts and agreements relative to international waterways generally and particularly to the Danube and its mouths, which are in force when the present Convention is signed, are maintained in all and sundry of their stipulations which are not abrogated or modified by the preceding stipulations.

Article 42. At the expiration of five years from the date of its coming into force, the present statute may be revised if two-thirds of the signatory States so request and specify the stipulations which appear to them to require revision.This request shall be addressed to the Government of the French Republic, which will summon, whithin six months, a Conference in which all the States signatory of the present Convention shall be invited to take part.

V. Temporary Stipulation

Article 43. The provisions of the present Convention shall be interpreted in the sense that they will not infringe the stipulations of the Treaties of Peace as indicated in articles 327 (paragraph 3), 332 (paragraph 2) and 378 of the Treaty of Versailles and the corresponding articles of the Treaties of Saint-Germain, Neuilly and Trianon.

Article 44. The present Convention shall be ratified and the ratifications deposited at Paris as soon as possible, and at latest before the 31^ST March, 1922.
The present Convention shall come into operation three months after the deposit of the ratifications.

Final Protocol

At the time of signing the Act establishing the Definitive Statute of the Danube and with a view to making its meaning more precise, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have agreed as follows:

Ad Article 2
The administrative system embodied in the present Statute shall be applied to the portion of the Tisza situated between the mouth of the Szamos and Tisza-Uljak as soon as the International Commission of the Danube decide that that portion is navigable.

Ad Article 19
The provisions of the second paragraph of article 19 shall not be understood so as to debar riparian States from eventually claiming the benefit of the exceptional conditions which may be admitted by the General Convention referred to in Article 338 of the Treaty of Versailles and in the corresponding articles of the other Treaties of Peace.

Ad Article 22
(a) By the traffic referred to in the second paragraph of article 22 shall be understood any public service for the transport of passengers and goods organised under a foreign flag between the ports of one and the same State, when that service is carried on sufficiently regularly, uninterruptedly and in volume sufficient to influence unfavourably, to the same extent as regular lines properly so called, the national interests of the State within which it is carried on.
(b) It is understood that the provisions of article 22 do not in any way modify the situation which exists by virtue of article 332 of the Treaty of Versailles and the corresponding provisions of the other Treaties of Peace in respect of the relations between the Allied States on the one hand, and Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary on the other hand, or in respect of the relations of the latter States to each other, for the duration of the periods of time during which that situation shall be continued in execution of article 378 of the Treaty of Versailles and of the corresponding articles of the other Treaties of Peace.
On the expiration of these periods of time, the provisions of article 22 shall become applicable to all the States without exception.

Ad Article 23
The State through which transit takes place shall not have the right to prohibit the transit of the goods referred to in the foutr paragraph of article 23, nor that of persons or animals, except in cases provided for by the sanitary and veterinanry laws of the country through which the transit takes place, or by international convention relative to the subject.

Ad Article 31
Article 31 shall be understood in the sense that the subjects of foreign countries may not be placed in a more favourable position than the subjects of the country concerned.

Ad Article 42
In the event of the abolition of the European Commission being decided on before the expiration of the period of five years referred to in article 42, the Governments signatory of the present Convention shall come to an arrangement in respect of the conditions of the present statute.

Ad Article 44
The first paragraph of article 44 shall be understood in the sense that it shall not infringe the stipulations contained in article 349 of the Treaty of Versailles and in the corresponding articles of the other Treaties of Peace.

In witness whereof the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have drawn up the present Protocol, which shall have the same validity and duration as the Convention to which it refers.