Under this Agreement, the term

1.

"Rescue operation" means all measures taken to recover, to put in safety (including assistance) and to evacuate persons who are victims of accidents or ill persons;

2.

"Repatriation" means the transport (including assistance) of persons who are victims of an accident or illness to the State of which they originate or in which they are lawfully domiciled;

3.

"State of departure" means the State in whose territory the aircraft takes flight for the purpose of the rescue or repatriation operation;

4.

"State of destination" means the State in which the rescue operation takes place or where the repatriation is effected;

5.

"Rescue Service" means the service responsible for rescue operations or repatriations;

6.

"Central Office" means the Office to which rescue operations are to be announced and to which requests for leave to repatriate are to be addressed;

7.

"Emergency means" means the objects necessary for the care to be provided in rescue operations, for example, drugs, serums, vaccines, fortifiers, diagnostic equipment, medical devices, tools and apparatus for rescue expeditions.

1. This Convention shall apply to aircraft used by the civilian search and rescue bodies of one of the Contracting States for rescue operations in the other Contracting State or for repatriations from Crew (crews of aircraft, rescuers and medical personnel); persons who are victims of an accident and the sick carried by these aircraft; finally, ships' stores, as well as air navigation equipment and means Backup.

(2) Each Contracting State may, with grounds for support, decline to the other Contracting State the intervention of its search and rescue bodies. Relief from this Agreement shall not be granted to search and rescue organizations whose intervention has been ruled out.

3. The Convention shall apply to State aircraft only if they receive the express authorisation of the competent authorities of the State of destination.

The Contracting States shall inform each other by diplomatic means of:

1.

Their search and rescue organizations, as well as their rescue services (art. 1, c. 5);

2.

Their central offices (art. 1, c. 6);

3.

Declassioned interventions (art. 2, para. 2);

4.

The authorities authorised to authorise the intervention of a State aircraft in the State of destination (Art. 2, para. 3);

5.

The authorities authorised to authorise repatriation (art. 10);

6.

The authorities entitled to prohibit participation in rescue operations and repatriation (art. 12);

7.

Temporary refusals of relief (art. 14);

8.

Changes to the items communicated in accordance with c. 1 to 7 above.

1. Aircraft (art. 2) may, during rescue operations, fly and land outside the customs aerodromes of both Contracting States.

2. It is neither required nor established as a customs duty for aircraft. The aircraft, ships' stores, air navigation equipment and emergency means shall be considered by the State of destination to be duty free for temporary use, within the limits of the intervention.

3. Aircraft shall not carry other goods except ships' stores, air navigation equipment and emergency means necessary for the rescue operation. Narcotic drugs within the meaning of international conventions may be carried only within the limits of urgent medical requirements and used only by qualified personnel.

4. Ships' stores, air navigation equipment and emergency means shall be exempt from any entry fees, as they are consumed in the rescue operation or in the care of persons who are victims of an accident. Unused goods must be re-exported. If, for special reasons, this is not possible, the type and quantity of the goods, as well as the place where they were deposited, shall be announced to the central office of the State of destination, which shall refer the goods to the competent customs office; This is the national law of the State of destination which is applicable.

5. The requirements prohibiting and restricting the traffic of goods across the border shall not apply to goods free of charges in accordance with paras. 2 and 4. The drugs carried and used are subject to the legal provisions of the State of departure. It shall take, within the limits of its own provisions, the precautionary measures necessary to prevent the misuse of narcotic drugs. This requirement does not in any way prejudice the right of the State of destination to carry out on-the-spot checks.

1. The rescue service announces as soon as possible at the central office of the state of departure the rescue operation that is preparing, this by the quickest route, for example by telephone. The central office of the State of departure shall immediately notify the central service of the country of destination.

2. The rescue service immediately announces to the central office of the state of departure the end of a rescue operation, as well as the safety of persons. The central office of the State of departure shall transmit this opinion to the central office of the State of destination.

Before each rescue operation, the rescue service shall provide the pilot of the aircraft with an attestation stating the flight order, place of departure and destination, the designation of the aircraft, and the name, given name, year of birth and Nationality of persons assigned to the rescue operation.

1. Rescue workers and survivors can, within the limits of a rescue operation, cross the border between the two states without identification.

(2) Each Contracting State undertakes to resume, regardless of nationality, the persons who have taken leave on its territory to participate in a rescue operation. In addition, each Contracting State undertakes to resume, regardless of nationality, the persons rescued on its territory and carried on the territory of the other State. In the case of survivors who are not nationals of the State of destination, this obligation shall apply only if these persons are not nationals of the State of departure or are not domiciled regularly before the Rescue. The obligation ceases when the repatriation has not been required within 6 months of the crossing of the border.

3. The Contracting State which is bound by the obligation to repatriate shall reimburse the other State for the costs of assistance and transport caused to the latter by the presence of survivors. The German-Swiss Agreement of 14 July 1952 ¹ Concerning the assistance of indigent persons is, with the exception of art. 2, 6 and 8, applicable to nationals of both Contracting States.

The persons assigned to a rescue may, in the territory of the State of destination, carry out an investigation of the accident only with the consent of the competent authorities of that State.

1. Art. 4 to 8 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the search for corpses as part of a rescue operation. Where corpses are transported without stopover from the State of destination to the State of departure, the Mortuary Pass shall be replaced by a report of the pilot to the address of the central office of the State of departure. This Office shall give notice to the competent authority of its State and to the central office of the State of destination.

2. The corpses will be wrapped in a manner appropriate to the circumstances (p. Ex. Canvas bag).

International conventions relating to the carriage of corpses shall not apply to rescue operations.

Repatriations shall be subject to authorisation by the competent authorities of both Contracting States. Authorisation is granted only if the repatriation is considered urgent from a medical point of view and if the returnees are accompanied by nurses. The competent rescue service shall announce the envisaged repatriation to the central office of the State of departure. This Office transmits the application for authorisation to the competent authorities of both Contracting States, after which these authorities communicate their decision to the rescue service through the central office of the State of departure.

2. The competent authorities shall decide within 24 hours on the request for authorisation; if the central office does not receive a decision before the expiry of that period, the authorisation shall be deemed to have been granted.

Art. 4, 6 and 7, para. 1 and 2, shall apply mutatis mutandis to repatriation.

1. The competent authorities of both Contracting States may exclude from participation in rescue operations and repatriations persons domiciled in their territory who have breached the provisions of this Convention or Have been guilty of other offences. The facilities provided for in this Convention shall not be granted to excluded persons.

2. Where one of the two States requests the application of a prohibition according to para. 1, the other State will accede to that request.

The competent authorities of both Contracting States shall determine by common accord the administrative measures necessary for the application of the. Convention.

Each of the two Contracting States may, for overriding reasons relating to public order or security, temporarily suspend the application of the concessions provided for in this Convention.

1. This Agreement shall be ratified as soon as possible. The instruments of ratification will be exchanged in Bern.

2. This Convention shall enter into force one month after the exchange of instruments of ratification.

3. This Convention may be denounced at any time; it shall cease to have effect three months after the denunciation.

Done at Bonn on 29 April 1965, in two originals in German.