98 No. 99 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS (c) Customs By the terms of an agreement signed at the Brussels Conference in 1890, the import duties of the Congo Free State were limited to a maximum of 10 per cent. ad valorem. The schedule of duties levied under this regulation was replaced by a new tariff introduced by the Belgian administration in 1911 and modified by amendments published in 1912 and 1914. The new tariff observed the old maximum of 10 per cent. ad valorem, and applied this rate to all but a few categories. Seeds and fertilizers were admitted free ; railway material and agricultural or industrial machinery paid only 3 per cent. ad valorem , but spirits were charged high rates, varying with their alcoholic strength and amounting to 70 francs or more per hectolitre .

In 1914 a royal decree announced the conversion of the 10 per cent . ad valorem duties in a number of cases to specific duties ; about thirty articles were affected, the tariff in certain cases being carefully graded , e. g . for cotton tissues of various qualities and for blankets. A table showing the new rates leviable from October 1914 was published in the Board of Trade Journal for April 2 , 1914.

As regards exports, the tariff was revised in 1913, some of the duties originally imposed by the Free State Government being abolished . On the other hand , since that date, prohibitions of certain exports have been issued from time to time. Ivory, copal , and rubber are liable to export duty, but rubber is not dutiable when the market price in Europe falls below ls. 10d. per lb.

for vine rubber, or ls. ld. per lb. for grass rubber.

Plantation rubber, of which there is very little, goes out free. In 1917 the export of rice was totally pro hibited .