EC - Uzbekistan Cooperation Agreement (1996)
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Audiovisual services including radio

National treatment concerning 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 concerning complementary services and infrastructure is restricted.

Professional services

Services reserved to natural persons who are nationals of Member States. Under certain conditions those persons may create companies.

Agriculture

In some Member States national treatment is not applicable to non-Community controlled companies which wish to undertake an agricultural enterprise. The acquisition of vineyards by non-Community controlled companies is subject to notification, or, as necessary, authorisation..

News agency services

In some Member States limitations of foreign participation in publishing companies and broadcasting companies.

ANNEX III. Uzbekistan's reservations in accordance with article 22(4)

Under current Uzbek investment law, foreign companies wishing to establish in Uzbekistan are required to register at the Ministry of Justice and to provide documentation demonstrating that they have been duly registered in their home country and are financially solvent.

This registration procedure may not be used in order to nullify the benefits accorded to Community companies pursuant to Article 22 of this Agreement, nor to circumvent any other provisions of this Agreement.

ANNEX IV. Financial services referred to in article 25(3)

A financial service is any service of a financial nature offered by a financial service provider of a Party. Financial services include the following activities:

A. All insurance and insurance-related services;

1. Direct insurance (including co-insurance).

(i) life.

(ii) non-life

2. Reinsurance and retrocession.

3. Insurance intermediation, such as brokerage and agency.

4. Services auxiliary to insurance, such as consultancy, actuarial, risk assessment and claim settlement services.

B. Banking and other financial services (excluding insurance).

1. Acceptance of deposits and other repayable funds from the public.

2. Lending of all types, including, inter alia, consumer credit, mortgage credit, factoring and financing of commercial transactions.

3. Financial leasing.

4. All payment and money transmission services, including credit charge and debit cards, travellers cheques and bankers drafts.

5. Guarantees and commitments.

6. Trading for own account or for the account of customers, whether on an exchange, in an over the counter market or otherwise, the following:

(a) money market instruments (cheques, bills, certificates of deposits, etc.)

(b) foreign exchange

(c) derivative products including, but not limited to, futures and options

(d) exchange rates and interest rate instruments, including products such as swaps, forward rate agreements, etc.

(e) transferable securities

(f) other negotiable instruments and financial assets, including bullion.

7. Participation in issues of all kinds of securities, including under-writing and placement as agent (whether publicly or privately) and provision of services related to such issues.

8. Money brokering.

9. Asset management, such as cash or portfolio management, all forms of collective investment management, pension fund management, custodial depository and trust services.

10. Settlement and clearing services for financial assets, including securities, derivative products, and other negotiable instruments.

11. Advisory intermediation and other auxiliary financial services on all the activities listed in points 1 to 10 above, including credit reference and analysis, investment and portfolio research and advice, advice on acquisitions and on corporate restructuring and strategy.

12. Provision and transfer of financial information, and financial data processing and related software by providers of other financial services.

The following activities are excluded from the definition of financial services:

(a) Activities carried out by central banks or by any other public institution in pursuit of monetary and exchange rate policies.

(b) Activities conducted by central banks, government agencies or departments, or public institutions, for the account or with the guarantee of the government, except when those activities may be carried out by financial service providers in competition with such public entities.

(c) Activities forming part of a statutory system of social security or public retirement plans, except when those activities may be carried out by financial service providers in competition with public entities or private institutions.

ANNEX V. Intellectual, industrial and commercial property conventions referred to in article 41

1. Article 41(2) concerns the following multilateral conventions:

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Paris Act, 1971);

International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (Rome, 1961);

Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid, 1989);

Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the purposes of the Registration of Marks (Geneva 1977 and amended in 1979);

Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for the purposes of Patent Procedures (1977, modified in 1980);

International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) (Geneva Act, 1991).

2. The Cooperation Council may recommend that Article 41(2) shall apply to other multilateral conventions. If problems in the area of intellectual, industrial and commercial property affecting trading conditions were to occur, urgent consultations will be undertaken, at the request of either party, with a view to reaching mutually satisfactory solutions.

3. The Parties confirm the importance they attach to the obligations arising from the following multilateral conventions:

Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Stockholm Act, 1967 and amended in 1979);

Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (Stockholm Act, 1967 and amended in 1979);

Patent Cooperation Treaty (Washington, 1970, amended in 1979 and modified in 1984).

4. From the entry into force of this Agreement, the Republic of Uzbekistan shall grant to Community companies and nationals, in respect of the recognition and protection of intellectual, industrial and commercial property, treatment no less favourable than that granted by it to any third country under bilateral agreements.

5. The provisions of paragraph 4 shall not apply to advantages granted by the Republic of Uzbekistan to any third country on an effective reciprocal basis and to advantages granted by the Republic of Uzbekistan to another country of the former USSR.

Attachments

Protocol on mutual assistance between administrative authorities in customs matters

1. Definitions

For the purposes of this Protocol:

(a) customs legislation shall mean any legal or regulatory provisions applicable in the territory of the Parties governing the import, export, transit of goods and their placing under any customs procedure, including measures of prohibition, restriction and control;

(b) applicant authority, shall mean a competent administrative authority which has been appointed by a Party for this purpose and which makes a request for assistance in customs matters;

(c) requested authority, shall mean a competent administrative authority which has been appointed by a Party for this purpose and which receives a request for assistance in customs matters;

(d) personal data, shall mean all information relating to an identified or identifiable individual.

2. Scope

1. The Parties shall assist each other, in the areas within their jurisdiction, in the manner and under the conditions laid down in this Protocol, in preventing, detecting and investigating operations in breach of customs legislation.

2. Assistance, in customs matters, as provided for in this Protocol, shall apply to any administrative authority of the Parties which is competent for the application of this Protocol. It shall not prejudice the rules governing mutual assistance in criminal matters. Nor shall it cover information obtained under powers exercised at the request of the judicial authority, unless those authorities so agree.

3. Assistance on Request

1. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall furnish it with all relevant information to enable it to ensure that customs legislation is correctly applied, including information regarding operations noted or planned which are or could be in breach of such legislation.

2. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall inform it whether goods exported from the territory of one of the Parties have been properly imported into the territory of the other Party, specifying, where appropriate, the customs procedure applied to the goods.

3. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall, within the framework of its laws, take the necessary steps to ensure that a surveillance is kept on:

(a) natural or legal persons of whom there are reasonable grounds for believing that they are breaching or have breached customs legislation;

(b) places where goods are stored in a way that gives grounds for suspecting that they are intended to supply operations in breach of customs legislation;

(c) movements of goods notified as possibly giving rise to breaches of customs legislation;

(d) means of transport for which there are reasonable grounds for believing that they have been, are or might be used in operations in breach of customs legislation.

4. Spontaneous Assistance

The Parties shall provide each other, as far as their national laws, rules and other legal instruments allow, with assistance without prior request if they consider that to be necessary for the correct application of customs legislation, particularly when they obtain information pertaining to:

Operations which are or appear to be in breach of such legislation and which may be of interest to another Party;

New means or methods employed in carrying out such operations,

Goods known to be subject to breaches of customs legislation,

Natural or legal persons of whom there are reasonable grounds for believing that they are or have been in breach of customs legislation

Means of transport for which there are reasonable grounds for believing that they have been, are or might be used in operations in breach of customs legislation.

5. Delivery/notification

At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority shall in accordance with its legislation, take all necessary measures in order:

To deliver all documents,

To notify all decisions,

Falling within the scope of this Protocol to an addressee, residing or established in its territory. In such cases Article 6(3) shall apply as far as the request itself is concerned.

6. Form and Substance of Requests for Assistance

1. Requests pursuant to this Protocol shall be made in writing. They shall be accompanied by the documents necessary to enable compliance with the request. When required because of the urgency of the situation, oral requests may be accepted, but must be confirmed in writing immediately.

2. Requests pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article shall include the following information:

(a) the applicant authority making the request:

(b) the measure requested;

(c) the object of and the reason for the request;

(d) the laws, rules and other legal elements involved;

(e) indications as exact and comprehensive as possible on the natural or legal persons who are the target of the investigations;

(f) a summary of the relevant facts and of the enquiries already carried out, except in cases provided for in Article 5.

3. Requests shall be submitted in an official language of the requested authority or in a language acceptable to such authority.

4. If a request does not meet the formal requirements, its correction or completion may be requested; precautionary measures may, however, be ordered.

7. Execution of Requests

1. In order to comply with a request for assistance, the requested authority shall proceed, within the limits of its competence and available resources, as though it were acting on its own account or at the request of other authorities of that same Party, by supplying information already possessed, by carrying out appropriate enquiries or by arranging for them to be carried out. This provision shall also apply to the administrative department to which the request has been addressed by the requested authority when the latter cannot act on its own.

2. Requests for assistance will be executed in accordance with the laws, rules and other legal instruments of the requested Party.

3. Duly authorised officials of a Party may, with the

Agreement of the other Party involved and within the

Conditions laid down by the latter, obtain from the offices of the requested authority or other authority for which the requested authority is responsible, information relating to operations which are or may be in breach of customs

Legislation which the applicant authority needs for the

Purposes of this Protocol.

4. Officials of a Party may, with the agreement of the other Party involved and subject to the conditions laid down by the latter, be present at enquiries carried out in the latter's territory. They shall not wear uniform nor carry arms.

8.

Form in which information is to be communicated

1. The requested authority shall communicate results of enquiries to the applicant authority in the form of documents, certified copies of documents, reports and the like.

2. The documents provided for in paragraph 1 may be replaced by computerised information produced in any form for the same purpose.

9. Exceptions to the Obligation to Provide Assistance

1. The Parties may refuse to give assistance as provided for in this Protocol, where to do so would:.

(a) be likely to prejudice the sovereignty of the Republic of Uzbekistan or that of a Member State which has been asked for assistance under this Protocol; or

(b) be likely to prejudice public policy, security or other essential interests, in particular in the cases referred to under Article 10(2); or

(c) involve currency or tax regulations other than customs duties legislation; or

(d) violate an industrial, commercial or professional secret.

2. Where the applicant authority asks for assistance which it would itself be unable to provide if so asked, it shall draw attention to that fact in its request. It shall then be left to the requested authority to decide how to respond to such a request.

3. If assistance is refused, the decision and the reasons therefore must be notified to the applicant authority without delay.

10. Information Exchange and Confidentiality

1. Any information communicated in whatsoever form pursuant to this Protocol shall be of a confidential or restricted nature, depending on the rules applicable in each of the Parties. It shall be covered by the obligation of official secrecy and shall enjoy the protection extended to like information under the relevant laws of the Party which received it and the corresponding provisions applying to the Community institutions.

2. Personal data may be exchanged only where the receiving Party undertakes to protect such data in at least an equivalent way to the one applicable to that particular case in the supplying Party.

3. Information obtained shall be used solely for the purposes of this Protocol. Where one of the Parties requests the use of such information for other purposes, it shall ask for

The prior written consent of the authority which furnished the information. Moreover, it shall be subject to any restrictions laid down by that authority.

4. Paragraph 3 shall not impede the use of information in any judicial or administrative proceedings subsequently instituted for failure to comply with customs legislation. The competent authority which supplied that information shall be notified of such use.

5. The Parties may, in their records of evidence, reports and testimonies and in proceedings and charges brought before the courts, use as evidence information obtained and documents consulted in accordance with the provisions of this Protocol.

11. Experts and Witnesses

1. An official of a requested authority may be authorised to appear, within the limitations of the authorisation granted, as an expert or witness in judicial or administrative proceedings regarding the matters covered by this Protocol in the jurisdiction of the other Party, and produce such objects, documents or authenticated copies thereof, as may be needed for the proceedings. The request for an appearance must indicate specifically on what matters and by virtue of what title or qualification the official will be questioned.

2. The authorised official shall enjoy the protection guaranteed by existing legislation to officials of the applicant authority on its territory.

12. Assistance Expenses

The Parties shall waive all claims on each other for the reimbursement of expenses incurred pursuant to this Protocol, except, as appropriate, for expenses to experts and witnesses and to interpreters and translators who are not public service employees.

13. Application

1. The application of this Protocol shall be entrusted to the central customs authorities of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the one hand and the competent services of the Commission of the European Communities and, where appropriate, the customs authorities of the Member States on the other. They shall decide on all practical measures and arrangements necessary for its application, taking into consideration the rules in force in the field of data protection. They may recommend to the competent bodies amendments which they consider be made to this Protocol.

2. The Parties shall consult each other and subsequently keep each other informed of the detailed rules of implementation which are adopted in accordance with the provisions of this Protocol.

14. Complementarity

Without prejudice to Article 10, any agreements on mutual assistance which have been concluded between one or more Member States and the Republic of Uzbekistan shall not prejudice Community provisions governing the communication between the competent services of the Commission of the European Communities and the customs authorities of the Member States of any information obtained in customs matters which could be of Community interest.

FINAL ACT

The plenipotentiaries of:

THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,

THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,

THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,

THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN,

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,

IRELAND,

  • Article   1 1
  • Title   I General Principles 1
  • Article   2 1
  • Article   3 1
  • Title   II Political Dialogue 1
  • Article   4 1
  • Article   5 1
  • Article   6 1
  • Article   7 1
  • Title   III Trade In Goods 1
  • Article   8 1
  • Article   9 1
  • Article   10 1
  • Article   11 1
  • Article   12 1
  • Article   13 1
  • Article   14 1
  • Article   15 1
  • Article   16 1
  • Article   17 1
  • Article   18 1
  • Title   IV Provisions Affecting Business and Investment 1
  • Chapter   I Labour Conditions 1
  • Article   19 1
  • Article   20 1
  • Article   21 1
  • Chapter   II Conditions Affecting the Establishment and Operation of Companies 1
  • Article   23 1
  • Article   24 1
  • Article   25 2
  • Article   26 2
  • Article   27 2
  • Article   28 2
  • Chapter   III Cross Border Supply of Services between the Community and the Republic of Uzbekistan 2
  • Article   29 2
  • Article   30 2
  • Article   31 2
  • Article   32 2
  • Chapter   IV General Provisions 2
  • Article   33 2
  • Article   34 2
  • Article   35 2
  • Article   36 2
  • Article   37 2
  • Article   38 2
  • Article   39 2
  • Chapter   V Current Payments and Capital 2
  • Article   40 2
  • Chapter   VI Intellectual, Industrial and Commercial Property Protection 2
  • Article   41 2
  • Title   V Legislative Cooperation 2
  • Article   42 2
  • Title   VI Economic Cooperation 2
  • Article   43 2
  • Article   44 Cooperation In the Field of Trade In Goods and Services 2
  • Article   45 Industrial Cooperation 2
  • Article   46 Investment Promotion and Protection 2
  • Article   47 Public Procurement 2
  • Article   48 Cooperation In the Field of Standards and Conformity Assessment 2
  • Article   49 Mining and Raw Materials 2
  • Article   50 Cooperation In Science and Technology 2
  • Article   51 Education and Training 2
  • Article   52 Agriculture and the agro-industrial sector 3
  • Article   53 Energy 3
  • Article   54 Environment and human health 3
  • Article   55 Transport 3
  • Article   56 Postal services and telecommunications 3
  • Article   57 Financial services and fiscal institutions 3
  • Article   58 Enterprise restructuring and privatisation 3
  • Article   59 Regional development 3
  • Article   60 Social cooperation 3
  • Article   61 Tourism 3
  • Article   62 Small and medium-sized enterprises 3
  • Article   63 Information and communication 3
  • Article   64 Consumer protection 3
  • Article   65 Customs 3
  • Article   66 Statistical cooperation 3
  • Article   67 Economics 3
  • Article   68 4
  • Title   VII Cooperation on Matters Relating to Democracy and Human Rights 4
  • Article   68 4
  • Title   VIII Cooperation on Prevention of Illegal Activities and the Prevention and Control of Illegal Immigration 4
  • Article   69 4
  • Article   70 Money Laundering 4
  • Article   71 Drugs 4
  • Article   72 Illegal Immigration 4
  • Title   IX Cultural Cooperation 4
  • Article   73 4
  • Title   X Financial Cooperation In the Field of Technical Assistance 4
  • Article   74 4
  • Article   75 4
  • Article   76 4
  • Article   77 4
  • Article   78 4
  • Article   79 4
  • Article   80 4
  • Article   81 4
  • Article   82 4
  • Article   83 4
  • Article   84 4
  • Article   85 4
  • Article   86 4
  • Article   87 4
  • Article   88 4
  • Article   89 4
  • Article   90 4
  • Article   91 4
  • Article   92 4
  • Article   93 4
  • Article   94 4
  • Article   95 4
  • Article   96 4
  • Article   97 4
  • Article   98 4
  • Article   99 4
  • Article   100 4
  • Article   101 4
  • Article   102 4
  • ANNEX I  Indicative list of advantages granted by the republic of uzbekistan to the independent states in accordance with article 8(3) 4
  • ANNEX II  Community reservations in accordance with article 22(2) 4
  • ANNEX III  Uzbekistan's reservations in accordance with article 22(4) 5
  • ANNEX IV  Financial services referred to in article 25(3) 5
  • ANNEX V  Intellectual, industrial and commercial property conventions referred to in article 41 5
  • Protocol on mutual assistance between administrative authorities in customs matters 5
  • 1 Definitions 5
  • 2 Scope 5
  • 3 Assistance on Request 5
  • 4 Spontaneous Assistance 5
  • 5 Delivery/notification 5
  • 6 Form and Substance of Requests for Assistance 5
  • 7 Execution of Requests 5
  • 8 5
  • 9 Exceptions to the Obligation to Provide Assistance 5
  • 10 Information Exchange and Confidentiality 5
  • 11 Experts and Witnesses 5
  • 12 Assistance Expenses 5
  • 13 Application 5
  • 14 Complementarity 5
  • Joint declarations 6
  • EXCHANGE OF LETTERS  Between the community and the republic of uzbekistan in relation to the establishment of companies 6