profit shall be derived by the Nation or the Health Department from its application as a whole.
Art. 17. Letters and correspondence, printed matter, books, newspapers, business papers, etc. (postal parcels not included) shall not be subjected to any restriction or disinfection.
In case of yellow fever, postal parcels shall not be subjected to any restriction or disinfection.
Art. 18. Merchandise, arriving by land or sea, shall not be detained at frontiers or in ports.
The only measures which it is permissible to prescribe in regard to them are specified in articles 13 and 16 above.
However, if merchandise arriving by sea in bulk or in defective bails has been contaminated during the passage by rats known to be stricken with plague, and if it can not be disinfected, the destruction of the germs may be insured by storing it in a warehouse for a maximum period of two weeks.
It is understood that the application of this last measure shall not entail any delay upon the vessel or any extra expense as a result of the lack of warehouses in the ports.
Art. 19. When merchandise has been disinfected by applying the provisions of article 13, or temporarily warehoused in accordance with the third paragraph of article 18, the owner or his representative shall be entitled to demand from the health authority who has ordered the disinfection or storage, a certificate setting forth the measures taken.
Art. 20. Soiled linen, clothing, and articles constituting part of baggage or furniture (household goods) coming from a contaminated territorial area shall only be disinfected in case of plague or cholera and only when the health authority considers them contaminated.
SECTION III. MEASURES IN PORTS AND AT MARITIME FRONTIERS
A. Classification of vessels
Art. 21. A vessel is considered as infected which has plague, cholera, or yellow fever on board, or which has presented one or more cases of plague, cholera, or yellow fever within seven days.
A vessel is considered as suspicious on board of which there were cases of plague, cholera, or yellow fever at the time of departure or have been during the voyage, but on which there have been no new cases within seven days.
A vessel is considered as uninfected which, although coming from an infected port, has had neither death nor any case of plague, cholera, or yellow fever on board either before departure, during the voyage, or at the time of arrival.
B. Measures concerning plague
Art. 22. Ships infected with plague shall be subjected to the following measures:
