Article 55. Information and Communication
The Parties shall support the development of modem methods of information handling, including the media, and stimulate the effective mutual exchange of information. Priority shall be given to programmes aimed at providing the general public with basic information about the Community, including, where possible, access to Community databases in full respect of intellectual property nghts.
Article 56. Consumer Protection
The Parties will enter into close cooperation aimed at achieving compatibility between their systems of consumer protection. This cooperation may include the exchange of information on legislative work and institutional reform, the establishment of permanent systems of mutual information on dangerous products, the improvement of information provided to consumers especially on prices, characteristics of products and services offered, the development of exchanges between the consumer interest representatives, increasing the compatibility of consumer protection policies and the organization of seminars and training periods.
Article 57. Customs
1. The aim of cooperation shall be to guarantee compliance with all the provisions scheduled for adoption in connection with trade and fair trade and to achieve the approximation of Belarus's customs system to that of the Community.
2. Cooperation shall include the following in particular:
- the exchange of information;
- the improvement of working methods;
- the introduction of the Combined Nomenclature and the single administrative document;
- the interconnection between the transit systems of the Community and Belarus;
- the simplification of inspections and formalities in respect of the carriage of goods;
- the support in the introduction of modem customs information systems;
- the organization of seminars and training periods.
Technical assistance shall be provided where necessary. Without prejudice to further cooperation foreseen in this Agreement and in particular Article 60, the mutual assistance between administrative authorities in customs matters of the Parties shall take place in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol attached to this Agreement.
Article 58. Statistical Cooperation
Cooperation in this area shall have as its aim the development of an efficient statistical system to provide the reliable statistics needed to support and monitor the process of economic reform and contribute to the development of private enterprise in the Republic of Belarus.
The Parties, shall cooperate in particular, in the following fields:
adaptation of the Belarusian statistical system to international methods, standards and classification: exchange of statistical information;
provision of necessary statistical macro and microeconomic information to implement and manage economic reforms.
To this end the Community shall contribute by rendering technical assistance to the Republic of Belarus.
Article 59. Economics
The Parties shall facititate the process of economic reform and the co-ordination of economic policies by co-operating to improve understanding of the fundamentals of their respective economies and the design and implementation of economic policy in market economies. To this end the Parties shall exchange information on macro economic performance and prospects.
The Community shall provide technical assistance so as to:
- assist the Republic of Belarus in the process of economic reform by providing expert advisory and technical assistance,
- encourage cooperation among economists in order to expedite the transfer of know-how for the drafting of economic policies, and provide for wide dissemination of policy-relevant research.
Article 60. Drugs
Within the framework of their respective powers and competences, the Parties shall co-operate in increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of policies and measures to counter the illicit production, supply and traffic of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, including the prevention of diversion of precursor chemicals, as well as in promoting drug demand prevention and reduction. The cooperation in this area shall be based on mutual consultation and close co-ordination between the Parties over the objectives and measures on the various drug-related fields.
Article 60a. Nuclear Smuggling
The Parties agree on the necessity to make efforts to cooperate, within the framework of their respective powers and competences, in order to combat nuclear smuggling. Co-operation in this area should include exchange of information, technical support for analysing and identifying the material, administrative and technical assistance for the insallation of efficient customs controls. Further cooperation in this field could be identified as need arises.
Title VII. Cultural Cooperation
Article 61.
The Parties undertake to promote, encourage and facilitate cultural cooperation. Where appropriate, the Community's cultural cooperation programmes or those of one or more Member States may be the subject of cooperation and further activities of mutual interest may be developed.
Title VIII. Financial Cooperation
Article 62.
In order to achieve the objectives of this Agreement and in accordance with Articles 63, 64 and 65 the Republic of Belarus shall benefit from temporary financial assistance from the Community by way of technical assistance in the form of grants to accelerate the economic transformation of the Republic of Belarus.
Article 63.
This financial assistance shall be covered within the framework of TACIS as foreseen in the Community's relevant Council Regulation.
Article 64.
The objectives and the areas of the Community's financial assistance shall be laid down in an indicative programme reflecting established priorities to be agreed between the two Parties taking into account the Republic of Belarus's needs, sectoral absorption capacities and progress with reform. The Parties shall inform the Cooperation Council thereof.
Article 65.
In order to permit optimum use of the resources available, the Parties shall ensure that Community's technical assistance contributions are made in close co-ordination with those from other sources such as the Member States, other countries, and international organisations such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the IMF.
Title IX. Institutional, General and Final Provisions
Article 66.
A Cooperation Council is hereby established which shall supervise the implementation of this Agreement. It shall meet at ministerial level once a year. It shall examine any major issues arising within the framework of the Agreement and any other bilateral or international issues of mutual interest for the purpose of attaining the objectives of this Agreement. The Cooperation Council may also make appropriate recommendations, by agreement between the two Parties.
Article 67.
1. The Cooperation Council shall consist of the members of the Council of the European Communities and members of the Commission of the European Communities, on the one hand, and of members of the Government of the Republic of Belarus, on the other.
2. The Cooperation Council shall establish its rules of procedure.
3. The office of President of the Cooperation Council shall be held alternately by a representative of the Community and by a member of the Government of the Republic of Belarus.
Article 68.
1. The Cooperation Council shall be assisted in the performance of its duties by a Cooperation Committee composed of representatives of the members of the Council of the European Communities and of members of the Commission of the European Communities on the one hand and of representatives of the Government of the Republic of Belarus on the other, normally at senior civil servant level. The office of President of the Cooperation Committee shall be held alternately by the Community and by the Republic of Belarus.
In its rules of procedure the Cooperation Council shall determine the duties of the Cooperation Committee, which shall include the preparation of meetings of the Cooperation Council, and how the Committee shall function.
2. The Cooperation Council may delegate any of its powers to the Cooperation Committee, which will ensure continuity between meetings of the Cooperation Council.
Article 69.
The Cooperation Council may decide to set up any other special committee or body that can assist it in carrying out its duties and shall determine the composition and duties of such committees or bodies and how they shall function.
Article 69a.
When examining any issue arising within the framework of this Agreement in relation to a provision referring to an article of the GATT, the Cooperation Council shall take into account to the greatest extent possible the interpretation that is generally given to the article of the GATT in question by the Contracting Parties to the GATT.
Article 70.
A Parliamentary Cooperation Committee is hereby established. It shall be a forum for Members of the Belarusian Parliament and the European Parliament to meet and exchange views. It shall meet at intervals which it shall itself determine.
Article 71.
1. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall consist of members of the European Parliament, on the one hand, and of members of the Belarusian Parliament, on the other.
2. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall establish its rules of procedure. '
3. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall be presided in tum by the European Parliament and the Belarusian Parliament respectively, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
Article 72.
The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee may request relevant information regarding the implementation of this Agreement from the Cooperation Council, which shall then supply the Committee with the requested information.
The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall be informed of the recommendations of the Cooperation Council.
The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee may make recommendations to the Cooperation Council.
Article 73.
1. Within the scope of this Agreement, each Party undertakes to ensure that natural and legal persons of the other Party have access free of discrimination in relation to its own nationals to the competent courts and administrative organs of the Parties to defend their individual rights and their property rights, including those concerning intellectual, industrial and commercial property.
2. Within the limits of their respective powers, the Parties:
- shall encourage the adoption of arbitration for the settlement of disputes arising out of commercial and cooperation transactions concluded by economic operators of the Community and those of Belarus;
- agree that where a dispute is submitted to arbitration, each Party to the dispute may, except where the rules of the arbitration centre chosen by the Parties provide otherwise, choose its own arbitrator, irrespective of his nationality, and that the presiding third arbitrator or the sole arbitrator may be a citizen of a third state;
- will recommend their economic operators to choose by mutual consent the law applicable to their contracts;
- shall encourage recourse to the arbitration rules elaborated by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (Uncitral) and to arbitration by any centre of a state signatory to the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards done at New York on 10th June 1958.
Article 74.
Nothing in the Agreement shall prevent a Party from taking any measures:
(a) which it considers necessary to prevent the disclosure of information contrary to its essential security interests;
(b) which relate to the production of, or trade in arms, munitions or war materials or to research, development or production indispensable for defence purposes, provided that such measures do not impair the conditions of competition in respect of products not intended for specifically military purposes;
(c) which it considers essential to its own security in the event of serious internal disturbances affecting the maintenance of law and order, in time of war or serious international tension constituting threat of war or in order to carry out obligations it has accepted for the purpose of maintaining peace and international security.
(d) which it considers necessary to respect its international obligations and commitments in the control of dual use industrial goods and technology.
Article 75.
1. In the fields covered by this Agreement and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein: :
- the arrangements applied by the Republic of Belarus in respect of the Community shail Not give rise to any discrimination between the Member States, their nationals or their companies or firms;
- the arrangements applied by the Community in respect of the Republic of Belarus shal! not give rise to any discrimination between Belarusian nationals, or its companies or firms.
2. The provisions of Paragraph | are without prejudice to the nght of the Parties to apply the relevant provisions of their legislation to tax payers who are not in identical situations as regards their place of residence.
Article 75a.
1. Each of the two Parties may refer to the Cooperation Council any dispute relating to the application or interpretation of this Agreement. :
2. The Cooperation Council may settle the dispute by means of a recommendation.
3. In the event of it not being possible to settle the dispute in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article, either Party may notify the other of the appointment of an conciliator; the other Party must then appoint a second conciliator within two months. For the application of this procedure, the Community and the Member States shall be deemed to be one Party to the dispute.
The Cooperation Council shall appoint a third conciliator.
The conciliator's recommendations shall be taken by majority vote. Such recommendations shall not be binding upon the Parties.
Article 75b.
The Parties agree to consult promptly through appropriate channels at the request of either party to discuss any matter concerning the interpretation or implementation of this Agreement and other relevant aspects of the relations between the Parties.
The provisions of this Article shall in no way affect and are without prejudice to Articles 13, 13 bis, 75a and 76a.
Article 75c.
Treatment granted to the Republic of Belarus hereunder shall in no case be more favourable than that granted by the Member States to each other.
Article 75d.
For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "Parties" shall mean the Republic of Belarus on the one part, and the Community, or the Member States, or the Community and the Member States, in accordance with their respective powers, on the other part.
Article 75e.
Insofar as matters covered by this Agreement are covered by the European Energy Charter Treaty and Protocols thereto, such Treaty and Protocols shall upon entry into force apply to such matters but only to the extent that such application is provided for therein.
Article 76.
This Agreement is concluded for an initial period of 10 years. The Agreement shall be automatically renewed ‘year by year provided that neither Party gives the other Party written notice of denunciation of the Agreement six months before it expires.
Article 76a.
1. The Parties shall take any general or specific measures required to fulfil their obligations under the Agreement. They shall see to it that the objectives set out in the Agreement are attained.
2. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil an obligation under the Agreement, it may take the appropriate measures. Before so doing, except in cases of special urgency, it shall supply the Cooperation Council with all relevant information required for a thorough examination of the situation with a view to seeking a solution acceptable to the Parties.
In the selection of these measures, priority must be given to those which least disturb the functioning of the Agreement. These measures shall be notified immediately to the Cooperation Council if the other Party so requests.
Article 77.
Annexes I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VII together with the Protocol on mutual assistance between Administrative Authorities in Customs Matters shall form an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 78.
This Agreement shall not, until equivalent rights for individuals and economic operators have been achieved hereunder, affect rights assured to them through existing Agreements binding one or more Member States on the one hand and the Republic of Belarus on the other except in areas falling within Community competence and without prejudice to the obligations of Member States resulting from this Agreement in areas falling within their competence.
Article 79.
This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the treaties establishing the European Economic Community, the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Coal and Steel Community are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties and, on the other hand, to the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
Article 79a.
The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union shall be the depository of this Agreement.
Article 80.
This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Belarusian languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.
Article 81.
This Agreement will be approved by the Parties in accordance with their own procedures.
This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Parties notify each other that the procedures referred to in the first paragraph have been completed.
Upon its entry into force, and as far as relations between the Republic of Belarus and the Community are concemed, this Agreement shall replace the Agreement between the European Economic Community, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on trade and economic and commercial cooperation signed in Brussels on 18 December 1989.
Article 82.
In the event that, pending the completion of the procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement, the provisions of certain parts of this Agreement are put into effect in 1994 by means of an interim agreement between the Community and Belarus, the Contracting Parties agree that, in such circumstances, the term "date of entry into force of the Agreement" shall mean the date of entry into force of the interim Agreement.
Attachments
ANNEX I. Indicative list of advantages granted by the republic of belarus to the independent states in accordance with article 8(3)
1. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
No import duties are implemented.
No export duties are implemented as regards goods delivered under clearing and interstate agreements within the volumes stipulated in these agreements.
No VAT is applied on export and import. No excise is applied on export.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan: export quotas for deliveries of products under annual interstate trade and cooperation agreements are opened in the same way as for deliveries for state needs.
2. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
Payments could be made in national currency of thése countries-or any other currencies accepted by the Republic of Belarus or these countries.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan : special system of non-commercial operations, including payments resulting from these operations. ‘
3. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan : special system of current payments.
4. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan : special price system in trade with some raw materials and semi-finished products.
5. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, ‘Ukraine, Uzbekistan : special conditions of transit.
6. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan: special conditions of customs procedures.
ANNEX II. Exceptional measures which derogate from the provisions of article 11
1. Exceptional measures which derogate from the provisions of Article 11 may be taken by the Republic of Belarus in the form of quantitative restrictions on a non-discriminatory basis.
2. These measures may only concer infant industries, or certain sectors undergoing restructuring or facing serious difficulties, particularly where these difficulties produce important social problems.
3. The total value of imports of the products which are subject to these measures may not exceed 15% of total imports from the Community during the last year, prior to the introduction of any quantitative restrictions for which statistics are available.
vessels flying the flag of a Community Member State and registered in Community territory unless otherwise provided for.
Real estate purchase In some Member States, the purchase of real estate by non-EC companies is subject to restrictions. Audiovisual services including radio
National treatment conceming production and distribution, including broadcasting and other forms of transmission to the public, may be reserved to audiovisual works meeting certain origin criteria.
Telecommunications services including mobile and satellite services
Reserved services
In some Member States market access conceming complementary services and infrastructures is restricted. Professional services
Services reserved to natural persons nationals of Member States. Under certain conditions those persons may create companies.
Agriculture In some Member States national treatment is not applicable to non-EC controlled companies which wish to
These provisions shall not be circumvented by increased tariff protection on the imported goods concerned.
4. These measures may only be applied during a transitional period ending 31 December 1998 unless parties agree otherwise, or when the Republic of Belarus becomes a Contracting Party to GATT whichever is earlier.