Title
PROTOCOL TO THE TREATY ON INVESTMENT AND TRADE IN SERVICES BETWEEN THE REPUBLICS OF COSTA RICA, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS AND NICARAGUA
Preamble
The Governments of the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua,
CONSIDERING:
That the Central American Presidents signed the Treaty on Investment and Trade in Services between the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, on March 24, two thousand two;
That the deepening of economic integration among the Central American countries is the most effective means of promoting the future economic and social development of the region and of each one of them, in order to raise the welfare of its peoples;
That new commitments related to investment and trade in services make it necessary to update the instruments related to this subject within the framework of the Central American Economic Integration Subsystem,
Then:
Decide to amend the Treaty on Investment and Trade in Services between the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua signed on March 24, 2000 by means of this Protocol:
Body
Article 1.
The Treaty on Investment and Trade in Services between the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua signed on 24 March 2002 in the articles listed in Annex A to this Protocol is hereby amended.
Article 2.
For more certainty, Annex B to this Protocol contains the amended text of the Treaty on Investment and Trade in Services between the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Article 3.
This Protocol shall have indefinite duration and shall come into force for the first two (2) depositor States, thirty (30) days after the date of deposit with the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System (SG-SICA)
The second instrument of ratification, and for the other depositor States, eight (8) days after the date of deposit of its respective instrument.
Conclusion
In witness whereof, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Protocol in the City of Belize, Belize, on the twenty-second day of February in the year two thousand and seven.
For the Republic of Costa Rica
Amparo Pacheco Oreamuno Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade
For the Republic of El Salvador
Yolanda Mayora de Gavidia Minister of Economy
For the Republic of Guatemala
Enrique Lacs Palomo Deputy Minister of Integration and Foreign Trade
For the Republic of Honduras
Miriam Elizabeth Azcona Bocock Secretary of State in the Offices of Industry and Commerce
For the Republic of Nicaragua
Horacio Brenes Icabalceta Minister of Development, Industry and Commerce
Attachments
Annex A
The following amendments are made to the Treaty on Investment and Trade in Services between the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, which are listed below:
CHAPTER 1:
Articles: 1.01 and 1.03 are modified.
Article 1.04 is eliminated.
CHAPTER 2:
Article 2.01 is amended.
CHAPTER 3:
Articles: 3.01, 3.02, 3.03, 3.05, 3.06, 3.07, 3.08, 3.09, 3.10, 3.11, 3.14, 3.16, 3.17, 3.20, 3.22, 3.23, 3.24, 3.25, 3.28, 3.29, 3.33, 3.34, 3.35, 3.37 and the following are modified.
Annexes: 3.11 and 3.39 (2).
Articles 3.13, 3.15, 3.18, 3.19, 3.21, 3.26, 3.27, 3.30, 3.31, 3.32, 3.36, 3.38, 3.39, 3.40 and Annex 3.22 are eliminated.
Articles: 3.21, 3.22 and 3.28 are added.
CHAPTER 4:
Articles: 4.01, 4.02, 4.03, 4.04, 4.06, 4.08, 4.09, 4.12, 4.13, 4.14 and 4.15 and Annex 4.13 are amended.
Articles 4.07, 4.10, 4.11 and 4.16 are deleted.
Articles: 4.06, 4.08, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13 and Annex 4.10 are added.
CHAPTER 5:
Articles: 5.02 and 5.03 are modified.
Articles: 5.01, 5.04, 5.05, 5.06, 5.07, 5.08, 5.09, 5.10 and 5.11 and Annexes: 5.02 and 5.04 are deleted.
Articles: 5.03, 5.04, 5.05, 5.06, 5.07, 5.08, 5.09, 5.10, 5.11, 5.12, 5.13, 5.14, 5.15, 5.16 and 5.17 are added and Annexes: 5 and 5.04.
CHAPTER 6:
Articles: 6.01, 6.02, 6.03, 6.05, 6.06, 6.07, 6.09, 6.10, 6.11, 6.12, 6.13, 6.14, 6.15, 6.16, 6.19 and 6.20 are amended.
Articles 6.04, 6.17, 6.18, and Annex 6.10 are eliminated.
Articles: 6.05, 6.11, 6.12, 6.13 and 6.17 and Annexes: 6.06, 6.18, 6.19.2 and 6.19.3 are added.
CHAPTER 7:
Articles: 7.01, 7.04, 7.05, 7.06 and 7.07 and Appendix 7.04 (A)(2) are amended.
CHAPTER 8:
Articles 8.02, 8.03, 8.04, 8.05 and 8.06 are amended.
Appendix 8.06 is added.
CHAPTER 9:
Articles: 9.01, 9.03 and 9.04 are modified.
Article 9.02 and Annexes: 9.02 and 9.03 are deleted.
Article 9.02 and Annex 9.03.2 are added.
CHAPTER 10:
Articles: 10.01, 10.05 and 10.06 are modified.
Article 10.08 is deleted.
CHAPTER 11:
Articles: 11.07 and 11.09 are amended.
Articles: 11.01, 11.02 and 11.08 are deleted.
The following Articles are added: 11.01 and 11.02.
Annex B
This Annex incorporates the new text version of the Treaty on Investment and Trade in Services between the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua:
PREAMBLE
The Governments of the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua,
Decided to:
Achieve a better balance in your business relationships;
To promote a more extensive and secure market for investments and the exchange of services in their territories;
To increase the competitiveness of the services sector, a sine qua non requirement for the facilitation of trade in goods and the flow of capital and technologies, making a decisive contribution to consolidating the systematic competitiveness of the Parties;
Establish a legal system with clear, transparent and mutually beneficial rules for the promotion and protection of investments, as well as for trade in services;
Respect their respective rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement), as well as other bilateral and multilateral integration and cooperation instruments;
Create job opportunities and improve living standards in their respective countries; and
Encourage the dynamic participation of the various economic agents, in particular the business sector, in efforts to deepen their economic relations;
Subscribe to this Treaty on Investment and Trade in Services
Chapter 1. Initial Provisions
1.01. Objectives
1. The main objectives of this Treaty are:
(A) to establish a legal framework for the liberalization of trade in services and for investment between the Parties, consistent with the General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) forming part of the Agreement On the WTO, as well as other bilateral and multilateral integration and cooperation instruments.
Such a framework shall promote the interests of the Parties, on the basis of reciprocal advantages and the achievement of an overall balance of rights and obligations between the Parties;
(B) to stimulate the expansion and diversification of trade in services and investment between the Parties;
(C) to facilitate the provision of services between the Parties;
(D) promote, protect and substantially increase investments in each Party; and
(E) to establish effective procedures for the implementation and enforcement of this Agreement, for their joint administration and for the settlement of disputes between a Party and an investor of another Party.
2. The Parties shall interpret and apply the provisions of this Treaty in the light of the objectives set out in paragraph 1 and in accordance with the applicable rules of international law.
1.02. Observance of the Treaty
Each Party shall, in accordance with its constitutional rules, ensure compliance with the provisions of this Treaty in its respective territory.
1.03. Relationship with other Treaties
1. The Parties confirm the rights and obligations in force between them in accordance with the treaties to which they are parties. 2
2. The Parties recognize that this Agreement is confined to the Subsystem of Central American Economic Integration and coexists with other international instruments subscribed or in force between the Parties that regulate the matters that are the object of this Treaty, without such coexistence implying the modification or substitution thereof.
3 For the sake of certainty, nothing in this dispute shall be dealt with by the Parties in the framework of the Central American Economic Integration Subsystem.
Chapter 2. DEFINITIONS OF GENERAL APPLICATION
2.01. Definitions of General Application
For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified, the following definitions shall apply:
Agreement on the WTO: the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, dated 15 April 1994;
GATS: the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which form part of the WTO Agreement;
TRIPS Agreement: the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which form part of the WTO Agreement;
Public procurement: the process by which a government acquires the use of or acquires goods or services, or any combination thereof, for governmental purposes and not for commercial sale or resale or for use in the production or supply of Goods or services for commercial sale or resale;
Council: the Council of Ministers of Economic Integration created by Article 37 of the Guatemala Protocol;
Days: calendar days;
Enterprise: any legal entity incorporated or organized under the applicable law of a Party, whether or not for profit and whether private or governmental, including foundations, partnerships, trusts, holdings, sole proprietorships, joint ventures or other associations;
Undertaking of a Party: a company incorporated or organized in accordance with the law of a Party;
State enterprise: a company owned or controlled by a Party, by means of domain rights;
Existing: in force on the date of entry into force of this Agreement; Measure: includes any law, regulation, procedure, requirement or practice; Goods: any material, material, product or part;
National: a natural or natural person who has the nationality of a Party in accordance with its legislation and its permanent residents, who shall enjoy the benefits, rights and obligations which this Treaty grants to nationals, only with respect to the application of the Treaty;
Party: any State in respect of which this Treaty has entered into force;
Person: a national or a company;
SG-SICA: General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System; And territory: the territory of each of the Parties.
Chapter 3. Investment
Section A. Investment
3.01. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
Center: the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID") established by the ICSID Convention;
Inter-American Convention: The Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration, held in Panama on January 30, 1975;
ICSID Convention: The Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, done at Washington, D.C., on March 18, 1965;
New York Convention: The United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, held at New York on 10 June 1958;
Defendant: the Party that is party to a dispute relating to an investment;
Applicant: the investor of a Party that is party to a dispute relating to investments with another Party;
Enterprise: an "enterprise", as defined in Article 2.01 (Definitions of general application), and the branch of an enterprise;
Protected information: confidential business information or privileged information or otherwise protected from disclosure in accordance with the Party's law;
Investment: any asset owned or controlled by an investor, directly or indirectly, that has the characteristics of an investment, including such characteristics as the commitment of capital or other resources, the expectation of profit or profit or assuming risk. The forms that an investment can take include:
a) an undertaking;
b) shares, capital and other forms of equity participation in a company;
c) bonds, bonds, other debt instruments and loans; (1) (2)
d) futures, options and other derivatives;
e) turnkey contracts for construction, management, production, concession, revenue sharing and other similar contracts;
f) intellectual property rights;
g) licenses, authorizations, permits and similar rights granted in accordance with domestic legislation; (3) (4)
h) other tangible or intangible, movable or immovable property rights and related property rights, such as leases, mortgages, liens and pledges;
An investor of a Party: a Party or a State enterprise, or a person of that Party, who performs physical acts for the purpose of making an investment or, if applicable, an investment in the territory of another Party. The intention to carry out an investment may be manifested, inter alia, through legal acts tending to materialize the investment, or being in the process of compromising the economic resources necessary to realize it; However, a natural or natural person who has dual nationality shall be considered exclusively a national of the State of his dominant and effective nationality;
Investor of a non-Party: an investor who is not an investor of a Party that intends to carry out, makes or has made an investment;
Freely usable currency: the currency of free use as determined in accordance with the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund;
Disputing party: the plaintiff or the defendant;
Disputing parties: the plaintiff and the defendant;
Non-disputing party: the Party not party to a dispute relating to an investment;
UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules: The Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 15 December 1976;
Rules of the ICSID Supplementary Mechanism: the Supplementary Mechanism Regulation for Procedural Administration by the Secretariat of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes;