Article 18-07. Role of the Arbitral Tribunal.
1. The Arbitral Tribunal shall consider the dispute raised, objectively assessing the facts, taking into account the provisions of the Treaty, the additional instruments and agreements signed within the framework of the Treaty, the information provided by the Parties and the customary rules of interpretation of public international law. The Arbitral Tribunal shall give the Parties an opportunity to present their respective positions and shall formulate its conclusions.
2. The Arbitral Tribunal shall have the right to seek information and request technical advice from any person or entity it deems appropriate. However, before seeking information or requesting advice from a person or entity subject to the jurisdiction of a Party, the Arbitral Tribunal shall notify the Parties.
3. The Parties shall provide a prompt and complete response to any request addressed to them by the Arbitral Tribunal for such information as it deems necessary and relevant. The information provided shall not be disclosed without the formal authorization of the person, institution or authority of the Party that provided it.
Article 18-08. Consolidation of Procedures.
Unless they decide otherwise, the Parties shall join two or more proceedings before them under this Article relating to the same measure. The Parties may join two or more proceedings concerning other matters before them under this Article, where they consider it appropriate to consider them together.
Article 18-09. Rules of Procedure.
1. The Arbitral Tribunal shall conduct the proceedings in accordance with the rules of procedure established by the Commission no later than 30 days after the entry into force of this Treaty.
2. The Commission may modify, when it deems necessary, the model rules of procedure referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 18-10. Award of the Arbitral Tribunal.
The Arbitral Tribunal shall have 90 days from the date of its establishment to submit an award with its findings to the Commission on whether the measure in force is incompatible with the Treaty or whether the measure is grounds for nullification or impairment. In the latter case, the Arbitral Tribunal shall determine the level of nullification or impairment and may suggest adjustments mutually satisfactory to the Parties.
Article 18-11. Adoption of the Award of the Arbitral Tribunal.
1. The Commission shall meet within 15 days from the date on which the award of the Arbitral Tribunal was referred to it to consider its adoption. Unless there is consensus to the contrary, the Commission shall adopt the findings of the Arbitral Tribunal. In the absence of a meeting of the Commission, the award shall be deemed to be automatically adopted.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding Article, the Commission may also issue recommendations for reaching a mutually satisfactory solution. In the event that the Party complained against fails to comply with the recommendations of the Commission, the complaining Party may proceed in accordance with the provisions of Article 18-13 to comply with the findings of the Arbitral Tribunal contained in its award.
Article 18-12. Compliance with the Award of the Arbitral Tribunal.
1. When the award of the Arbitral Tribunal adopted by the Commission, in accordance with article 18-11, paragraph 1, concludes by majority vote that:
a) the measure is inconsistent with the Treaty, the Party complained against shall refrain from implementing the measure or shall repeal it; or
b) the measure causes nullification or impairment, the Party complained against shall refrain from enforcing the measure or shall repeal it, taking into consideration the level of nullification or impairment determined, if any, by the Arbitral Tribunal.
Article 18-13. Noncompliance - Suspension of Benefits.
1. The complaining Party may suspend the application of benefits of equivalent effect to the other Party, upon written notice to such Party, if the award of the Arbitral Tribunal adopted by the Commission concludes by majority vote that:
a) the measure is inconsistent with the obligations of the Treaty and the Party complained against fails to refrain from implementing or revoking it within 60 days after the referral of the Arbitral Tribunal's findings to the Commission, in accordance with Article 18-10; or
b) the measure is grounds for annulment or impairment and the Parties do not reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the dispute within 60 days after the referral of the Arbitral Tribunal's findings to the Commission, in accordance with Article 18-10.
2. The suspension of benefits shall last until the Party complained against complies with the award of the Arbitral Tribunal adopted by the Commission or until the Parties reach a mutually satisfactory settlement of the dispute, as the case may be.
3. In reviewing the benefits to be suspended in accordance with the preceding article:
a) the complaining Party shall first seek to suspend benefits within the same sector or sectors that are affected by the measure or that have been the cause of nullification or impairment; and
b) the complaining Party that considers that it is not feasible or effective to suspend benefits in the same sector or sectors, may suspend benefits in other sectors, indicating the reasons on which it is based.
Article 18-14. Special Arbitral Tribunal.
1. At the written request of any Party to the dispute, communicated to the Commission, an ad hoc Arbitral Tribunal shall be set up to determine whether the level of benefits suspended by a complaining Party pursuant to the preceding Article is manifestly excessive. To the extent possible, the special Arbitral Tribunal shall be composed of the same arbitrators who were members of the Arbitral Tribunal that rendered the final award referred to in Article 18-10. Otherwise, the special Arbitral Tribunal shall be composed in accordance with the provisions of Article 18-05.
2. The Special Arbitral Tribunal shall submit its award to the Commission within 60 days of its establishment, or within such other period of time as the parties to the dispute may agree.
Article 18-15. Emergency Situations - Perishable Products.
In cases involving perishable products, the Parties shall enter into consultations within a period not exceeding ten (10) days from the date of the request, and shall make every effort to expedite the other stages of the procedure.
Article 18-16. Encouragement of Arbitration.
Each Party shall seek and facilitate recourse to arbitration and other alternative means for the settlement of commercial disputes between private parties of both countries. To this end, the Commission may establish a consultative group on this matter, composed of experts from both countries.
Annex 18-01. Nullification and impairment
1. A Party may have recourse to the dispute settlement mechanism of this Chapter where, by virtue of the application of a measure that does not contravene the Treaty, it considers that the benefits that it could reasonably have expected to receive from the application are nullified or impaired:
a) of Chapters Ill (National Treatment and Market Access for Goods), IV (Rules of Origin), V (Customs Procedures for the Origin Management of Goods), VI (Safeguards), VII (Unfair Trade Practices), VIII (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures), IX (Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures);
b) of Chapter X (Cross-Border Trade in Services); or c) of Chapter XV (Intellectual Property).
2. With respect to measures subject to an exception under Article 19-02 (General Exceptions), a Party may not invoke:
a) paragraph 1(a) to the extent that the benefit derives from any provision relating to cross-border trade in services of Chapters Ill (National Treatment and Market Access for Goods), IV (Rules of Origin), V (Customs Procedures for the Origin Management of Goods), VI (Safeguards), VII (Unfair Trade Practices), VIIl (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures), IX (Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures);
b) paragraph 1b); or
c) paragraph 1c).
Chapter XIX. EXCEPTIONS
Article 19-01. Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
tax treaty: a convention for the avoidance of double taxation or other international tax treaty or arrangement;
Fund: the International Monetary Fund; and
taxes and tax measures do not include:
a) a"customs duty" as defined in Article 2-01 (General Definitions); or
b) the measures listed in exceptions (b), (c) and (d) of that definition;
payments for current international transactions: "payments for current international transactions "as defined in the Articles of Agreement of the Fund;
international capital transactions: "international capital transactions" as defined in the Articles of Agreement of the Fund; and
transfers: international transactions and international transfers and related payments.
Article 19-02. General Exceptions.
1. Article XX of GATT 1994 and its interpretative notes are incorporated into this Agreement and form an integral part thereof, for the purposes of:
a) Chapters Ill (National Treatment and Market Access for Goods), IV (Rules of Origin), V (Customs Procedures for the Handling of Origin of Goods), VI (Safeguards), VII (Unfair Trade Practices), except to the extent that any of their provisions apply to services or investment;
b) Chapter VIII (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures), except to the extent that any of its provisions apply to services or investment; and
c) Chapter IX (Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures), except to the extent that any of its provisions apply to services.
2. Article XIV of the GATS is incorporated into and made an integral part of this Agreement for the purposes of:
a) Chapters Ill (National Treatment and Market Access for Goods), IV (Rules of Origin), V (Customs Procedures for the Origin Management of Goods), VI (Safeguards), VII (Unfair Trade Practices) and Chapter VIII (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures), except to the extent that any of their provisions apply to services;
b) Chapter IX (Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures);
c) Chapter X (Cross-Border Trade in Services); and
d) Chapter XI (Telecommunications).
Article 19. National Security. Nothing In this Agreement Shall Be Construed to Mean:
a) oblige a Party to provide or give access to information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests;
b) prevent a Party from taking any measure it considers necessary to protect its essential security interests:
i) relating to trade in armaments, munitions and war materiel and to trade and transactions in goods, materials, services and technology carried out for the direct or indirect purpose of supplying a military institution or other defense establishment,
ii} adopted in time of war or other emergencies in international relations, or
dil) relating to the implementation of national policies or international agreements on the non- proliferation of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; or
¢) prevent any Party from taking action in accordance with its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the Maintenance of Intemational Peace and Security.
Article 19-03. Exceptions to the Disclosure of Confidential Information.
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to require a Party to furnish or give access to confidential information the disclosure of which would impede compliance with or be contrary to its Constitution or laws.
Article 19-04. Taxation.
1. Except as provided In this Article, nothing In this Agreement shall apply to taxation measures.
2. 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 treaty, the treaty shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2:
a) Article 3-02 (National Treatment), and such other provisions in this Agreement as are necessary to give effect to that Article, shall apply to taxation measures to the same extent as Article Ill of GATT 1994; and
b) Article 3-10 (Export Taxes), shall apply to tax measures.
4. Article 13-11 (Expropriation and Compensation) shall apply to taxation measures, except that no investor may invoke that Article as a basis for a claim made under Article 13-16 (Claim by an investor of a Party on its own behalf, on account of damages suffered by itself} or Article 13-17 (Claim by an investor of a Party on behalf of an enterprise on account of damages suffered by an enterprise of the other Party that is a juridical person owned or controlled directly or indirectly by the investor). If the competent authorities of the Parties do not agree to examine the matter or if, having agreed to examine the matter, they do not agree that the measure does not constitute an expropriation, within 6 (six) months after the matter has been submitted to them, the investor may submit a claim to arbitration in accordance with Article 13-20 (Submission of Claim to Arbitration).
Article 19-05. Balance of Payments.
1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining measures that restrict transfers where the Party faces serious balance of payments difficulties, or the threat thereof, provided that the restrictions are consistent with this Article.
2. As soon as practicable after a Party applies a measure under this Article, the Party shall:
a) submit for review by the Fund all restrictions on current account operations in accordance with Article VIII of the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund;
b) initiate good faith consultations with the Fund on economic adjustment measures to address the fundamental economic problems underlying the difficulties; and
c) adopt or maintain economic policies compatible with such consultations.
3. Measures implemented or maintained pursuant to this article shall:
a) avoid unnecessary damage to the commercial, economic or financial interests of the other Party;
b) not be more onerous than necessary to deal with balance of payments difficulties, or the threat thereof,
c) be temporary and be phased out progressively as the balance of payments situation improves;
d) be consistent with those of paragraph 2(c), as well as with the Articles of Agreement of the Fund; and
e) The most favorable of the national treatment and most favored nation principles shall be applied.
4. A Party may adopt or maintain a measure under this Article that gives priority to objectives essential to its economic program, provided that the Party does not apply the measure for the purpose of protecting a particular industry or sector, unless the measure is consistent with paragraph 2(c), and with Article VIII (3) of the Articles of Agreement of the Fund.
5. Restrictions imposed on transfers:
a) shall be consistent with Article VIII (3) of the Articles of Agreement of the Fund, when applied to payments for current international transactions;
b) shall be consistent with Article VI of the Articles of Agreement of the Fund and shall be applied only in conjunction with measures on payments for current international transactions in accordance with paragraph 2(a}, when applied to international capital transactions;
c) may not substantially prevent transfers from being made in freely usable currency at a market rate of exchange when applied to transfers under Article 13-10 (Transfers) and to transfers relating to trade in goods; and
d) may not take the form of tariff surcharges, quotas, licenses or similar measures.
Annex 19-05. Competent authorities
For the purposes of article 19-05, the competent authorities are:
a) for the case of Mexico, the Undersecretary of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, or his successor; and
b) in the case of Uruguay, the Director General de Rentas, or his successor.
Chapter XX. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 20-01. Annexes
The annexes to this Agreement constitute an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 20-02. Amendments
1. The Parties may agree on any modification or addition to this Agreement.
2. The agreed modifications and additions shall enter into force once they are approved according to the corresponding legal procedures of each Party and shall constitute an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 20-03. Entry Into Force.
This Agreement shall enter into force 30 days after the exchange of communications certifying that the necessary legal formalities in each Party have been completed.
Article 20-04. Future Negotiations - Public Sector Procurement and Financial Services.
1. The Parties agree to conclude a chapter on government procurement no later than two (2) years after the entry into force of this Agreement. This Chapter shall be defined by mutual agreement with a broad scope of application. The Commission shall establish the relevant procedures to carry out the above.
2. The Parties agree to conclude a chapter on financial services no later than two (2) years after the entry into force of this Agreement. This Chapter shall be defined by mutual agreement with a broad scope of application. The Commission shall establish the relevant procedures to carry out the above.
Article 20-05. Reservations.
This Treaty shall not be subject to reservations or interpretative declarations at the time of its ratification.
Article 20-06. Accession.
1. Any country or group of countries may accede to this Agreement subject to such terms and conditions as may be agreed between that country or group of countries and the Commission, and once its accession has been approved in accordance with the applicable legal procedures of each country.
2. This Agreement shall not enter into force between a Party and any acceding country or group of countries if at the time of accession any one of them does not give its consent.
3. The accession will enter into force once the communications certifying that the legal formalities have been completed have been exchanged.
Article 20-07. Denunciation.
1. Either Party may denounce this Agreement. The denunciation shall take effect 180 days after it is communicated to the other Party, notwithstanding that the Parties may agree on a different term.
2. In the event of the accession of a country or group of countries in accordance with the provisions of Article 20-06, notwithstanding that a Party has denounced the Treaty, it shall remain in force for the other Parties.
Article 20-08. Treaty Revision Clause.
No later than two (2) years after the entry into force of this Agreement, the Commission shall consider further steps in the process of trade liberalization between Mexico and Uruguay. To that end, a case-by-case review of the tariffs applicable to the products listed in Annexes I and II, the quotas in force and the relevant rules of origin, as deemed appropriate, shall be carried out.
Article 20-09. Repeals and Transitory Provisions.
However, with respect to Chapter V (Customs Procedures for the Handling of the Origin of Goods), importers may request the application of ACE No. 5, for a period of 30 days, counted as of the entry into force of this Agreement. For such purposes, the certificates of origin issued pursuant to ACE No. 5 must have been completed prior to the entry into force of this Agreement, be in force, and be valid for up to the aforementioned period.
Conclusion
Signed in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, on the fifteenth day of November, two thousand and three, in two equally authentic originals.
The President of the United Mexican States,
Vicente Fox Quesada
(signature)
The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,
Jorge Battle Ibañez
(signature)
Attachments
Annex I. Reservations and Exceptions
Interpretative Notes
For the purposes of this Annex, the following definitions shall apply:
foreign exclusion clause, for Mexico's reservations, means the express provision in a company's articles of association that states that foreigners shall not be allowed, directly or indirectly, to be partners or shareholders of the company;
CMAP, the digits of the Mexican Classification of Activities and Products, as established in the Mexican Classification of Activities and Products, 1994 of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography;
CPC, for Uruguayan stocks, the digits of the United Nations Provisional Central Product Classification, Series M, No. 77, New York, 1992, which is used as a reference;
Concession, an authorisation granted by the State to a person to exploit natural resources or provide a service. In Mexico, Mexicans and Mexican companies will be preferred over foreigners. In Uruguay, Uruguayans and companies using as inputs goods and services that qualify as nationals will be preferred over foreigners.
2. A Party's Schedule indicates, in accordance with Articles 10-06 and 13-09, reservations taken by a Party with respect to existing measures that are inconsistent with the obligations imposed by:
(a) Articles 10-03 or 13-03 (National Treatment);
(b) Articles 10-04 or 13-04 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment);
(c) Article 10-05 (Local Presence);
(d) Article 13-07 (Performance Requirements); and
(e) Article 13-08 (Senior executives and boards of directors),
and which, in certain cases, indicates commitments for immediate or future liberalisation.
3. Each reservation sets out the following elements:
(a) "Sector" refers to the overall sector in which the reservation has been taken;
(b) "Sub-sector" refers to the specific sector in which the reservation is taken;