1. Where a Party is in serious balance-of-payments and external financial difficulties, or under threat thereof, it may adopt or maintain restrictions with regard to trade in services and investment, and on payments and transfers related to trade in services and investment.
2. Any restrictions adopted or maintained in accordance with paragraph 1 shall:
(a) be consistent with the Articles of Agreement of the IMF;
(b) avoid unnecessary damage to the commercial, economic and financial interests of the other Party;
(c) not exceed those necessary to deal with the circumstances described in paragraph 1;
(d) be temporary and be phased out progressively as the situation specified in paragraph 1 improves;
(e) be applied on a non-discriminatory basis and such that the other Party is treated no less favourably than any non-party.
3. Any restrictions adopted or maintained under paragraph 1, or any changes thereto, shall be promptly notified to the other Party.
4. The Party adopting any restrictions under paragraph 1 of this Article shall commence consultations with the other Party through the Joint Committee to review the restrictions adopted by it.
Article 7.7. General Exceptions (2)
Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination against the other Party or its investors where like conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on trade in services or on investments of investors of the other Party in the territory of a Party, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by a Party of measures:
(a) necessary to protect public morals or to maintain public order; (3)
(b) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(c) imposed for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value;
(d) relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made effective in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption;
(e) necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement, including those relating to:
(i) the prevention of deceptive and fraudulent practices or to deal with the effects of a default on a contract;
(ii) the protection of the privacy of individuals in relation to the processing and dissemination of personal data and the protection of confidentiality of individual records and accounts; or
(iii) safety.
Article 7.8. Security Exceptions
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:
(a) to require a Party to furnish any information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or
(b) to preclude a Party from applying measures that it considers necessary for the fulfilment of its obligations with respect to the maintenance or restoration of international peace or security, or for the protection of its own essential security interests.
Article 7.9. Disclosure of Information
1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to require a Party to make available confidential information, the disclosure of which would impede law enforcement, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or which would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or private.
2. Unless otherwise provided in this Agreement, where a Party provides information to the other Party (or to the Joint Committee, sub-committees, working groups or any other bodies) in accordance with this Agreement and designates the information as confidential, the Party (or the Joint Committee, sub-committees, working groups or any other bodies) receiving the information shall maintain the confidentiality of the information, use it only for the purposes specified by the Party providing the information, and shall not disclose it without the specific written permission of the Party providing the information.
Article 7.10. Denial of Benefits
A Party may at any time deny the benefits of this Agreement to a person of the other Party and to its investment, if such person is a juridical person that has no substantive business operations in the territory of the other Party and is owned or controlled by persons of either:
(a) any non-party; or
(b) the former Party.
Chapter 8. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 8.1. Amendments
The Parties may agree, in writing, to amend this Agreement. All amendments shall constitute an integral part of this Agreement and shall enter into force in the manner set out in Article 8.2 (Entry into Force).
Article 8.2. Entry Into Force
This Agreement shall be ratified by the Parties. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date of the receipt of the last written notification certifying that the Parties have completed their respective internal legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement.
Article 8.3. Duration
1. This Agreement shall be in force for an indefinite period unless terminated by either Party in accordance with paragraph 2.
2. Either Party may notify in writing the other Party of its intention to terminate this Agreement.
3. This Agreement shall be terminated twelve months after the date of the receipt of the written notification specified under paragraph 2. This is without prejudice to the provision in this Agreement which qualifies the effect of the termination, namely, Article 8.4 (Savings Clause).
Article 8.4. Savings Clause
1. For ten (10) years from the date of termination of this Agreement, the following provisions (including the relevant Annexes) shall continue to apply to investments of investors of the other Party in existence at the date of termination, and without prejudice to the application thereafter of the rules of general international law:
(a) the provisions of Chapter 3 (Investment); and
(b) such other provisions in the Agreement as may be necessary for or consequential to the application or interpretation of Chapter 3 (Investment).
2. For the avoidance of doubt, paragraph 1 shall not apply to the establishment, acquisition or expansion of investments after the date of termination.
3. Within thirty (30) days of the delivery of a notification under paragraph 2 of Article 8.3 (Duration), either Party may request consultations regarding whether the termination of any provision of this Agreement should take effect at a later date than provided under paragraph 3 of Article 8.3 (Duration). Such consultations shall commence within thirty (30) days of a Party's delivery of such request.
Article 8.5. Annexes
The Annexes to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof.
Conclusion
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Agreement.
Done at Astana, Kazakhstan, in duplicate, this 22nd day of May 2023, in the Kazakh and English languages, both texts being equally authentic. In case of dispute, the English text shall prevail.