4. Means of co-operation and assistance may include:
(a) exchange of information, transfer of technology and training;
(b) implementation of joint actions such as seminars and workshops;
(c) technical and administrative assistance;
(d) financial co-operation, such as preferential loans and development funds.
Article 33. Fields of Co-operation
Co-operation and assistance may cover any fields jointly identified by the Parties that may serve to enhance Tunisia's capacities to benefit from increased international trade and investment, including in particular:
(a) trade promotion, trade facilitation, and promotion of market opportunities;
(b) customs and origin matters, including vocational training in the customs field;
(c) modernisation of economic sectors, such as fish and aquaculture, manufacturing, food industry, financial services, tourism;
(d) technical regulations and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, including standardisation and certification; and
(e) regulatory assistance and implementation of laws in areas such as intellectual property and public procurement.
Chapter IX. Institutional and Procedural Provisions
Article 34. The Joint Committee
1. The implementation of this Agreement shall be supervised and administered by a Joint Committee. Each Party shall be represented in the Joint Committee.
2. For the purpose of the proper implementation of this Agreement, the Parties shall exchange information and, at the request of any Party, hold consultations within the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee shall keep under review the possibility of further removal of the obstacles to trade between the EFTA States and Tunisia.
3. The Joint Committee may take decisions in the cases provided for in this Agreement. On other matters the Joint Committee may make recommendations.
Article 35. 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 normally every two years.
2. The Joint Committee shall act by common agreement.
3. If a representative in the Joint Committee of a Party 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 at which 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 36. 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 request within 30 days from the receipt of the notification referred to in paragraph 2, with a view to finding a commonly acceptable solution.
Article 37. Provisional Measures
If an EFTA State considers that Tunisia has, or if Tunisia 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 3 months, 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 38. Arbitration
1. Disputes between the Parties, relating to the interpretation of rights and obligations under this Agreement, which have not been settled through direct consultations or in the Joint Committee within 90 days from the date of the receipt of the request for consultations, may be referred to arbitration by any Party to the dispute by means of a written notification addressed to the other Party to the dispute. A copy of this notification shall be communicated to all Parties. Where more than one Party requests the submission to an arbitral tribunal of a dispute with the same Party relating to the same question a single arbitral tribunal should be established to consider such disputes whenever feasible.
2. The constitution and functioning of the arbitral tribunal shall be governed by Annex VI. The award of the arbitral tribunal shall be final and binding upon the Parties to the dispute.
Chapter X. Final Provisions
Article 39. Evolutionary Clause
1. The Parties undertake to review the present 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 40. Annexes and Protocols
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.
Article 41. Amendments
1. Amendments to this Agreement 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 as well as the instruments of acceptance shall be deposited with the Depositary.
Article 42. Relation to other International Agreements
1. This Agreement shall not preclude the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free trade areas and arrangements for frontier trade insofar as they do not have the effect of altering the trade arrangements provided for in this Agreement.
2. The Parties confirm their rights and obligations under the WTO and the other agreements negotiated thereunder to which they are party, and under any other international agreement to which they are a party.
3. When a Party enters into a customs union or free trade agreement with a third party it shall, upon request by any other Party, be prepared to enter into consultations with the requesting Party.
Article 43. Accession
1. Any new 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, or the approval of the terms of accession by the existing Parties, whichever is later.
Article 44. 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. 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 45. 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 June 2005 in relation to those Signatory States which by then have deposited their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the Depositary, provided that Tunisia 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 June 2005 it shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the latter date on which Tunisia 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 second 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 46. Depositary
The Government of Norway shall act as Depositary.
Conclusion
Article Article
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorised hereto, have signed this Agreement.
Done at Geneva, this 17th day of December 2004, in two original copies, each in the English and the French languages, both texts being equally authentic. In case of conflict the English version shall prevail. One original for each language shall be deposited with the Government of Norway.
For the Republic of Iceland
For the Republic of Tunisia
For the Principality of Liechtenstein
For the Kingdom of Norway
For the Swiss Confederation
Attachments
ANNEX VI. REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 38. CONSTITUTION AND FUNCTIONING OF THE ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL
1. The arbitral tribunal shall comprise three members.
2. In the written notification pursuant to Article (arbitration) of this Agreement, the Party or Parties referring the dispute to arbitration shall designate one member of the arbitral tribunal.
3. Within 15 days from the receipt of the notification referred to in paragraph 2, the Party or Parties to which it was addressed shall, in turn, designate one member.
4. Within 30 days from the receipt of the notification referred to in paragraph 2, the Parties concerned shall agree on the designation of a third member. The third member shall not be a national nor permanently reside in the territory of the parties to the dispute. The member thus appointed shall be the President of the arbitral tribunal.
5. If all three members have not been designated or appointed within 30 days from the receipt of the notification referred to in paragraph 2, the necessary designations shall be made, at request of any party to the dispute, by the President of the International Court of Justice applying the criteria of paragraphs 3 and 4. If the President is unable to act under this paragraph or is a national of a party to the dispute, the designations shall be effected by the next senior member of the Court who is neither unable to act nor a national of a Party.
6. Unless otherwise agreed between the parties to the dispute, and subject to Article (Arbitration) of the Agreement and this Annex, the Optional Rules for Arbitrating Disputes between Two States of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), effective 20 October 1992, shall apply.
7. The arbitral tribunal shall take its decisions by majority vote. Minority opinions shall not be disclosed.
8. The arbitral award shall be rendered within six months of the date at which the President of the arbitral tribunal was appointed. This period can be extended by a maximum of three additional months, if the parties to the dispute so agree.
9. The expenses of the arbitral tribunal, including the remuneration of its members, shall be borne by the parties to the dispute in equal shares. Fees and expenses payable to members of an arbitral tribunal established under this Agreement will be subject to schedules established by the Joint Committee and in force at the time of the establishment of the arbitral tribunal. These schedules normally shall conform to the WTO standards.