VERDRAG VAN VERSAILLES, 28 JUNI 1919

PART XII – PORTS, WATERWAYS AND RAILWAYS

SECTION II - NAVIGATION

CHAPTER I – FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION

Art. 327. The nationals of any of the Allied and Associated Powers as well as their vessels and property shall enjoy in all German ports and on the inland navigation routes of Germany the same treatment in all respects as German nationals, vessels and property.

In particular the vessels of any one of the Allied or Associated Powers shall be entitled to transport goods of any description, and passengers, to or from any ports or places in German territory to which German vessels may have acces, under conditions which shall not be more onerous than those applied in the case of national vessels; they shall be treated on a footing of equality with national vessels as regards port and harbour facilities and charges of every description, including facilities for stationing, loading, and unloading, and duties and charges of tonnage, harbour, pilotage, light-house, quarantine, and all analogous duties and charges of whatsoever nature, levied in the name of or for the profit of the Government, public functionaries, private individuals, corporations or establishments of any kind.

In the event of Germany granting a preferential regime of any of the Allied or Associated Powers or to any other foreign Power, this regime shall be extended immediately and unconditionally to all the Allied and Associated Powers.

There shall be no impediment to the movement of persons or vessels other than those arising from prescriptions concerning customs, police, sanitation, and immigration, and those relating to the import and export of prohibited goods. Such regulations must be reasonable and uniform and must not impede traffic unnecessarily.

CHAPTER II – FREE ZONES IN PORTS

Art. 328. The free zones existing in German ports on August 1, 1914, shall be maintained. These free zones, and any other free zones which may be established in German territory by the present Treaty, shall be subject to the regime provided for in the following.
Goods entering or leaving a free zone shall not be subjected to any import or export duty, other than those provided for in Article 330.
Vessels and goods entering a free zone may be subjected to the charges established to cover expenses of administration, upkeep and improvement of the port, as well as to the charges for the use of various installations, provided that these charges shall be reasonable having regard to the expenditure incurred, and shall be levied in the conditions of equality provided for in Article 327.
Goods shall not be subjected to any other charge except a statistical duty which shall not exceed 1 mille ad valorem, and which shall be devoted exclusively to defraying the expenses of compiling statements of the traffic in the port.

Art. 329. The facilities granted for the rection of warehouses, for packing and for unpackinggoods, shall be in accordance with trade requirements for the time being. All goods allowed to be consumed in the free zone shall be exempt from duty, whether of exercise or of any other description, apart from the statistical duty provided for in Article 328 above.
There shall be no disrcimination in regard to any of the provisions of the present Article between persons belonging ot different nationalities or between goods of different origin or destination.

Art. 330. Import duties may be levied on goods leaving the free zone for consumption in the country on the territory of which the port is situated. Conversely, export duties may be levied on goods coming from such country and brought into the free zone. These import and export duties shall be levied on the same basis and at the same rates as similar duties levied at the other Customs frontiers of the country conserved. On the other hand, Germany shall not levy, under any denomination, any import, export or transit duty on goods carried by land or water across her territory t or from the free zone from or to any other State.
Germany shall draw up the necessary regulations to secure and guarantee such freedom fo transit over such railways and waterways in her territory as normally give access to the free zone.

CHAPTER III – CLAUSES RELATING TO THE ELBE, THE ODER, THE NIEMEN (RUSSSTROM-MEMEL-NIEMEN) AND THE DANUBE
(1) General clauses

Art. 331. The following rivers are declared international : the Elbe (Labe) from its confluence with the Vltava (Moldau), and the Vltava (Moldau) from Prague ; the Oder (Odra) from its confluence with the Oppa, the Niemen (Russstrom-Memel-Niemen) from Grodno; the Danube from Ulm; and all navigabble parts of these river systems which naturally provide more than one State with access to the sea, with or without transshipment from one vessel to another; together with lateral canals and channels constructed either to duplicate or to improve naturally navigable sections of the specified river systems, or to connect two naturall navigable sections of the same river.

The same shall apply to the Rhin-Danube navigable waterway, should such a waterway be constructed under the conditions laid down in Article 353.

Art. 332. On the waterways declared to be international in the preceding Article, the nationals, property and flags of all Powers shall be treated on a footing of perfect equality, no distcintion being made to the detriment of the nationals, property or flag of any Power between them and the nationals, property or flag of the riparian State itself or of the most favoured nation.

Nevertheless, German vessels shall not be entitled to carry passengers or goods by regular services between ports, without special authority from such Power.

Art. 333. Where such charges are not precluded by any existing convention, charges varying on different sectons of a river may be levied on vessels using the navigable channels or their approaches, provided that they are intended solely to cover equitably the cost of maintaining in a navigable condition, or of improving, the river and its approaches, or to meet expenditure incurred in the interests of navigation. The schedule of such charges shall be calculated on the basis of such expenditure and shall be posted up in the ports. These charges shall be levied in such a manner as to render any detailed examiniation of cargoes unnecessary, except in cases of suspected fraud or contravention.

Art. 334. The transit of vessels, passengers and goods on these waterways shall be effected in accordance with the general conditions prescribed for transit in Section I above.

When the two banks of an international river are within the same State goods in transit may be placed under seal or in the custody of custom agents. When the river forms a frontier goods and passengers in transit shall be exempt from all customs formalities, the loading and unloading of goods, and the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers, shall only take place in the ports specified by the riparian States.

Art. 335. No dues of any kind other than those provided for in the present Part shall be levied along the course or at the mouth of these rivers.
This provision shall not prevent the fixing by the riparian States of customs, local octroi or consumtion duties, or the creation of reasonable and uniform charges levied in the ports, in accordance with public tariffs, for the use of cranes, elevators, quas, warehouses, etc.

Art. 336. In default of any special organisation for carrying out the works connected with the upkeep and improvement of the international portion of an navigable system, each riparian State shall be bound to take suitable measures to remove any obstacle or danger to navigation and to ensure the maintenance of good conditions of navigation.
If a State neglects to comply with this obligation any riparian State, or any State represented on the International Commission, if there is one, may appeal to the tribunal instituted for this purposes by the League of Nations.

Art. 337. The same procedure shall be followed in the case of a riparian State undertaking any works of a nature to impede navigation in the international section. The tribunal mentioned in the preceding Article shall be entitled to enforce the suspension or suppression of such works, making due allowance in its decisions for all rights in connection with irrigation, waterpower, fisheries, and other national interests, which, with the consent of all riparian States or of all the States represented on the International Commission, if there is one, shall be given priority over the requirements of navigation.
Appeal to thet tribunal of the League of Nations does not require the suspension of the works.

Art. 338. The regime set out in Articles 332 to 337 above shall be superseded by one to be laid down in a General Convention drawn up by the Allied and Associated Powers, and approved by the League of Nations, relating to the waterways recognised in such Convention as having an international character. This Convention shall apply in particular to the whole or part of the above-mentioned river systems of the Elbe (Labe), the Oder (Odra), the Niemen (Russtrom-Memel-Niemen), and the Danube, and such other parts of these river systems as may be covered by a general definition.
Germany undertakes, in accordance with the provisions of Article 379, to adhere to the said General Convention as well as to all projects prepared in accordance with Article 343 below for the revision of existing international agreements and regulations.

Art. 339. Germany shall cede to the Allied and Associated Powers concerned, within a maximum period of three months from the date on which notification shall be given her, a proportion of the tug and vessels remaining registered in the ports of the river systems referred to in Article 331 after the deduction of those surrendered by way of restitution or reparation. Germany shall in the same way cede material of all kinds necessary to the Alied and Associated Powers concerned for the utilisation of those river systems.
The number of the tugs and boats, and the amount of the material so ceded, and their distribution, shall be determined by an arbitrator or arbitrators nominated by the United States of America, due regard being had too be legitimate nees of the parties concerned, and partularly to the shipping traffic during the five years preceding the war.
All craft so ceded shall be provided with their fittings and gear, shall be in a good state of repair and in condition to carry goods and shall be selected from among those most recently built.
The cessions provided for in the present Article shall entail a credit of which the total amount, settled in a lump sum by the arbitrator or arbitrators, shall not in any case exceed the value of the capital expended in the initial establishment of the material ceded, and shall be set off against the total sums due from Germany, in cinsequence, the indemnification of the propiretors shall be a matter for Germany to deal with.

(2) Special Clauses relating to the Elbe, the Oder and the Niemen (Russtrom-Memel-Niemen)

Art. 340. The Elbe (Labe) shall be placed under the administration of an International Commission which shall comprise:
4 representatives of the German States bordering on the river:
2 representatives of the Czecho-Slovak State;
1 represenatitve of Great-Britain;
1 representative of France;
1 representatitve of Italy;
1 representative of Belgium.
Whatever be the number of members present, each delegation shall have the right to record a number of votes equal to the number of representatives allotted to it.
If certain of these reresentatives cannot be appointed at the time of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of the Commission shall nevertheless be valid.

Art. 341. The Oder (Odra) shall be placed under the administrtaion of an International Commission, which shall comprise:
1 representative of Poland;
3 representatives of Prussia;
1 representative of the Czecho-Slovak State;
1 representative of Great Britain;
1 representative of France;
1 representative of Denmark;
1 representative of Sweden.
If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of the Commission shall nevertheless be valid.

Art. 342. On a request being made to the League of Nations by any riparian State, the niemen (Russtrom-Memel-Niemen) shall be placed under the administration of an International Commission which shall comprise one representative of each riparian State and three representatives of other States specified by the League of Nations.

Art. 343. The International Commissions referred to in Articles 340 and 342 shall meet within three months of the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty. The International Commission referred to in Article 342 shall meet within three months from the date of the request made by a riparian State. Each of these Commissions shall proceed immediately to prepare a project for the revision of the existing international agreements and regulations drawn up in conformity with the General Convention referred to in Article 338, should such Convention have been already concluded. In the absence of such Convention, the project for revision shall be in conformity with the principles of Articles 332 to 337 above.

Art. 344. The projects referred to in the preceding Article shall, inter alia:
(a) designate the headquarters of the International Commission, and prescribe the manner in which its President is to be nominated;
(b) specify the extent of the Commission’s powers, particularly in regard to the execution of works of maintenance, control, and improvement on the river system, the financial regime, the fixing and collection of charges, and regulations for navigation;
(c)  define the sections of the river or its tributaries to which the international regime shall be applied.

Art. 345. The international agreements and regulations at present governing the navigation of the Elbe (Labe), the Oder (Odra), and the Niemen (Russtrom-Memel-Niemen) shall be provisionally maintained in force until the ratification of the above-mentioned projects. Nevertheless, in all cases where such agreements and regulations in force are in conflict with the provisions of Articles 332 to 337 above, or of the General Convention to be concluded, the latter provisions shall prevail.

(3) Special Clauses relating to the Danube

Art. 346. The European Commission of the Danube reassumes the powers it possessed before the war. Nevertheless as a provisional measure, only representatives of Great Britain, France, Italy and Roumania shall constitute this Commission.

Art. 347. From the point where the competence of the European Commission ceases, the Danube system referred to in Article 331 shall be placed under the administration of an International Commission composed as follows:
2 representatives of German riparian States; 1 representative of each other riparian State; 1 representative of each non-riparian State represented in the future on the European Commission of the Danube.
If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of the Commission shall nevertheless be valid.

Art. 348. The International Commission provided for in the preceding Article shall meet as soon as possible after the coming into force of the present Treaty and shall undertake provisionally the administration of the river in conformity with the provisions of Articles 332 to 337, until such time as a definitive statute regarding the Danube is concluded by the Powers dominated by the Allied and Associated Powers.
Art. 349. Germany agrees to accept the regime which shall be laid down for the Danube by a Conference of the Powers nominated by the Allied and Associated Powers, which shall meet within one year after the coming into force of the present Treaty, and at which German representatives may be present.

Art. 350. The mandate given by Article 57 of the Treaty of Berlin of July 13, 1878, to Austria-Hungary, and transferred by her to Hungary to carry out works at the Iron Gates, is abrogated. The Commission entrusted with the administration of this part of the river shall lay down provisions for the settlement of accounts subject to the financial provisions of the present Treaty. Charges which may be necessary shall in no case be levied by Hungary.

Art. 351. Should the Czecho-Slovak State, the Serb-Croat-Slovene State or Roumania, with the authorisation of or under mandate from the International Commission, undertake maintenance, improvement, weir, or other works on a part of the river system which forms a frontier, these States shall enjoy on the opposite bank, and also on the part of the bed which is outside their territory, all necessary facilities for the survey, execution and maintenance of such works.

Art. 352. Germany shall be obliged to make to the European Commission of the Danube all restitutions, reparations and indemnities for damages inflicted on the Commission during the war.

Art. 353. Should a deep-draught Rhine-Danube navigable waterway be constructed, Germany undertakes to apply thereto the regime prescribed in Articles 332 to 338.

CHAPTER IV. CLAUSES RELATING TO THE RHINE AND THE MOSELLE.

Art. 354. As from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the Convention of Mannheim of October 17, 1868, together with the Final Protocol thereof, shall continue to govern navigation on the Rhine, subject to the conditions hereinafter laid down.
In the event of any provision of the said Convention being in conflict with those laid down by the General Convention referred to in Article 338 (which shall apply to the Rhine) the provisions of the General Convention shall prevail.
Within a maximum period of  six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the Central Commission referred to in Article 355 shall meet to draw up a project of revision of the Convention of Mannheim. This project shall be drawn up in harmony with the provisions of the General Convention, referred to above, should this have been concluded by that time, and shall be submitted to the Powers represented on the Central Commission Germany hereby agrees to adhere to the project so drawn up.
Further, the modifications set out in the following Articles shall immediately be made in the Convention of Mannheim.
The Allied and Associated Powers reserve themselves the right to arrive at an understanding in this connection with Holland, and Germany hereby agrees to accede if required to any such understanding.

Art. 355. The Central Commission provided for in the Convention of Mannheim shall consist of nineteen members, viz.:
2 representatives of the Netherlands; 2 representatives of Switzerland; 4 representatives of German riparian States; 4 representatives of France, which in addition shall apoint the President of the Commission; 2 representatives of Great Britain; 2 representatives of Italy; 2 representatives of Belgium.
The headquarters of the Central Commission shall be at Strasburg.
Whatever be the number of members present, each Delegation shall have the right to record a number of votes equal to the number of representatives allotted to it.
If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of the Commission shall nevertheless be valid.

Art. 356. Vessels of all nations, and their cargoes, shall have the same rights and privileges as those which are granted to vessels belonging to the Rhine navigation, and to their cargoes.
None of the provisions contained in Articles 15 to 20 and 26 of the above-mentioned Convention of Mannheim, in Article 4 of the Final Protocol thereof, or in later Conventions, shall impede the free navigation of vessels and crews of all nations on the Rhine and on waterways to which such Conventions apply, subject to compliance with the regulations concerning pilotage and other police measures drawn up by the Central Commission.

Art. 357. Within a maximum period of three months from the date on which notification shall be given Germany shall cede to France tugs ans vessels, from among those remaining registered in German Rhine ports after the deduction of those surrendered by way of restitution or reparation, or shares in German Rhine navigation companies.
When vessels and tugs are ceded, such vessels and tugs, together with their fittings and gear, shall be in good state of repair, shall be in condition to carry on commercial traffic on the Rhine, and shall be selected from among those recently built.
The same procedure shall be followed in the matter of the cession by Germany to France of:
(1) the installations, berthing and anchorage accomodation, platforms, docks, warehouses, plant, etc., which German subjects or German companies owned on August 1, 1914, in the port of Rotterdam, and
(2) the shares or interests with Germany or German nationals possessed in such installations at the same date.
The amount and specifications of such cessions shall be determined within one year of the comonig into focrce of the present Treaty by an arbitrator or arbitrators appointed by the United States of America, due regard being had to the legtimate needs of the parties concerned.
The cessions provided for in the present Article shall entail a credit of which the total amount, settled in a lump sum by the arbitrator or arbitrators mentioned above shall not in any case exceed the value of the capital expended in the intitial establishment of the ceded material and installations, and shall be set off against the total sums due from Germany, in consequence, the indemnification of the proprietors shall be a matter for Germany to deal with.

Art. 358. Subject to the obligation to comply with the provisions of the Convention of Mannheim or of the Convention which may be substitued therefor, and to the stipulations of the present Treaty, France shall have on the whole course of the Rhine included between the two extreme points of the French frontiers:
(a) the right to take water from the Rhine to feed navigation and irrigation canals (constructed or to be constructed) or for any other purpose, and to execute on the German bank all works necessary for the exercise of this right.
(b) the exclusive right to the power derived from works of regulation on the river, subject to the payment to Germany of the value of half the power actually produced, this payment, which will take into account the cost of the works necessary for producing the power, being made either in money or in power and in default of agreement being determined by arbitration. For this purpose France alone shall have the right to carry out in this part of the river all works of regulation (weirs or other works) which she may consider necessary for the production of power. Similarly, the right of taking water from the Rhine is accorded to Belgium to feed the Rhine-Meuse navigable waterway provided for below.
The exercise of the rights mentioned under (a) and (b) of the present Article shall not interfere with navigability nor reduce the facilities for navigation, either in the bed of the Rhine or in, the derivations which may be substituted therefor, nor shall it, involve any increase in the tolls formerly levied under the Convention in force. All proposed schemes shall be laid before the Central Commission in order that that Commission may assure itself that these conditions are complied with.
To ensure the proper and faithful execution of the provisions contained in (a) and (b) above, Germany:
(1) binds herself not to undertake or to allow the construction of any lateral canal or any deriviation on the right bank of the river opposite the French frontiers;
(2) recognition the possession by France of the right of support on and the right of way over all lands situated on the right bank which may be required in order to survey, to build, and to operate weirs which France, with the consent of the Central Commission, may subsequently decide to establish. In accordance with such consent, France shall be entitled to decide upon and fix the limits of the necessary sites, and she shall be permitted to occupy such lands after a period of two months after simple notification, subject to the payment by her to Germany of indemnities of which the total amount shall be fixed by the Central Commission. Germany shall make it her business to indemnify the proprietors whose property will be burdened with such servitutes or permanently occupied by the works.
Should Switzerland so demand, and if the Central Commission approves, the same rights shall be accorded to Switzerland for the part of the river forming the frontier with other riparian States.
(3) shall hand over to the Frenc Government, during the month following the coming into force of the present Treaty, all projects, designs, drafts of concessions and of specifications concerning the regulation of the Rhine  for any purpose whatever which have been drawn up or received by the Governments of Alsace-Loraine or of the Grand Duchy of Baden.

Art. 359. Subject to the preceding provisions, no works shall be carried out in the bed or on either bank of the Rhine where it forms the boundary of France and Germany without the previous approval of the Central Commission or of its agents.

Art. 360. France reserves the option of substituting herself as regards the rights and obligations resulting from agreements arrived at between the Government of Alsace-Lorraine and the Grand Duchy of Baden concerning the works to be carried out on the Rhine; she may also denounce such agreements within a term of five years dating from the coming into force of the present Treaty.
France shall also have the option of causing works to be carried out which may be recognised as nessecary by the Central Commission for the upkeep or improvement of the navigability of the Rhine above Mannheim.

Art. 361. Should Belgium within a period of 25 years from the cooming into force of the present Treaty decide to create a deep-draught Rhine-Meuse navigable waterway, in the region of Ruhrort, Germany shall be bound to construct, in accordance with plans to be communicated to her by the Belgian Government, after agreement with the Central Commission, the portion of this waterway situated within her territory.
The Belgian Government shall, for this purpose, have the right to carry out on the ground all necessary surveys.
Should Germany fail to carry out all or part of these works, the Central Commission shall be entitled to carry them out instead; and, for this purpose, the Commission may decide upon and fix the limits of the necessary sites and occupy the ground after a period of two months after simple notification, subject to the payment of indemnities to be fixed by it and paid by Germany.
This navigable waterway shall be placed under the same administrative regime as the Rhine itself, and the division of the cost of initial construction, including the above indemnities, among the States crossed thereby shall be made by the Central Commission.

Art. 362. Germany hereby agrees to offer no objection to any proposals of the Central Rhine Commission for extending its jurisdiction:
(1) to the Moselle below the Franco-Luxemburg frontier down to the Rhine, subject to the consent of Luxemburg;
(2) to the Rhine above Basle up to the Lake of Constance, subject to the consent of Switzerland;
(3) to the lateral canals and channels which may be established either to duplicate or to improve naturally navigable sections of the Rhine or the Moselle, or to connect two naturally navigable sections of these rivers, and also any other parts of the Rhine river system which may be covered by the General Convention provided for in Article 338 above.