Indicative Timetable for the Panel
Panel established on xx/xx/xxxx.
1. Receipt of first written submissions of the Parties:
(a) complaining Party: 15 days after the date of the composition of the panel;
(b) responding Party: 45 days after (a);
2. Date of the first hearing with the Parties: 15 days after receipt of the first submission of the responding Party;
3. Receipt of written supplementary submissions of the Parties: 10 days after the date of the first hearing;
4. Issuance of initial report to the Parties: 35 days after receipt of written supplementary submissions;
5. Deadline for the Parties to provide written comments on the initial report: 15 days after the issuance of the initial report; and
6. Issuance of final report to the Parties: within 30 days of presentation of the initial report.
ANNEX 16B . CODE OF CONDUCT FOR PANELISTS
Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Annex:
(a) assistant means a person who, under the terms of appointment of a panelist, conducts research or provides support for the panelist;
(b) panelist means a member of a panel established under Article 16.8 (Establishment of a Panel);
(c) proceeding, unless otherwise specified, means the proceeding of a panel under Chapter 16 (Dispute Settlement); and
(d) staff, in respect of an panelist, means persons under the direction and control of the panelist, other than assistants.
Responsibilities to the Process
2. Every panelist shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, shall be independent and impartial, shall avoid direct and indirect conflicts of interests, and shall observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and impartiality of the dispute settlement process are preserved. Former panelists shall comply with the obligations established in paragraphs 17 through 20.
Disclosure Obligations
3. Prior to confirmation of his or her selection as an panelist under this Agreement, a candidate shall disclose any interest, relationship, or matter that is likely to affect his or her independence or impartiality, or that might reasonably create an appearance of impropriety or bias in the proceeding. To this end, a candidate shall make all reasonable efforts to become aware of any such interests, relationships, and matters.
4. Once selected, a panelist shall continue to make all reasonable efforts to become aware of any interests, relationships, and matters referred to in paragraph 3 and shall disclose them by communicating them in writing to the Joint Committee for consideration by the Parties. The obligation to disclose is a continuing duty, which requires a panelist to disclose any such interests, relationships, and matters that may arise during any stage of the proceeding.
Performance of Duties by Panelists
5. A panelist shall comply with the provisions of this Chapter and the applicable rules of procedure.
6. On selection, a panelist shall perform his or her duties thoroughly and expeditiously throughout the course of the proceeding with fairness and diligence.
7. A panelist shall not deny other panelists the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the proceeding.
8. A panelist shall consider only those issues raised in the proceeding and necessary to rendering a decision and shall not delegate the duty to decide to any other person.
9. A panelist shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that the panelist’s assistant and staff are aware of, and comply with, paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 19, 20, and 21.
10. A panelist shall not engage in ex parte contacts concerning the proceeding.
11. A panelist shall not communicate matters concerning actual or potential violations of this Annex by another panelist unless the communication is to both Parties or is necessary to ascertain whether that panelist has violated or may violate this Annex.
Independence and Impartiality of Panelists
12. A panelist shall be independent and impartial. A panelist shall act in a fair manner and shall avoid creating an appearance of impropriety or bias.
13. A panelist shall not be influenced by self-interest, outside pressure, political considerations, public clamor, loyalty to a Party, or fear of criticism.
14. A panelist shall not, directly or indirectly, incur any obligations or accept any benefit that would in any way interfere, or appear to interfere, with the proper performance of the panelist’s duties.
15. A panelist shall not use his or her position on the panel to advance any personal or private interests. A panelist shall avoid actions that may create the impression that others are in a special position to influence the panelist. A panelist shall make every effort to prevent or discourage others from representing themselves as being in such a position.
16. A panelist shall not allow past or existing financial, business, professional, family, or social relationships or responsibilities to influence the panelist’s conduct or judgment.
17. A panelist shall avoid entering into any relationship, or acquiring any financial interest, that is likely to affect the panelist’s impartiality or that might reasonably create an appearance of impropriety or bias.
Duties in Certain Situations
18. A panelist or former panelist shall avoid actions that may create the appearance that the panelist was biased in carrying out the panelist’s duties or would benefit from the decision or report of the panel.
Maintenance of Confidentiality
19. A panelist or former panelist shall not at any time disclose or use any non-public information concerning the proceeding or acquired during the proceeding except for the purposes of the proceeding and shall not, in any cases, disclose or use any such information to gain personal advantage, or advantage for others, or to affect adversely the interest of others.
20. A panelist shall not disclose a panel report, or parts thereof, prior to its publication.
21. A panelist or former panelist shall not at any time disclose the deliberations of a panel, or any panelist’s view, except as required by legal or constitutional requirements.
Chapter 17. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND EXCEPTIONS
Article 17.1. Administrative Proceedings
With a view to administering its laws, regulations, procedures, and administrative rulings of general application with respect to any matter covered by this Agreement in a consistent, impartial, objective, and reasonable manner, each Party, to the extent practicable and in accordance with its laws and regulations, shall ensure in its administrative proceedings applying such measures to a particular person, good, or service of the other Party in specific cases that:
(a) wherever possible, a person of the other Party that is directly affected by such a proceeding is provided with reasonable notice, in accordance with its domestic procedures, of when a proceeding is initiated, including a description of the nature of the proceeding, a statement of the legal authority under which the proceeding is initiated, and a general description of any issues in question;
(b) wherever possible, a person of the other Party that is directly affected by such a proceeding is afforded a reasonable opportunity to present facts and arguments in support of that person’s position prior to any final administrative action, when time, the nature of the proceeding, and the public interest permit; and it follows its procedures in accordance with its laws and regulations.
Article 17.2. Review and Appeal
1. Each Party may establish or maintain judicial, quasi-judicial, or administrative tribunals or procedures for the purposes of prompt review and, where warranted, correction of final administrative actions with respect to any matter covered by this Agreement and in a manner consistent with its laws and regulations.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not be construed to require a Party to institute such tribunals or procedures where this would be inconsistent with its constitutional structure or the nature of its legal system.
Article 17.3. Measures Against Corruption
1. Each Party shall, in accordance with its laws and regulations, take appropriate measures to prevent and combat corruption with respect to any matter covered by this Agreement.
2. Neither Party shall have recourse to dispute settlement under Chapter 16 (Dispute Settlement) for any matter arising under this Article.
Article 17.4. General Exceptions
1. For the purposes of Chapters 2 (Trade in Goods), 3 (Rules of Origin), 4 (Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation), 5 (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures), and 6 (Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures), Article XX of the GATT 1994 and its interpretative notes are incorporated into and form part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
2. For the purposes of Chapter 8 (Trade in Services) and its Annexes and Chapter 9 (Digital Trade) (39), Article XIV of the GATS, including its footnotes, is incorporated into and forms part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 17.5. 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 prevent a Party from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:
(i) relating to fissionable and fusionable materials or the materials from which they are derived;
(ii) relating to the traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war and to such traffic in other goods and materials as is carried on directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying a military establishment;
(iii) relating to the supply of services as carried out directly or indirectly for the purpose of provisioning a military establishment;
(iv) relating to the protection of critical public infrastructure (40), including, but not limited to, critical communications infrastructures, power infrastructures and water infrastructures, from deliberate attempts intended to disable or degrade such infrastructures;
(v) taken in time of domestic emergency, or war or other emergency in international relations;
(c) to prevent any Party from taking any actions in pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Article 17.6. Taxation Measures
1. Except as provided in this Article, nothing in this Agreement shall apply to taxation measures.
2. This Agreement shall only grant rights or impose obligations with respect to taxation measures where corresponding rights and obligations are also granted or imposed under the WTO Agreement.
3. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights and obligations of either Party under any tax convention. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and any such tax convention, that convention shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. The competent authorities under that convention shall have the sole responsibility for jointly determining whether any inconsistency exists between this Agreement and that convention.
4. Nothing in this Agreement shall oblige a Party to extend to the other Party the benefit of any treatment, preference or privilege arising from any existing or future tax convention by which the Party is bound.
5. For the purposes of this Article:
(a) tax convention means a convention for the avoidance of double taxation or other international taxation agreement or arrangement to which the Parties are party; and
(b) taxes and taxation measures do not include customs duties.
Chapter 18. ADMINISTRATION OF THE AGREEMENT
Article 18.1. Joint Committee
1. The Parties hereby establish a Joint Committee.
2. The Joint Committee shall meet at the level of Minister unless the Parties otherwise agree. If the Joint Committee meets at the level of Ministers, it shall be preceded by a Senior Officials level meeting.
3. The Joint Committee: (a) shall be composed of representatives of the UAE and Indonesia; and (b) may establish standing or ad hoc sub-committees or working groups and assign any of its responsibilities thereto.
4. The Joint Committee shall meet within one year from the entry into force of this Agreement. Its meetings shall be chaired jointly by the Parties or as otherwise mutually determined by the Parties. Thereafter, it shall meet every two years, unless the Parties agree otherwise, to consider any matter relating to this Agreement. The regular sessions of the Joint Committee shall be held alternately in the territories of the Parties.
5. The Joint Committee may also hold special sessions without undue delay from the date of a request thereof from either Party.
6. The functions of the Joint Committee shall be as follows:
(a) to review and assess the results and overall operation of this Agreement in the light of the experience gained during its application and its objectives;
(b) to consider any amendments to this Agreement that may be proposed by either Party, including the modification of concessions made under this Agreement;
(c) to endeavour to amicably resolve disputes between the Parties arising from the interpretation or application of this Agreement, or any other agreements relating to market liberalization to which they are both parties;
(d) to supervise and coordinate the work of all committees and subsidiary bodies established under this Agreement;
(e) consider any other matter that may affect the operation of this Agreement;
(f) adopt decisions or make recommendations as envisaged by this Agreement; and
(g) to carry out any other functions relating to the areas covered by this Agreement as may be agreed by the Parties.
7. The Joint Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedures at its first meeting.
8. Meetings of the Joint Committee and of any committees or subsidiary bodies may be conducted in person or by any other means as determined by the Parties.
9. The Joint Committee shall take decisions on any matter within its functions by mutual agreement. The decisions taken shall be binding upon the Parties, subject to their respective applicable legal requirements and procedures.
10. The Parties may invite, by mutual agreement, representatives of other relevant entities, including business stakeholders, with necessary expertise relevant to the issues to be discussed, to attend meetings of the Joint Committee.
Article 18.2. Committees and Subsidiary Bodies
1. The following Committees are established under this Agreement:
(a) Committee on Trade in Goods, in accordance with Article 2.21 (Committee on Trade in Goods) of Chapter 2 (Trade in Goods);
(b) Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, in accordance with Article 5.6 (Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) of Chapter 5 (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures);
(c) Committee on STRACAP, in accordance with Article 6.12 (Committee on STRACAP) of Chapter 6 (Standards, Technical Regulations, and Conformity Assessment Procedures);
(d) Committee on Trade Remedies, in accordance with Article 7.5 (Committee on Trade Remedies) of Chapter 7 (Chapter Remedies);
(e) Committee on Trade in Services, in accordance with Article 8.5 (Committee on Trade in Services) of Chapter 8 (Trade in Services);
(f) Committee on Investment, in accordance with Article 10.4 (Committee on Investment) of Chapter 10 (Investment);
(g) Committee on Government Procurement in accordance with Article 11.25 (Committee on Government Procurement) of Chapter 11 (Government Procurement);
(h) Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises, in accordance with Article 13.4 (Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises) of Chapter 13 (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises);
(i) Committee on Economic Cooperation, in accordance with Article 15.3 (Committee on Economic Cooperation) of Chapter 15 (Economic Cooperation);
(j) Committee on Islamic Economy Cooperation in accordance with Article 14.12 (Committee on Islamic Economy Cooperation) of Chapter 14 (Islamic Economy).
2. Unless otherwise provided in this Agreement, any committee or subsidiary body shall:
(a) be composed of representatives of the Parties;
(b) be chaired jointly by the Parties;
(c) take decisions on any matter within its functions by mutual agreement; and
(d) meet annually or as mutually determined by the Parties. Meetings may be conducted in person or by any other means of communication as mutually determined by the Parties.
3. The committees and subsidiary bodies shall inform the Joint Committee of their schedule and agenda sufficiently in advance of their meetings. They shall report to the Joint Committee on their activities at each regular meeting of the Joint Committee. The creation or existence of a committee or subsidiary body shall not prevent either Party from bringing any matter directly to the Joint Committee.
4. The Joint Committee may decide to change the task assigned to a committee or subsidiary body, undertake itself the task assigned to a committee or subsidiary body, or dissolve a committee or subsidiary body.
Article 18.3. Contact Points
1. In order to facilitate communications between the Parties on any trade matter covered by this Agreement, the Parties hereby establish the following contact points: (a) for United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Economy; and (b) for Indonesia, the Ministry of Trade; or their respective successors.
2. Upon request of either Party, the contact point of the other Party shall indicate the office or official responsible for any matter relating to the implementation of this Agreement, and provide the required support to facilitate communications with the requesting Party. Each Party shall notify the other Party of any changes in its contact point.
3. All official communications in relation to this Agreement shall be in the English language.
Chapter 19. Final Provisions
Article 19.1. Annexes, Appendices, Side Letters, and Footnotes
The Annexes, Appendices, side letters, and footnotes to this Agreement constitute an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 19.2. Amendments
This Agreement may be amended by written agreement between the Parties. Either Party may submit proposals for amendments to this Agreement to the Joint Committee for consideration. Upon agreement between the Parties, amendments to this Agreement shall enter into force in the same manner as provided for in Article 19.6 (Entry into Force), unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.
Article 19.3. Amendment of International Agreements
If any international agreement, or a provision therein, referred to in this Agreement or incorporated into this Agreement is amended, the Parties shall, on request, consult on whether it is necessary to amend this Agreement, unless this Agreement provides otherwise.
Article 19.4. Accession
Any country or group of countries may accede to this Agreement subject to such terms and conditions as may be agreed between the country or group of countries and the Parties and following approval in accordance with the applicable legal requirements and procedures of each Party and acceding country.
Article 19.5. Duration and Termination
1. This Agreement shall remain in force unless terminated pursuant to paragraph 2.
2. Either Party may terminate this Agreement by written notification to the other Party, and such termination shall take effect six months after the date of the notification.
Article 19.6. Entry Into Force
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 through the diplomatic channels by which the Parties inform each other that all necessary requirements have been fulfilled, unless the Parties agree otherwise.
Article 19.7. General Review of the Agreement
1. In accordance with Article 18.1 (Joint Committee), the Joint Committee shall undertake a general review of this Agreement five years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, and every five years thereafter, with a view to updating and enhancing this Agreement to further its objectives, through negotiations, as appropriate. The review shall include, but not be limited to, consideration of deepening liberalisation, reducing or eliminating remaining discrimination, further expanding market access and improving facilitation and cooperation to foster the utilization of this Agreement.
2. In conducting a review under this Article, the Joint Committee shall take into account:
(a) the work of all committees and subsidiary bodies established under this Agreement;
(b) relevant developments in international fora; and
(c) input from experts, as appropriate.
Article 19.8. Authentic Texts
This Agreement is done in duplicate in the Indonesian, English, and Arabic languages. All texts of this Agreement shall be equally authentic. In case of divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.
Conclusion
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.
DONE at Abu Dhabi, on this 1st day of July in the year 2022, in duplicate in the Indonesian, English, and Arabic languages.
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
ZULKIFLI HASAN MINISTER OF TRADE
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
ABDULLA BIN TOUQ AL MARRI
MINISTER OF ECONOMY