Article 31. Procedures of the Joint Committee
1. For the proper implementation of this Agreement, the Joint Committee shall, upon request of any Party, meet whenever necessary but at least once every two years.
2. The Joint Committee shall act by common agreement.
3. If a representative of a Party in the Joint Committee has accepted a decision subject to the fulfilment of constitutional requirements, the decision shall enter into force, if no later date is contained therein, on the date the lifting of the reservation is notified.
4. For the purpose of this Agreement, the Joint Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure which shall, inter alia, contain provisions for convening meetings and for the designation of the Chairman and his/her term of office.
5. The Joint Committee may decide to set up such sub-committees and working parties as it considers necessary to assist it in accomplishing its tasks.
Article 32. Fulfilment of Obligations and Consultations
1. The Parties shall take all necessary measures to ensure the fulfilment of their obligations under this Agreement. Should any divergency with respect to the interpretation and application of this Agreement arise, the Parties shall make every attempt through co-operation and consultations to arrive at a mutually satisfactory resolution.
2. Any Party may request in writing consultations with any other Party regarding any actual or proposed measure or any other matter that it considers might affect the operation of this Agreement. The Party requesting consultations shall at the same time notify the other Parties in writing thereof and supply all relevant information.
3. The consultations shall take place in the Joint Committee if any of the Parties so requests within 20 days from the receipt of the notification referred to in paragraph 2, with a view to finding a commonly acceptable solution.
Article 33. Provisional Measures
If an EFTA State considers that Lebanon has, or if Lebanon considers that an EFTA State has failed to fulfil an obligation under this Agreement and the Joint Committee has failed to arrive at a commonly acceptable solution within 90 days, the Party concerned may take such provisional rebalancing measures as are appropriate and strictly necessary to remedy the imbalance. Priority shall be given to such measures as will least disturb the functioning of the Agreement. The measures taken shall be notified immediately to the Parties and to the Joint Committee, which shall hold regular consultations with a view to their abolition. The measures shall be abolished when conditions no longer justify their maintenance, or, if the dispute is submitted to arbitration, when an arbitral award has been rendered and complied with.
Article 34. Arbitration
1. Disputes between the Parties, relating to the interpretation of rights and obligations of the Parties, which have not been settled, pursuant to Article 32 of this Agreement, through direct consultations or in the Joint Committee within 90 days from the date of the receipt of the written request for consultations, may be referred to arbitration by one or more Parties to the dispute by means of a written notification addressed to the Party complained against. A copy of this notification shall be communicated to all Parties.
2. In case of the reference of the matter to arbitration, each Party shall, within 30 days from the date of receipt of notification, nominate an arbitrator and the two arbitrators shall, within 30 days from the date of last nomination, appoint a third arbitrator who will be the Chairman of the arbitral tribunal. The Chairman shall not be a national of either party to the dispute, nor permanently reside in the territory of either Party. If more than one EFTA State is party to a dispute, these States shall jointly nominate one arbitrator.
3. In case either Party fails to nominate its arbitrator or the nominated arbitrators fail to agree on a third member within the period specified in paragraph 2, each Party may request the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to appoint the arbitrator of the refusing Party or the third member, as the case may be.
4. The arbitral tribunal shall settle the dispute in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and the customary rules of interpretation of public international law.
5. Unless otherwise specified in this Agreement or agreed between the parties to the dispute, the Optional Rules for Arbitrating Disputes between Two States of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), effective 20 October 1992, shall apply.
6. A Party that is not a party to the dispute, on delivery of a written notice to the disputing Parties, shall be entitled to receive written submissions of the disputing Parties and attend all hearings.
7. The arbitral tribunal shall take its decisions by majority vote.
8. The expenses of the arbitral tribunal, including the remuneration of its members, shall normally be borne by the parties to the dispute in equal shares. The arbitral tribunal may, however, at its discretion decide that a higher proportion of the expenses be paid by one of the parties to the dispute. Fees and expenses payable to members of an arbitral tribunal will be subject to schedules established by the Joint Committee and in force at the time of the establishment of the arbitral tribunal.
Chapter IX. Final Provisions
Article 35. Evolutionary Clause
1. The Parties undertake to review this Agreement in light of further developments in international economic relations, i.a. in the framework of the WTO, and to examine in this context and in the light of any relevant factor the possibility of further developing and deepening the co-operation under this Agreement and to extend it to areas not covered therein. The Parties may instruct the Joint Committee to examine this possibility and, where appropriate, to make recommendations to them, particularly with a view to opening up negotiations.
2. Agreements resulting from the procedure referred to in paragraph 1 will be subject to ratification or approval by the Parties in accordance with their own procedures.
Article 36. Annexes and Protocols
1. The Annexes and the Protocols to this Agreement are an integral part of it. The Joint Committee may decide to amend the Annexes and Protocols.
2. The Annexes and Protocols to this Agreement are the following: Annex I Territorial application Annex II Products not covered by the Agreement Annex III Fish and other marine products Annex IV Customs duties on imports and charges having equivalent effect Annex V Protection of intellectual property Protocol A Processed agricultural products Protocol B Rules of origin Protocol C State Monopolies
Article 37. Amendments
1. Amendments to this Agreement other than those referred to in Article 36 shall, after approval by the Joint Committee, be submitted to the Parties for ratification, acceptance or approval.
2. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, amendments shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the deposit of the last instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.
3. The text of the amendments shall be deposited with the Depositary.
Article 38. Customs Unions, Free Trade Areas, Frontier Trade and other Preferential Agreements
This Agreement shall not prevent the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free trade areas, arrangements for frontier trade and other preferential agreements to the extent that these do not negatively affect the trade regime provided for by this Agreement.
Article 39. Accession
1. Any State, Member of the European Free Trade Association, may accede to this Agreement, provided that the Joint Committee decides to approve its accession, on terms and conditions to be negotiated between the acceding State and the Parties concerned. The instrument of accession shall be deposited with the Depositary.
2. 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.
Article 40. 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 Lebanon withdraws, this Agreement shall expire at the end of the notice period.
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 41. Entry Into Force
1. This Agreement is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. The instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Depositary.
2. This Agreement shall enter into force on 1 January 2005 in relation to those Signatory States which by then have ratified the Agreement, provided they have deposited their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the Depositary at least two months before the entry into force, and provided that Lebanon is among the States that have deposited their instruments of ratification or acceptance.
3. In case this Agreement does not enter into force on 1 January 2005 it shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the latter date on which Lebanon and at least one EFTA State have deposited their instruments of ratification.
4. In relation to an EFTA State depositing its instrument of ratification, 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.
5. If its constitutional requirements permit, any EFTA State may apply this Agreement provisionally. Provisional application of this Agreement under this paragraph shall be notified to the Depositary.
Article 42. Depositary
The Government of Norway shall act as Depositary.
Conclusion
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Agreement.
Done at Montreux, this 24th day of June 2004, in a single original in the English language, which shall be deposited with the Government of Norway. The Depositary shall transmit certified copies to all Signatory States.
For the Republic of Iceland
For the Republic of Lebanon
For the Principality of Liechtenstein
For the Kingdom of Norway
For the Swiss Confederation