Office of the Historian

File No. 600.001/141

Agreement of August 9, 1917, between the Swiss Federal Government and France, Great Britain, Italy, and the United States Relative to Silks and Silk Goods1

[Translation—Extract]

The delegates of the American, British, French, Italian and Swiss Governments, assembled at Paris, have at the termination of the conferences held July 30, August 2 and 7, 1917, agreed as follows:

Article 1

Pursuant to the general prohibition of export adopted by the Entente powers in regard to silks and silk goods, article 10, paragraph C, No. 2 of the interior regulations of the S.S.S. is amended as follows:

Silk Tissues and Goods, manufactured in Switzerland, enumerated here below:

[Here follows the enumeration.]

The aggregate exportation of all these articles from Switzerland to enemy-states may not exceed 2,500 quintals per annum, which will be apportioned at the rate of 625 quintals per quarter.

The Federal Government will immediately and absolutely prohibit the exportation from Switzerland of all silken goods other than those mentioned in the new article 10, paragraph C–2, irrespective of their origin.

Article 2

The apportionments of imports allotted to Switzerland for silks and silk goods are established as follows:

[Here follow the tabulated apportionments.]

Article 3

The above provisions shall take effect from August 15, 1917.

The Federal Government reserves to itself the right to renounce them if, within a period of one month, the experts of the Allied Governments have not made arrangements to add to paragraph 10–C–2 of the S.S.S. regulations a certain number of the articles proposed by the Swiss delegates, presenting no military importance but of particular interest for Swiss industry. (See the minutes of the meeting of August 2, 1917.)2

During the month in the course of which the Federal Government reserves to itself the right to renounce the agreement, the quantities of silk authorized by the Allies to enter Switzerland shall be fixed at one-twelfth of the annual apportionments.

[Page 1173]
Made at Paris in five originals, signed by the representatives of the five contracting Governments, August 9, 1917.

  • United States of America:
    • Robert Woods Bliss
  • France:
    • D. Cochin
  • Great Britain:
    • Joseph Addison
    • J. T. Meadows Smith
  • Italy:
    • dell ’abbadessa
  • Switzerland:
    • Grobet-Roussy
    • A. Cailler
    • Ernst Laur
    • Heer
  1. Received Aug. 23 with Ambassador Sharp’s despatch No. 5599 of Aug. 10, which is not printed.↩
  2. Not printed.↩