3. The Parties recall the obligations deriving from membership of the ILO to effectively implement the ILO Conventions which they have ratified and to make continued and sustained efforts towards ratifying the fundamental ILO Conventions as well as consider the ratification of the other conventions that are classified as "up-to-date" by the ILO.
4. The Parties reaffirm that, as set out in the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 97 th session in 2008, the violation of fundamental principles and rights at work shall not be invoked or otherwise used as a legitimate comparative advantage and that labour standards shall not be used for protectionist trade purposes.
Article 10.6. Trade In Forest-based Products
1. In order to promote the sustainable management of forest resources and thereby, inter alia, reduce greenhouse emissions from deforestation and degradation of natural forests and peat lands related to activities in and beyond the forest sector, the Parties commit to work together in the relevant multilateral fora in which they participate and through existing bilateral cooperation if applicable to improve enforcement of domestic forest legislation and governance and to promote trade in legal and sustainable forest-based, agricultural and mining products.
2. Useful instruments to achieve this objective may include, inter alia, the promotion of listing of timber species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) with regard to endangered timber species, certification schemes for sustainably harvested forest products, regional or bilateral Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreements.
Article 10.7. Multilateral Environmental Agreements and Environmental Principles
The Parties reaffirm their commitment to the effective implementation in their laws and practices of the multilateral environmental agreements to which they are a party, as well as their adherence to environmental principles reflected in the international instruments referred to in Article 10.1.
Article 10.8. Promotion of Trade and Investment Favouring Sustainable Development
1. The Parties shall strive to facilitate and promote foreign investment, trade in and dissemination of goods and services beneficial to the environment, including environmental technologies, sustainable renewable energy, energy efficient and eco-labelled goods and services. Related non-tariff barriers will be addressed as part of these efforts.
2. The Parties shall strive to facilitate and promote foreign investment, trade in and dissemination of goods and services that contribute to sustainable development, including goods and services that are the subject of schemes such as fair and ethical trade.
3. To this end, the Parties agree to exchange views and may consider, jointly or bilaterally, cooperation in this area.
4. The Parties shall encourage cooperation between enterprises in relation to goods, services and technologies that contribute to sustainable development and are beneficial to the environment.
Article 10.9. Cooperation In International Fora
The Parties shall strive to strengthen their cooperation on trade and investment related labour and environmental issues of mutual interest in relevant bilateral, regional and multilateral fora in which they participate.
Article 10.10. Implementation and Consultations
1. Each Party shall designate a contact point for the purpose of implementing this Chapter.
2. A Party may through the contact point referred to in paragraph 1 request expert consultations or consultations within the Joint Committee regarding any matter arising under this Chapter. The Parties shall make every attempt to reach a mutually satisfactory solution of the matter. Where relevant, subject to the agreement of the Parties, they can seek advice of the relevant international organisations or bodies.
3. The Parties shall not have recourse to arbitration under Chapter 12 for matters arising under this Chapter.
Article 10.11. Review
The Parties shall periodically review, in the Joint Committee, progress achieved in pursuing the objectives set out in this Chapter and consider relevant international developments in order to identify areas where further action could promote these objectives.
Chapter 11. Institutional Provisions
Article 11. Joint Committee
1. The Parties hereby establish the EFTA-Georgia Joint Committee (hereinafter referred to as the "Joint Committee") comprising representatives of each Party. The Parties shall be represented by senior officials designated by them for this purpose.
2. The Joint Committee shall:
(a) supervise and review the implementation of this Agreement;
(b) keep under review the possibility of further removal of barriers to trade and other restrictive measures concerning trade between the Parties;
(c) oversee the further elaboration of this Agreement;
(d) supervise the work of all sub-committees and working groups established under this Agreement;
(e) endeavour to resolve disputes that may arise regarding the interpretation or application of this Agreement; and
(f) consider any other matter that may affect the operation of this Agreement.
3. The Joint Committee may decide to set up such sub-committees and working groups as it considers necessary to assist it in accomplishing its tasks. Except where otherwise provided for in this Agreement, the sub-committees and working groups shall work under a mandate established by the Joint Committee.
4. The Joint Committee may take decisions as provided for in this Agreement. On other matters the Joint Committee may make recommendations.
5. The Joint Committee shall take decisions and make recommendations by consensus. Where this Agreement foresees that a provision only concerns certain Parties, the Joint Committee may adopt decisions and make recommendations regarding issues related only to one or several EFTA States and Georgia. The vote shall in such cases only be taken among the Parties concerned and the decisions or recommendations shall only apply to those Parties.
6. The Joint Committee shall meet within one year of the entry into force of this Agreement. Thereafter, it shall meet whenever necessary but normally every two years. Its meetings shall be chaired jointly by one of the EFTA States and Georgia.
7. Each Party may request at any time, through a notice in writing to the other Parties, that a special meeting of the Joint Committee be held. Such a meeting shall take place within 30 days from the receipt of the request, unless the Parties agree otherwise.
8. The Joint Committee may decide to amend the Annexes and Appendices to this Agreement and, subject to paragraph 9, set forth the date on which such decisions enter into force.
9. If a representative of a Party in the Joint Committee has accepted a decision subject to the fulfilment of domestic legal requirements, the decision shall enter into force on the date that the last Party notifies that its internal requirements have been fulfilled, unless the decision itself specifies a later date. The Joint Committee may decide that the decision shall enter into force for those Parties that have fulfilled their internal requirements, provided that Georgia is one of those Parties. A Party may apply a decision of the Joint Committee provisionally until such decision enters into force for it, subject to its legal requirements.
10. The Joint Committee shall establish its rules of procedure.
Chapter 12. Dispute Settlement
Article 12.1. Scope and Coverage
1. The provisions of this Chapter apply with respect to the settlement of any disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement.
2. Disputes regarding the same matter arising under both this Agreement and the WTO Agreement may be settled in either forum at the discretion of the complaining Party. (11) The forum thus selected shall be used to the exclusion of the other.
3. For the purposes of paragraph 2, dispute settlement procedures under the WTO Agreement are deemed to be selected by a Party's request for the establishment of a panel under Article 6 of the WTO Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, whereas dispute settlement procedures under this Agreement are deemed to be selected upon a request for arbitration pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 12.4.
Article 12.2. Good Offices, Conciliation or Mediation
1. Good offices, conciliation and mediation are procedures that are undertaken voluntarily if the Parties so agree. They may begin, continue and be terminated at any time, including while proceedings of an arbitration panel established in accordance with this Chapter are in progress.
2. Proceedings involving good offices, conciliation and mediation shall be confidential and without prejudice to the Parties' rights in any further proceedings.
Article 12.3. Consultations
1. The Parties shall at all times endeavour to agree on the interpretation and application of this Agreement, and shall make every attempt through cooperation and consultations to reach a mutually satisfactory solution of any matter raised in accordance with this Article.
For the purposes of this Chapter, the terms "Party", "party to the dispute", "complaining Party" and "Party complained against" can denote one or more Parties.
2. A Party may request in writing consultations with another Party if it considers that a measure is inconsistent with this Agreement. The Party requesting consultations shall at the same time notify the other Parties in writing of the request. The Party to which the request is made shall reply within ten days from the receipt of the request. Consultations shall take place in the Joint Committee unless the Parties making and receiving the request for consultations agree otherwise.
3. Consultations shall commence within 30 days from the receipt of the request for consultations. Consultations on urgent matters, including those on perishable goods, shall commence within 15 days from the receipt of the request for consultations. If the Party to which the request is made does not reply within ten days or does not enter into consultations within 30 days from the receipt of the request for consultations, or within 15 days for urgent matters, the Party making the request is entitled to request the establishment of an arbitration panel in accordance with Article 12.4.
4. The parties to the dispute shall provide sufficient information to enable a full examination of whether the measure is inconsistent with this Agreement or not and treat any confidential information exchanged in the course of consultations in the same manner as the Party providing the information.
5. The consultations shall be confidential and without prejudice to the rights of the Parties in any further proceedings.
6. The parties to the dispute shall inform the other Parties of any mutually agreed resolution of the matter.
Article 12.4. Establishment of Arbitration Panel
1. If the consultations referred to in Article 12.3 fail to settle a dispute within 60 days, or 30 days in relation to urgent matters, including those on perishable goods, from the receipt of the request for consultations by the Party complained against, the complaining Party may request the establishment of an arbitration panel by means of a written request to the Party complained against. A copy of this request shall be communicated to the other Parties so that they may determine whether to participate in the arbitration process.
2. The request for the establishment of an arbitration panel shall identify the specific measure at issue and provide a brief summary of the legal and factual basis of the complaint.
3. The arbitration panel shall consist of three members who shall be appointed in accordance with the Optional Rules for Arbitrating Disputes between Two States of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, as effective from 20 October 1992 (hereinafter referred to as the "Optional Rules"), mutatis mutandis. The date of establishment of the arbitration panel shall be the date on which the Chairperson is appointed.
4. Unless the parties to the dispute otherwise agree within 20 days from the receipt of the request for the establishment of the arbitration panel, the terms of reference for the arbitration panel shall be:
"To examine, in light of the relevant provisions of this Agreement, the matter referred to in the request for the establishment of an arbitration panel pursuant to Article 12.4 and to make findings of law and fact together with the reasons, as well as recommendations, if any, for the resolution of the dispute and the implementation of the ruling."
5. Where more than one Party requests the establishment of an arbitration panel relating to the same matter or where the request involves more than one Party complained against, and whenever feasible, a single arbitration panel should be established to examine complaints relating to the same matter.
6. A Party which is not a party to the dispute shall be entitled, on delivery of a written notice to the parties to the dispute, to make written submissions to the arbitration panel, receive written submissions, including annexes, from the parties to the dispute, attend hearings and make oral statements.
Article 12.5. Procedures of the Arbitration Panel
1. Unless otherwise specified in this Agreement or agreed between the parties to the dispute, the procedures of the panel shall be governed by the Optional Rules, mutatis mutandis.
2. The arbitration panel shall examine the matter referred to it in the request for the establishment of an arbitration panel in light of the relevant provisions of this Agreement interpreted in accordance with the customary rules of interpretation of public international law.
3. The language of any proceedings shall be English. The hearings of the arbitration panel shall be open to the public, unless the parties to the dispute agree otherwise.
4. There shall be no ex parte communication with the arbitration panel concerning matters under its consideration.
5. A Party's written submissions, any written versions of oral statements and responses to questions put by the arbitration panel, shall, at the same time as it is submitted to the arbitration panel, be transmitted by that Party to the other party to the dispute.
6. The Parties shall treat as confidential the information submitted to the arbitration panel which has been designated as confidential by the Party submitting the information.
7. Decisions of the arbitration panel shall be taken by a majority of its members. Any member may furnish separate opinions on matters not unanimously agreed. The arbitration panel shall not disclose which members are associated with majority or minority opinions.
Article 12.6. Panel Reports
1. The arbitration panel should submit an initial report containing its findings and rulings to the parties to the dispute not later than 90 days from the date of establishment of the arbitration panel. A party to the dispute may submit written comments to the arbitration panel within 14 days from the receipt of the initial report. The arbitration panel should present to the parties to the dispute a final report within 30 days from the receipt of the initial report by the parties to the dispute.
2. The final report, as well as any report under Articles 12.8 and 12.9 shall be communicated to the Parties. The reports shall be made public, unless the parties to the dispute decide otherwise.
3. Any ruling of the arbitration panel under any provision of this Chapter shall be final and binding upon the parties to the dispute.
Article 12.7. Suspension or Termination of Arbitration Panel Proceedings
1. Where the parties to the dispute agree, an arbitration panel may suspend its work at any time for a period not exceeding 12 months. If the work of an arbitration panel has been suspended for more than 12 months, the arbitration panel's authority for considering the dispute shall lapse, unless the parties to the dispute agree otherwise.
2. A complaining Party may withdraw its complaint at any time before the initial report has been issued. Such withdrawal is without prejudice to its right to introduce a new complaint regarding the same issue at a later point in time.
3. The parties to the dispute may agree at any time to terminate the proceedings of the arbitration panel established under this Agreement by jointly notifying in writing the Chairperson of that arbitration panel.
4. An arbitration panel may, at any stage of the proceedings prior to release of the final report, propose that the parties to the dispute seek to settle the dispute amicably.
Article 12.8. Implementation of the Final Panel Report
1. The Party complained against shall promptly comply with the ruling in the final report. If it is impracticable to comply immediately, the parties to the dispute shall endeavour to agree on a reasonable period of time to do so. In the absence of such agreement within 45 days from the issuance of the final report, either party to the dispute may request the original arbitration panel to determine the length of the reasonable period of time, in light of the particular circumstances of the case. The ruling of the arbitration panel should be given within 30 days from the receipt of that request.
2. The Party complained against shall notify the other party to the dispute of the measure adopted in order to comply with the ruling in the final report, as well as provide a detailed description of how the measure ensures compliance sufficient to allow the other party to the dispute to assess the measure.
3. In case of disagreement as to the existence of a measure complying with the ruling in the final report or to the consistency of that measure with the ruling, such disagreement shall be decided by the same arbitration panel upon the request of either party to the dispute before compensation can be sought or suspension of benefits can be applied in accordance with Article 12.9. The ruling of the arbitration panel should be rendered within 90 days from the receipt of that request.
Article 12.9. Compensation and Suspension of Concessions or other Obligations
1. If the Party complained against does not comply with a ruling of the arbitration panel referred to in Article 12.8, or notifies the complaining Party that it does not intend to comply with the ruling in the final panel report, that Party shall, if so requested by the complaining Party, enter into consultations with a view to agreeing on mutually acceptable compensation. Only if such consultations have been requested and no agreement has been reached within 20 days from the receipt of the request, the complaining Party shall be entitled to suspend the application of concessions or other obligations granted under this Agreement but only equivalent to those affected by the measure that the arbitration panel has found to be inconsistent with this Agreement.
2. In considering what concessions or other obligations to suspend, the complaining Party should first seek to suspend concessions or other obligations in the same sector or sectors as that affected by the measure that the arbitration panel has found to be inconsistent with this Agreement. If the complaining Party considers that it is not practicable or effective to suspend concessions or other obligations in the same sector or sectors, it may suspend concessions or other obligations in other sectors.
3. The complaining Party shall notify the Party complained against of the concessions or other obligations which it intends to suspend, the grounds for such suspension and when suspension will commence, no later than 30 days before the date on which the suspension is due to take effect. Within 15 days from the receipt of that notification, the Party complained against may request the original arbitration panel to rule on whether the concessions or other obligations which the complaining Party intends to suspend are equivalent to those affected by the measure found to be inconsistent with this Agreement, and whether the proposed suspension is in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2. The ruling of the arbitration panel should be given within 45 days from the receipt of that request. Concessions or other obligations shall not be suspended until the arbitration panel has issued its ruling.
4. Compensation and suspension of concessions or other obligations shall be temporary measures and shall only be applied by the complaining Party until the measure found to be inconsistent with this Agreement has been withdrawn or amended so as to bring it into conformity with this Agreement, or until the parties to the dispute have resolved the dispute otherwise.
5. At the request of a party to the dispute, the original arbitration panel shall rule on the conformity with the final report of any implementing measures adopted after the suspension of concessions or other obligations and, in light of such ruling, whether the suspension of concessions or other obligations should be terminated or modified. The ruling of the arbitration panel should be given within 30 days from the receipt of that request.
Article 12.10. Other Provisions
1. Whenever possible, the arbitration panel referred to in Articles 12.8 and 12.9 shall comprise the same arbitrators who issued the final report. If a member of the original arbitration panel is unavailable, the appointment of a replacement arbitrator shall be conducted in accordance with the selection procedure for the original arbitrator.
2. Any time period mentioned in this Chapter may be modified by mutual agreement of the parties to the dispute
3. When an arbitration panel considers that it cannot comply with a timeframe imposed on it under this Chapter, it shall inform the parties to the dispute in writing and provide an estimate of the additional time required. Any additional time required should not exceed 30 days.
Chapter 13. Final Provisions
Article 13.1. Annexes and Appendices
The Annexes to this Agreement, including their Appendices, constitute an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 13.2. Amendments
1. Any Party may submit proposals for amendments to this Agreement to the Joint Committee for consideration and recommendation.
2. Except as otherwise provided for in paragraph 8 of Article 11, amendments to this Agreement shall be submitted to the Parties for ratification, acceptance or approval in accordance with their respective legal requirements. The text of the amendments and the instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Depositary.
3. Amendments to this Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the date on which at least one EFTA State and Georgia have deposited their instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval with the Depositary. In relation to an EFTA State depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval after the amendment has entered into force, the amendment shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the deposit of its instrument.
4. Amendments regarding issues related only to one or several EFTA States and Georgia shall be agreed upon by the Parties concerned.
5. If its respective legal requirements permit, any EFTA State or Georgia may apply any amendments provisionally, pending its entry into force for that Party. Provisional application of amendments shall be notified to the Depositary.
Article 13.3. Accession
1. Any State becoming a Member of EFTA may accede to this Agreement, provided that the Joint Committee approves its accession, on terms and conditions to be agreed upon by the Parties and the acceding State.
2. The instrument of accession shall be deposited with the Depositary. In relation to an acceding State, this Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the deposit of its instrument of accession, or the approval of the terms of accession by the existing Parties, whichever is later.
Article 13.4. Withdrawal and Expiration
1. Each Party may withdraw from this Agreement by means of a written notification to the Depositary. The withdrawal shall take effect six months after the date on which the notification is received by the Depositary.
2. If Georgia withdraws, this Agreement shall expire when its withdrawal becomes effective.
3. Any EFTA State which withdraws from the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association shall, ipso facto on the same day as the withdrawal takes effect, cease to be a Party to this Agreement.
Article 13.5. Entry Into Force
1. This Agreement is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval in accordance with the respective legal requirements of the Parties. The instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Depositary.
2. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the date on which at least one EFTA State and Georgia have deposited their instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval with the Depositary.
3. In relation to an EFTA State depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval after this Agreement has entered into force, the Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the deposit of its instrument.
4. If its respective legal requirements permit, a Party may apply this Agreement provisionally, pending its entry into force for that Party. Provisional application of this Agreement under this paragraph shall be notified to the Depositary.
Article 13.6. Depositary
The Government of Norway shall act as Depositary.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Agreement.
Done at Bern, this 27 th day of June 2016, in one original in English, which shall be deposited with the Depositary, who shall transmit certified copies to all the Parties.
For Iceland
For Georgia
For the Principality of Liechtenstein
For the Kingdom of Norway
For the Swiss Confederation