.

140

WAREHOUSES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES.

the  near  future.  The  company  is  waiting  for  the  completion  of  the
Government  work  and  the  railroad  terminals,  to  select  a  site  for  the
construction  of  a  large  bonded  warehouse  at  Veracruz.  The  warehouses ­
  in  this  city  are  fully  connected  with  the  railroads  centering
here.
MEXICAN  WAREHOUSE  LAW.
Following  is  a  translation  of  the  law  under  which  bonded  warehouses ­
  may  operate  in  Mexico  :
Article  1.  The  name  “  almacenes  generales  de  depósito  "  (general  storage
warehouses)  shall  apply  to  those  establishments  which  have  for  their  principal
object  the  storage,  conservation,  and  custody  of  merchandise  and  effects,
national  or  foreign,  and  which  are  authorized  to  issue  documents  of  credit,
transferable  by  indorsement,  and  destined  to  cover  deposits  of  merchandise  or
loans  guaranteed  by  the  same.
Art.  2.  General  storage  warehouses  shall  be  considered  as  institutions  of
credit,  and  the  law  of  March  19,  1897,  shall  apply  to  them  in  regard  to  their
creation,  privileges,  and  to  the  common  safeguards  which  apply  to  all  institutions ­
  of  credit,  save  those  provided  in  this  decree.
Art.  3.  General  storage  warehouses  shall  be  divided  into  two  classes:  (1)
Those  which  receive  national  merchandise  or  merchandise  on  which  the  customs ­
  duties  have  been  paid,  and  (2)  those  which  are  authorized  to  receive  such
merchandise  and  also  to  receive  foreign  merchandise  on  which  the  customs
dues  have  not  been  paid.
Art.  4.  Warehouses  destined  exclusively  for  the  storage  of  merchandise  on
which  no  customs  duties  are  due  may  be  established  in  all  parts  of  the  country.
Warehouses  intended  for  the  storage  of  merchandise  on  which  the  customs  dues
have  not  been  paid  may  only  be  established  in  the  City  of  Mexico  or  seaports  or
frontier  ports  where  custom-houses  exist.  The  Executive  has  absolute  power  to
select  or  approve  the  places  where  warehouses  may  be  established,  and  to
extend  the  corresponding  concessions.
Art.  5.  The  capital  for  the  establishment  of  general  warehouses  for  the  storage ­
  of  national  merchandise  or  merchandise  on  which  the  customs  dues  have
been  paid  shall  not  be  less  than  $500,000  Mexican  currencey.  When  the  warehouses ­
  are  authorized  to  receive  in  storage  foreign  merchandise  on  which  the
customs  dues  have  not  been  paid  the  capital  shall  be  fixed  by  the  secretary  of
the  treasury  in  the  respective  concessions,  taking  for  a  base  a  minimum  of
$500,000,  and  taking  into  account  the  amount  of  importation  through  the
custom-houses  in  the  places  where  the  warehouses  are  to  be  located  or  the
amount  of  merchandise  whose  final  destination  is  in  those  places,  and  the  probable ­
  amount  of  the  responsibility  which  the  warehouses  will  assume  for  unpaid
customs  duties  on  the  merchandise  which  they  will  receive  in  storage.
Art.  6.  The  duration  of  the  concession  for  the  establishment  of  general  warehouses ­
  shall  in  no  case  exceed  forty  years  from  the  date  of  the  general  banking ­
  law  (March  19,  1897).
Art.  7.  The  emission  of  certificates  of  deposit  and  hypothecary  bonds,  as  all
other  operations  of  general  warehouses,  shall  be  subject  to  the  provisions  of  the
commercial  code  and  to  the  general  laws  now  in  force  or  which  may  be  enacted.
Art.  8.  The  warehouses  shall  be  responsible  to  the  treasury  for  the  payment
of  all  duties  on  merchandise  which  they  receive,  if  not  paid  by  the  owners  or
consignees,  and  for  all  fines  in  connection  therewith.  They  shall  also  be
directly  responsible  to  the  depositors  of  merchandise  for  the  deterioration  or
the  value  of  the  effects  deposited  in  storage,  according  to  law.  For  the  purpose ­
  of  this  article  warehouses  will  not  receive  merchandise  on  which  the
customs  duties  have  not  already  been  assessed  by  the  respective  custom-houses.
Art.  9.  The  storage  of  foreign  merchandise  on  which  the  customs  duties
have  not  been  paid  shall  not  exceed  one  year,  unless  before  the  expiration  of
that  time  said  duties  have  been  paid  or  it  is  proved  that  the  merchandise  is
intended  for  reexportation.
Art.  10.  General  warehouses  may  have  suitable  places  for  the  display  of
samples  of  merchandise,  and  such  samples,  if  subject  to  the  payment  of  customs
duties,  may  remain  there  without  payment  of  duties  for  a  period  of  two  years.
Art.  11.  General  warehouses  shall  be  obliged  to  insure  merchandise  which
they  receive  against  fire.