2. Unless the Parties to the dispute agree on a mediator within ten days of the mediation request being submitted, the Chairperson of the EPA Committee or his/her delegate, shall choose by lot a mediator from among the individuals on the list referred to in Article 64 and who are not citizens of the Parties. The selection shall be made within 20 days of the mediation request being submitted, in the presence of a representative from each of the Parties. The mediator shall convene a meeting of the Parties at the latest 30 days after being appointed. The mediator shall receive submissions from each Party at the latest 15 days before the meeting and shall announce his/her opinion at the latest 45 days after being appointed.
3. In his/her opinion, the mediator may make recommendations on how the dispute should be settled, in accordance with the provisions in Article 53. The mediator's opinion shall not be binding.
4. The Parties may agree to modify the time-limits referred to in paragraph 2. The mediator may also decide to modify these time-limits on the request of either Party or on his/her own initiative, depending on the particular difficulties affecting the Party concerned and the complexity of the case.
5. The mediation procedures and in particular the information exchanged and the positions adopted during these procedures shall remain confidential.
Chapter 3. Procedures for and Settlement of Disputes
Article 49. Initiating the Arbitration Procedure
1. Where the Parties do not settle the dispute after having recourse to the consultations provided for in Article 47 or after engaging in the mediation referred to in Article 48, the complaining Party may request the establishment of an arbitration panel.
2. The request to establish an arbitration panel shall be addressed in writing to the Party complained against and to the EPA Committee. In its request, the complaining Party shall specify the measures in question and explain why these measures infringe the provisions of the Agreement.
Article 50. Creation of an Arbitration Panel
1. An arbitration panel shall be composed of three arbitrators.
2. Within ten days of the request for the establishment of an arbitration panel being submitted to the EPA Committee, the Parties shall consult in order to reach an agreement on the composition of the arbitration panel.
3. In the event that the Parties are unable to agree on the composition of the panel within the time frame laid down in paragraph 2, either Party may request the Chairperson of the EPA Committee, or her/his delegate, to select all three members by lot from the list established under Article 64: one from among the individuals proposed by the complaining Party, one from among the individuals proposed by the Party complained against and the third from among those selected by both Parties to act as Chairperson. If the Parties have agreed on the selection of one or more of the members of the arbitration panel, the remaining member(s) shall be selected according to the same procedure.
4. The Chairperson of the EPA Committee or his/her delegate shall select the arbitrators within five days of the request referred to in paragraph 3 from either of the Parties and in the presence of a representative from each Party.
5. The date on which the arbitration panel is established shall be the date on which the three arbitrators have been selected.
Article 51. Interim Report by the Arbitration Panel
The arbitration panel shall submit to the Parties an interim report containing both the descriptive sections and its observations and conclusions, generally within 120 days at the latest from the date on which the panel was established. In the two weeks following the presentation of the interim report by the arbitration panel, each Party shall submit to the arbitration panel remarks in writing concerning specific aspects of the report.
Article 52. Arbitration Panel Ruling
1. The arbitration panel shall transmit its ruling to the Parties and the EPA Committee at the latest 150 days following its establishment. If it considers that this time-limit cannot be respected, the Chairperson of the panel shall inform the Parties and the EPA Committee in writing, giving reasons for the delay and stating the date on which the Committee plans to conclude its work. The arbitration ruling should under no circumstances be delivered any later than 180 days from the date on which the arbitration panel was established.
2. In urgent situations, including those involving perishable and seasonal foodstuffs, the panel shall endeavour to deliver its ruling within 75 days of being established. Under no circumstances should it deliver its ruling any later than 90 days after being established. Within ten days of being established, the panel may deliver a preliminary ruling on whether it deems the case to be urgent.
3. Each Party may ask the arbitration panel to recommend ways in which the Party complained against could achieve compliance. Achieving compliance
Article 53. Compliance with the Arbitration Panel Ruling
Each Party shall take all necessary measures to implement the arbitration panel ruling. The Parties shall endeavour to agree on a time-limit for compliance with the ruling.
Article 54. Reasonable Time-limit for Compliance
1. At the latest 30 days after the Parties have been informed of the arbitration panel ruling, the Party complained against shall inform the complaining Party and the EPA Committee in writing of the time it will need to achieve compliance (hereinafter "reasonable time-limit").
2. In the event of a disagreement between the Parties regarding what constitutes a reasonable time-limit within which to comply with the arbitration panel ruling, the complaining Party shall, within 20 days of notification by the Party complained against, send a written request to the arbitration panel asking it to determine a reasonable time-limit. This request shall be communicated simultaneously to the other Party and to the EPA Committee. The arbitration panel shall announce its decision to the Parties and to the EPA Committee within 30 days of submitting the request.
3. In order to determine the reasonable time-limit, the arbitration panel shall take account of the time which the Party complained against would normally need to adopt legislative or administrative measures comparable to those which the Party complained against deems necessary in order to ensure compliance. The arbitration panel may also take account of restrictions which might affect the adoption of the necessary measures by the Party complained against.
4. Where the original arbitration panel or some of its members are unable to attend further meetings, the procedures set out in Article 50 shall be applied. The time-limit for delivering a ruling shall be 45 days from the date on which the request referred to in paragraph 2 was submitted.
5. The reasonable time-limit may be extended by mutual agreement between the Parties.
Article 55. Re-examination of the Measures Taken to Achieve Compliance with the Arbitration Panel Ruling
1. The Party complained against shall notify the other Party and the EPA Committee before the end of the reasonable time period of any measures it has taken to comply with the arbitration ruling.
2. In the event of a disagreement between the Parties concerning the compatibility of the measures notified under paragraph 1 with the provisions of this Agreement, the complaining Party may make a written request for an arbitration panel ruling on the matter. The request shall indicate the specific measures in question and explain why they are incompatible with the provisions of this Agreement. The arbitration panel shall communicate its ruling within 90 days from the date on which the request was submitted. In urgent situations, including cases in which perishable and seasonal foodstuffs are in question, the panel shall deliver its ruling within 45 days of the request being submitted.
3. Where the original arbitration panel or some of its members are unable to attend further meetings, the procedures set out in Article 50 shall be applied. The time-limit for notifying a ruling shall be 105 days from the date on which the request referred to in paragraph 2 was submitted.
Article 56. Temporary Remedies In the Event of Non-compliance
1. If the Party complained against fails to notify measures it has taken to comply with the arbitration panel ruling before the expiry of the reasonable time-limit, or if the arbitration panel rules that the measures notified under Article 55(1) are not compatible with that Party's obligations under the provisions of Article 53, the Party complained against shall, if so requested by the complaining Party, present an offer for temporary compensation.
2. If the Parties do not agree on compensation within 30 days of the end of the reasonable time-limit or of the ruling by the arbitration panel referred to in Article 55, according to which the compliance measures which were taken are not compatible with the provisions referred to in Article 53, the complaining Party shall be authorised, after notifying the other Party, to adopt appropriate measures. By adopting such measures, the complaining Party shall endeavour to choose measures which have the least possible impact on the achievement of the objectives of this Agreement, and shall take into consideration their impact on the economy of the Party complained against. In any case, the appropriate measures adopted pursuant to this paragraph shall not affect the provision of development assistance for Côte d'Ivoire.
3. The EC Party shall show moderation in its requests for compensation or when adopting the appropriate measures in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 and shall take account of the fact that the Ivorian Party is a developing country.
4. Appropriate measures or compensation are temporary and shall be applied only until the measure recognised to be in infringement of the provisions of Article 53 has been revoked or amended to bring it into line with the aforementioned provisions, or until the Parties have agreed to settle their dispute.
Article 57. Examination of the Compliance Measures Following on from the Adoption of Appropriate Measures
1. The Party complained against shall notify the other Party and the EPA Committee of the measures which it has taken to achieve compliance with the arbitration panel ruling, and in the notification shall ask the complaining Party to discontinue the application of the appropriate measures.
2. If the Parties do not reach an agreement on the compatibility of the notified measures with the provisions of this Agreement within 30 days of the notification being submitted, the complaining Party shall make a request in writing for the arbitration panel to rule on the matter. The request shall be notified to the other Party and to the EPA Committee. The arbitration panel shall announce its decision to the Parties and to the EPA Committee within 45 days of the request being submitted. If the arbitration group rules that any measures taken to achieve conformity do not comply with the provisions of this Agreement, it shall decide whether the complaining Party may continue to apply the appropriate measures. If the arbitration panel rules that measures taken to achieve conformity comply with the provisions of this Agreement, the appropriate measures shall be discontinued.
3. Where the original arbitration panel or some of its members are unable to attend further meetings, the procedures set out in Article 50 shall be applied. The time-limit for notifying a ruling shall be 60 days from the date on which the request referred to in paragraph 2 was submitted. Common provisions
Article 58. Mutually Satisfactory Solution
Under this Title, the Parties may at any time agree on a mutually satisfactory solution to a dispute. They shall notify the EPA Committee of any such solution. The arbitration proceedings must be complete when a mutually satisfactory solution is adopted.
Article 59. Rules of Procedure
1. The dispute settlement procedures set out in Chapter 3 shall be subject to the rules of procedure adopted by the EPA Committee three months after its establishment.
2. The meetings of the arbitration panel shall be open to the public in accordance with the rules of procedure, unless the arbitration panel decides otherwise on its own initiative or at the request of the Parties.
Article 60. General and Technical Information
At the request of a Party or on its own initiative, the arbitration panel may obtain information from any source, including the Parties concerned by the dispute, if it deems this to be appropriate for the arbitration proceedings. The arbitration panel shall also be authorised to obtain the opinion of experts where deemed appropriate. The Parties concerned shall have the option of submitting briefs on an amicus curiae basis to the arbitration group in accordance with the procedural rules. All information thus obtained must be disclosed to both Parties and subject to their comments.
Article 61. Language of Submissions
Oral and written submissions shall be in one of the official languages of the Parties. However, the Parties shall endeavour, wherever possible, to use an official language shared by the two Parties as their common language, and shall take account of the fact that the Ivorian Party is a developing country, particularly in relation to translation difficulties.
Article 62. Rules of Interpretation
The arbitration panel shall interpret the provisions of this Agreement in accordance with the customary rules of interpretation of public international law, including the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The decisions of the arbitration panel shall neither add to nor diminish the rights and obligations set out in this Agreement.
Article 63. Arbitration Panel Rulings
1. The arbitration panel shall endeavour to make consensus-based decisions. However, if it is impossible to reach a decision by consensus, the dispute shall be settled by a majority vote, but the diverging opinions of the arbitrators shall under no circumstances be published.
2. The decision shall expound the substantive findings, the applicability of the relevant provisions of this Agreement, and the reasoning underpinning the findings and conclusions reached by the arbitration panel. The EPA Committee shall make the arbitration ruling known to the public, unless it decides otherwise.
Chapter 4. General Provisions
Article 64. List of Arbitrators
1. Three months at the latest following the application of this Agreement, the EPA Committee shall draw up a list of 15 people willing and able to act as arbitrators. Each Party shall select five people capable of being arbitrators. The two Parties shall also agree on the choice of five individuals who are not nationals of either Party and could be called upon to chair the arbitration panel. The EPA Committee shall ensure that this list is always complete.
2. The arbitrators shall possess specialist knowledge or experience of law and international trade. They shall be independent, act individually and not under the instructions of an organisation or government, shall not be affiliated to the administration of either Party, and shall observe the code of conduct annexed to the Rules of Procedure.
3. The EPA Committee may draw up an additional list of 15 people with specialist sectoral knowledge of relevance to the specific matters covered by this Agreement. Where there is recourse to the selection procedure of Article 50(2), the Chairperson of the EPA Committee may use such a sectoral list, subject to the agreement of both Parties.
Article 65. Links with the Wto Obligations
1. The arbitration authorities set up under this Agreement shall not deal with disputes relating to the rights and obligations of each Party pursuant to the Agreement establishing the WTO.
2. Recourse to the dispute settlement provisions of this Agreement shall be without prejudice to any possible action in the WTO framework, including a dispute settlement action. However, when a Party has initiated a dispute-settlement procedure with regard to a given measure, either under Article 49(1) or under the Agreement establishing the WTO, it may not initiate a dispute-settlement procedure for the same measure with the other forum before concluding the first procedure. For the purposes of this paragraph, a Party is considered to have initiated a dispute-settlement procedure under the Agreement establishing the WTO once it has requested the establishment of a panel pursuant to Article 6 of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding.
3. This Agreement cannot prevent a Party from applying the suspension of obligations authorised by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.
Article 66. Time-limits
1. The time-limits set out in this Title, including time-limits for the notification of decisions by the arbitration panels, shall be counted in calendar days from the day following the act or event to which they relate.
2. All time-limits in this Title may be extended by mutual agreement between the Parties.
Article 67. Amendment of Title V
The EPA Committee and each of the Parties shall be entitled to request the amendment of Title V. Amendment requests shall be examined by the EPA Committee. Amendments shall take effect only after approval by the Parties.
Title VI. General Exceptions
Article 68. General Exception Clause
Subject to the requirement that such measures not be applicable in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between the Parties where like conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on trade in goods, services or establishment, this Agreement shall not be construed as preventing the adoption or enforcement by the Parties of measures which:
(a) are necessary to ensure the protection of public security, public morality or to maintain public order;
(b) are necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(c) are necessary to ensure compliance with laws and regulations and which are not incompatible with the provisions of this Agreement, including those relating to:
(i) the prevention of deceptive or fraudulent practices and means to deal with the effects of a default on contract payments;
(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;
(iii) safety;
(iv) the application of customs rules and procedures; or
(v) the protection of intellectual property rights;
(d) concern the import or export of gold or money;
(e) are necessary for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value;
(f) concern the conservation of natural, non-renewable resources where these measures involve restrictions on domestic production or consumption of goods, domestic supply or consumption of services and on domestic investors;
(g) relate to the products of prison labour; or
(h) are incompatible with Article 19 on national treatment, provided that the difference in treatment is aimed at ensuring effective or fair imposition or collection of direct taxes on the economic activities of investors or service suppliers of the other Party.
Article 69. Security Exceptions
1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:
(a) as requiring the Parties to supply information the disclosure of which they consider contrary to their essential security interests;
(b) as preventing the Parties from taking any action they deem necessary for the protection of their essential security interests:
(i) relating to fissionable or fusionable materials or the materials from which they are derived;
(ii) relating to economic activities undertaken directly or indirectly for the purpose of delivering supplies or provisions to a military establishment;
(iii) connected with the manufacturing of, or trade in, weapons, ammunition and war materiel;
(iv) relating to government procurement essential to national security or for national defence purposes; or
(v) taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations; or
(c) as preventing the Parties from taking any action in order to carry out obligations they have accepted for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.
2. The EPA Committee shall be kept informed as far as possible of the measures taken pursuant to paragraphs 1(b) and 1(c) and of the date of their termination.
Article 70. Taxation
1. This Agreement or any arrangement adopted under this Agreement shall not be construed as preventing the Parties from distinguishing, in the application of the relevant provisions of their fiscal legislation, between taxpayers who are not in the same situation, in particular with regard to their place of domicile or the place where their capital is invested.
2. This Agreement or any arrangement adopted under this Agreement shall not be construed as preventing the adoption or enforcement of any measure aimed at preventing the avoidance or evasion of taxes pursuant to agreements to avoid double taxation or other tax arrangements or national fiscal legislation.
3. This Agreement shall not affect the rights and obligations of the Parties under any tax convention. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and any such convention, that convention shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Title VII. Institutional, General and Final Provisions
Article 71. Continuation of Negotiations and Implementation of this Agreement
1. The Parties shall continue negotiations in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
2. When negotiations are complete, the resulting draft amendments shall be submitted for approval to the relevant internal authorities.
Article 72. Definition of the Parties and Fulfilment of Obligations
1. The Contracting Parties of this Agreement shall be the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, hereinafter the "Ivorian Party" or "Côte d'Ivoire", of the one part, and the European Community or its Member States, within their respective areas of competence as derived from the Treaty establishing the European Community, hereinafter the "EC Party", of the other part.
2. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "Party" shall refer to Côte d'Ivoire or the EC Party, as appropriate. The term "Parties" shall refer to Côte d'Ivoire and the EC Party.
3. The Parties shall adopt any general or specific measures required for them to fulfil their obligations under this Agreement and shall ensure that they comply with the objectives laid down in this Agreement.
Article 73. EPa Committee
1. For the purposes of implementing this Agreement, an EPA Committee shall be established within three months from the date of signature of this Agreement.
2. The Parties agree that the composition, organisation and operation of this EPA Committee will respect the principle of equality. The Committee shall determine the rules governing its organisation and operation.
3. The EPA Committee shall be responsible for the administration of all the fields covered by this Agreement and for the achievement of all the tasks mentioned in this Agreement.
4. In order to facilitate communication and ensure the effective implementation of this Agreement, each Party shall designate a correspondent within the EPA Committee.
5. The EPA Committee meetings may be open to third parties. The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and ECOWAS Commissions may be invited to the EPA Committee meetings, in accordance with their internal procedures.
Article 74. Outermost Regions of the European Community
1. Taking account of the geographical proximity of the outermost regions of the European Community and Côte d'Ivoire, and in order to strengthen economic and social links between these regions and Côte d'Ivoire, the Parties shall endeavour to facilitate cooperation in all the areas covered by this Agreement and facilitate trade in goods and services, promote investments and encourage transport and communication links between the outermost regions and Côte d'Ivoire.
2. The objectives set out in paragraph 1 shall be pursued as far as possible by fostering the joint participation of Côte d'Ivoire and the outermost regions in framework and specific programmes of the European Community in the areas covered by this Agreement.
3. The EC Party shall endeavour to ensure coordination between the different financial instruments of the European Community's cohesion and development policies in order to foster cooperation between Côte d'Ivoire and the outermost regions of the European Community in the areas covered by this Agreement.
4. This Agreement shall not prevent the EC Party from applying existing measures aimed at addressing the structural, social and economic situation of the outermost regions in accordance with Article 299(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community.
Article 75. Entry Into Force and Denunciation
1. This Agreement shall be signed, ratified or approved in accordance with the constitutional rules specific to each Party or, as far as the EC Party is concerned, according to its internal rules and procedures.
2. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the month following that in which the Ivorian Party and the EC Party have notified each other of the completion of the procedures thus required.
3. Notification shall be sent to the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, who shall be the depositary for this Agreement.
4. Pending entry into force of the Agreement, the Parties shall agree to apply it provisionally, in accordance with their respective laws or by ratification of the Agreement.
5. Provisional application shall be notified to the depositary. The Agreement shall be applied provisionally ten days after receipt of such notification of provisional application by the European Community or Côte d'Ivoire.
6. Notwithstanding paragraph 4, the EC Party and Côte d'Ivoire may apply the agreement, in whole or in part, before its provisional application, to the extent that this is possible under their national legislation.
7. Either Party may give written notice to the other of its intention to denounce this Agreement. Denunciation shall take effect six months after notification to the other Party.
8. This Agreement shall be superseded by a global EPA concluded at regional level with the EC Party on the date of its entry into force. In this case, the Parties shall endeavour to ensure that the global EPA at regional level preserves most of the benefits obtained by Côte d'Ivoire under this Agreement.
Article 76. Territorial Application
This Agreement shall apply to the territories in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty, on the one hand, and, to Côte d'Ivoire, on the other hand.
Article 77. Accession of New Member States to the European Union
1. The EPA Committee shall be advised of any request by a third State to become a member of the European Union. During the negotiations between the European Union and the applicant State, the EC Party shall provide Côte d'Ivoire with any relevant information and Côte d'Ivoire shall in turn convey its concerns to the EC Party so that it can take them fully into account. Côte d'Ivoire shall be notified of any accession to the European Union.
2. Any new Member State of the European Union shall accede to this Agreement from the date of its accession to the European Union by means of a clause to that effect in the act of accession. If the act of accession to the European Union does not provide for such automatic accession of the new Member State of the European Union to this Agreement, the Member State concerned shall accede by depositing an act of accession with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, which shall send certified copies to the Ivorian Party.
3. The Parties shall review the effects of the accession of new Member States of the European Union on this Agreement. The EPA Committee may decide on any transitional measures or amendments which may be necessary.
Article 78. Dialogue on Financial Issues
The Parties agree to foster dialogue and transparency and to share best practices in the area of fiscal policy and administration.
Article 79. Cooperation In the Fight Against Illegal Financial Activities
The EC Party and Côte d'Ivoire shall be committed to preventing and combating illegal, fraudulent and corrupt activities, money laundering and terrorist financing. To this end, the Parties shall take the necessary legislative and administrative measures to comply with international standards, including those laid down in the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its Protocols, the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Financing and the Financial Action Task Force recommendations. The EC Party and Côte d'Ivoire agree to exchange information and cooperate in these areas.
Article 80. Relationships with other Agreements
1. With the exception of the articles concerning development cooperation in Title II of Part III of the Cotonou Agreement, in the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Agreement and the provisions of Title II of Part III of the Cotonou Agreement, the provisions of this Agreement shall prevail.
2. This Agreement shall not be construed as preventing the adoption by the European Community or by Côte d'Ivoire of measures, including trade measures, deemed appropriate and provided for in Articles 11b, 96 and 97 of the Cotonou Agreement.
3. The Parties agree that this Agreement does not require them to act in a manner inconsistent with their WTO obligations.
Article 81. Authentic Languages
This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish languages, each of these texts being equally authentic. In the event of contradiction, reference shall be made to the language in which this Agreement has been negotiated, namely French.
Article 82. Annexes
The Appendices, the Annexes and the Protocol to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof.
Conclusion
In witness whereof, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have affixed their signatures below this Agreement.
Done at Abidjan on the twenty-sixth day of November in the year two thousand and eight and at Brussels on the twenty-second day of January in the year two thousand and nine, respectively.
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF CÔTE D'IVOIRE,