ARTICLE 3
General Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Convention:
(a) the term "Contracting State" means the United States or France, as the context
requires;
(b) the term "United States" means the United States of America, but does not
include Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, or any other United States possession or
territory. When used in a geographical sense, the term "United States" means the states
thereof and the District of Columbia and includes the territorial sea adjacent to those
States and any area outside the territorial sea within which, in accordance with
international law, the United States has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and
exploiting the natural resources of the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters;
(c) the term "France" means the French Republic and, when used in a
geographical sense, means the European and Overseas Departments of the French
Republic and includes the territorial sea and any area outside the territorial sea within
which, in accordance with international law, the French Republic has sovereign rights for
the purpose of exploring and exploiting the natural resources of the seabed and its subsoil
and the superjacent waters;
(d) the term "person" includes, but is not limited to, an individual and a company;
(e) the term "company" means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as
a body corporate for tax purposes;
(f) the terms "enterprise of a Contracting State" and "enterprise of the other
Contracting State" mean, respectively, an enterprise carried on by a resident of a
Contracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State;
(g) the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or aircraft, except
when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in a Contracting State;
(h) the term "competent authority" means:
(i) in the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate; and
(ii) in France, the Minister in charge of the budget or his authorized
representative.
2. As regards the application of the Convention by a Contracting State, any term not defined
herein shall, unless the competent authorities agree to a common meaning pursuant to the
provisions of Article 26 (Mutual Agreement Procedure), have the meaning which it has under the
taxation laws of that State.