What is Decree No. 211 / 1948 Coll.?

Decree No. 211 / 1948 Coll., which puts into force the Protocol of 24 March 1948 amending certain provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, as published in the Collection of Laws and Regulations under No 59 / 1948, and the Special Protocol of 24 March 1948 amending Article XIV thereof — Decree amending the Protocol of 24 March 1948 amending certain provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, published in the Collection of Laws and Regulations under No 59 / 1948 and the Special Protocol of 24 March 1948 amending Article XIV thereof.

When it became Decree No. 211 / 1948 Coll. effectiveness?

Decree No. 211 / 1948 Coll. became effective 01.05.1948.

Is Decree No. 211 / 1948 Coll. still valid?

Yes, Decree No. 211 / 1948 Coll. is still valid and effective.

Decree No. 211 / 1948 Coll. - Decree amending the Protocol of 24 March...

211.

Government Decree

of 23 June 1948

on the provisional application of the Protocol of 24 March 1948 amending certain provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, as set out in the Collection of Laws and Regulations under No 59 / 1948, and the Special Protocol of 24 March 1948 amending Article XIV thereof.

Under Article 1 of the Act of 4 July 1923, No 158 Coll., on the provisional treatment of trade relations with foreign countries, and Article VII of the Law of 22 June 1926, No 109 Coll., which partially amends the Customs Tariff Act for the Czechoslovak customs territory and the Customs Tariff and issues provisions on trade relations with foreign countries, I declare:

According to the Resolution of the Government of the Czechoslovak Republic of 27 April 1948 and with the agreement of the President of the Republic, it is provisionally applicable with effect from 1 May 1948 Protocol of 24 March 1948 amending certain provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, published in the Collection of Laws and Regulations under No 59 / 1948, and the Special Protocol of 24 March 1948 amending Article XIV thereof.

The annexes to this Government Order shall be published in the original English and French versions and in the Czech translation of the texts of the said Protocols.

Zaporocký v. r.

(Translation)

Protocol

amending certain provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Governments of the States of Australia, the Kingdom of Belgium, Canada, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of France, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, acting in their capacity as Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; and

Governments of the United States of Brazil, Burma, Ceylon, the Republic of Chile, the Republic of China, the Republic of Czechoslovakia, India, Lebanon, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Norway, Pakistan, South Rhodesia, Syria, and South Africa, acting as signatories to the Final Act adopted at the conclusion of the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, making the text of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade authentic.

DESIRING to amend the text of certain provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade with regard to the text of the Havana Charter for the International Trade Organisation, which has become the authentic Final Act of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment,

_

I. Paragraph 5 of Article XXV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade shall be worded as follows:

"5. (a) In exceptional circumstances, which are not mentioned in other Articles of this Agreement, the CONTRACTING PARTIES may exempt a Contracting Party from any obligation under this Agreement, provided that any such decision is approved by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast and that that majority includes more than half of the Contracting Parties. The Contracting Parties may also:

(i) define certain types of exceptional circumstances in which other voting conditions apply for the release of one or more obligations by a Contracting Party; and

(ii) prescribe the criteria necessary for the implementation of this subparagraph.

(b) If a Contracting Party fails to fulfil, without due justification, the obligation to enter into negotiations with another Contracting Party as provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 17 of the Havana Charter, the CONTRACTING PARTIES may, after an investigation has been carried out, authorise the Contracting Party which lodged the complaint to stop using the concessions provided for in the relevant instrument of this Agreement against the other Contracting Party. In assessing whether a Contracting Party has failed to comply with a given undertaking, the CONTRACTING PARTIES shall take into account all relevant circumstances, including development, reconstruction and other needs, the general fiscal structure of the Contracting Parties concerned and the provisions of the Havana Charter as a whole. If the use of such concessions is actually terminated, thereby applying rates higher than those otherwise to be used to trade of the other Contracting Party, that other Contracting Party may notify in writing at the latest 60 days after such a measure has become effective that it intends to terminate this Agreement. Such notice shall take effect after 60 days from the date on which the notice of such notice is received by the CONTRACTING PARTIES.

(c) Paragraph (b) shall not apply between two Contracting Parties whose instruments of concessions contain concessions originally agreed between them.

(d) The provisions of subparagraphs (b) and (c) shall not apply before 1 January 1949. '

II. Paragraph 1 of Article XXXII The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade will be worded as follows:

"Contracting Parties to this Agreement shall mean those governments which apply the provisions of this Agreement under Articles XXVI or XXXIII or under the Protocol on provisional application. ';

III. Article XXXIII General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade will sound:

"A Government which is not a Contracting Party to this Agreement or any Government acting for a separate customs territory which has complete autonomy in the management of its foreign trade relations and other matters governed by this Agreement may accede to this Agreement under conditions agreed with the CONTRACTING PARTIES. Decisions of the CONTRACTING PARTIES within the meaning of this paragraph shall require a two-thirds majority. ';

IV. The following Article is inserted after Article XXXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade:

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 5 (b) of Article XXV or the obligations of a Contracting Party under paragraph 1 of Article XXIX, this Agreement or, where applicable, Article II of this Agreement shall not apply between a Contracting Party and any other Contracting Party in the case of:

(a) that the two Contracting Parties have not initiated reciprocal negotiations on duties; and

(b) that one of the two Contracting Parties, at the time one of them becomes a Contracting Party, agrees to use them.

2. Whenever the Havana Charter enters into force, the CONTRACTING PARTIES may, on a case-by-case basis, review the application of this Article at the request of a Contracting Party and make appropriate recommendations. ';

V. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article XXX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the amendments contained in Parts I to IV, including this Protocol, shall become an integral part of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade on 15 April 1948.

The signature of this Protocol by a Government which, at the time of signature, is not a Contracting Party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade will mean that the texts of the amendments to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade contained in this Protocol are hereby verified. Any government appointed in the second paragraph of the preface to this Protocol shall be able to sign it before 1 May 1948.

Original The Protocol shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall be responsible for registering it.

THE COMPETENT REPRESENTATIVES, duly authorised, have signed this Protocol.

DONE in Havana, in a single copy, in English and French, both texts authentic, on the 24th of March 1948.

For the state of Australia:

H. C. COOMBS

For the Kingdom of Belgium:

M. SUETENS

For the United States of Brazil:

A. DE VILHENA FERREIRA BRAGA

For Burma:

M. MYAT TUN

For Canada:

L. D. WILGRESS

For Ceylon:

B. MAHADEVA

For the Republic of Chile:

W. MÜLLER

For the Republic of Cuba:

GUSTAVO GUTUERREZ

For the Republic of Czechoslovakia:

Z. AUGENTHALER

For the Republic of France:

JEAN ROYER

For India:

HARDIT SINGH MALIK

For Lebanon:

GEORGES HAKIM

For the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg:

J. WOULBROUN

For the Kingdom of the Netherlands:

A. B. SPEEKENBRINK

For New Zealand:

W. NASH

For the Kingdom of Norway:

_

For Pakistan:

M. A. H. ISPAHANI

For Syria:

HUSNI A. SAWWAF

For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:

STEPHEN L. HOLMES

For the United States of America:

JOHN W. EVANS

(Translation)

Special Protocol

amending Article XIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Governments of the States of Australia, the Kingdom of Belgium, Canada, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of France, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, acting in their capacity as Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; and

Governments of the United States of Brazil, Burma, Ceylon, the Republic of Chile, the Republic of China, the Republic of Czechoslovakia, India, Lebanon, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Norway, Pakistan, South Rhodesia, Syria and South Africa, acting in their capacity as signatories to the Final Act adopted at the conclusion of the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, making the text of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade authentic.

DESIRING to amend the text of Article XIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, bearing in mind the text of the Havana Charter for the International Trade Organisation, which has become the authentic Final Act of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment,

_

I. From 1 January 1949, Article XIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade shall read as follows:

Exemptions from the non-discrimination rule.

"1. (a) The Contracting Parties recognise that the consequences of the war have caused difficulties in economic compensation which do not allow the immediate, full non-discriminatory implementation of quantitative restrictions and therefore require the introduction of exceptional measures for the transitional period referred to in this paragraph.

(b) A Contracting Party which implements the restrictions provided for in Article XII may, when applying such restrictions, derogate from the provisions of Article XIII in a manner equivalent to that which has an equivalent effect to the restriction on salaries and transfers in normal international transactions which the Contracting Party may apply at that time within the meaning of Article XIV of the Agreement on the International Monetary Fund or under a similar measure specific monetary agreements concluded within the meaning of paragraph 6, Article XV.

(c) A Contracting Party which implements the restrictions provided for in Article XII and which, on 1 March 1948, applied import restrictions in order to maintain the balance of its balance of payments in a manner derogating from the non-discrimination rules laid down in Article XIII may continue to apply this derogation, even to an extent which would not have been permitted on that date (b), and may adapt such derogation to changing circumstances.

(d) Any Contracting Party which, before 1 July 1948, has signed the Protocol on Initiation, negotiated in Geneva on 30 October 1947, and which by this signature provisionally adopted the principles of paragraph 1 of Article 23 of the draft Charter submitted by the Preparatory Committee to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment may decide by written notification sent to the CONTRACTING PARTIES before 1 January 1949 to apply the provisions of Annex J to this Agreement, in which Annex these principles are expressed, instead of the provisions of subparagraphs (b) and (c) of this paragraph. The provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c) shall not apply to the Contracting Parties which have thus decided to comply with the provisions of Annex J; and vice versa, the provisions of Annex J shall not apply to the Contracting Parties which have not taken this Decision.

(e) The way in which import restrictions are implemented, in the post-war transition period, under subparagraphs (b) and (c) or in accordance with Annex J, shall be determined by an effort to promote the greatest possible development of multilateral trade during that period and to accelerate the achievement of a balance of payments situation in order to no longer need to resort to Article XII measures or to transitional monetary agreements.

(f) Any Contracting Party may derogate from the provisions of Article XIII, in agreement with the provisions of subparagraphs (b) or (c) of this paragraph or within the meaning of Annex J, only for as long as it applies the measures for a transitional post-war period within the meaning of Article XIV of the International Monetary Fund Agreement, or similar measures of a special monetary agreement concluded pursuant to paragraph 6 of Article XV.

(g) No later than 1 March 1950 (i.e. three years after the date on which the International Monetary Fund took up its activities) and every subsequent year, the CONTRACTING PARTIES shall issue a report on any measures taken by the Contracting Parties under subparagraph (b) and (c) of this paragraph or Annex J. In March 1952, and every year thereafter, any Contracting Party still entitled to take measures within the meaning of the provisions of subparagraph (c) or Annex J shall consult the CONTRACTING PARTIES on any derogation from Article XIII, at that time still applied under those provisions, and on the continued application of those provisions. After 1 March 1952, any measure implemented in accordance with Annex J and exceeding the application of derogations which have been consulted and which the CONTRACTING PARTIES have not found to be unfounded or any adaptation of those derogations to the changes in circumstances shall be subject to any general restriction which the CONTRACTING PARTIES may prescribe, taking into account the circumstances in which the Contracting Party concerned is a party.

(h) THE CONTRACTING PARTIES may, if they consider it necessary in exceptional circumstances, notify any Contracting Party authorised to take action under the provisions of subparagraph (c) that there are favourable conditions for waiving the derogation from the provisions of Article XIII or for the total waiving of any derogation granted in accordance with that subparagraph. After 1 March 1952, the CONTRACTING PARTIES may, in exceptional circumstances, make such warnings to any Contracting Party which is entitled to take action under the provisions of Annex J. A reasonable period of time shall be allowed to respond to such warnings. Where the Contracting Parties find that a Contracting Party persists in an unjustified derogation from the provisions of Article XIII, the Contracting Party shall, within 60 days, limit or suspend the implementation of such derogation under the instructions of the Contracting Parties.

'2. Whether or not the measures carried out for a transitional period within the meaning of paragraph 1 (f) have been terminated, a Contracting Party applying the import restrictions provided for in Article XII may, with the consent of the CONTRACTING PARTIES, temporarily derogate from the provisions of Article XIII as regards a small part of its external trade, provided that the benefit resulting therefrom to the relevant Contracting Party or to the relevant Contracting Parties significantly outweighs any damage that might result from the trade of other Contracting Parties.

'3. Article XIII shall not preclude the restrictions imposed in accordance with the provisions of Article XII which either:

(a) are carried out by a group of territories having a common flower in the International Monetary Fund on imports from other countries, but not among themselves, provided that such restrictions are in all other directions in agreement with the provisions of Article XIII; or

(b) assist, until 31 December 1951, by measures which do not entail a significant derogation from the provisions of Article XIII to another State whose economy has been upset by war.

"4. The Contracting Party implementing the import restrictions referred to in Article XII shall not be prevented from applying Articles XI to XV, including, in this Agreement, measures to manage its exports in such a way as to increase its profits in foreign currencies and which it may use without derogating from the provisions of Article XIII.

"5. Articles XI to XV of this Agreement shall not prevent the Contracting Party from implementing quantitative restrictions,

(a) which have the same effect as the foreign exchange restrictions authorised under Part 3 (b) of Article VII of the International Monetary Fund Agreement; or

(b) introduced under the preferential arrangements set out in Annex A to this Agreement until the outcome of the negotiations referred to in this Annex.

II. With effect from 1 January 1949, the explanatory notes to Article XIV of Annex I to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade shall be worded as follows:

"to Article XIV

Paragraph 1 (g)

The provisions of paragraph 1 (g) shall not entitle the CONTRACTING PARTIES to apply the requirement of consultation in individual transactions, except that the transaction would be such as to constitute an act of overall policy. In this case, the CONTRACTING PARTIES, if any Contracting Party so requests, shall not take into account the transaction individually but in relation to the overall proceeding of that Contracting Party with regard to imports of the product concerned.

Paragraph 2

One of the situations foreseen in paragraph 2 is the situation of a Party having good obtained from ordinary transactions but which it cannot use without a discriminatory measure.

III. With effect from 1 January 1949, the following Annex is added to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade:

"Annex J

Exemptions from non-discrimination rules

[applicable to Contracting Parties which decide to do so in accordance with paragraph 1 (d) of Article XIV, instead of paragraphs 1 (b) and 1 (c) of Article XIV].

"1. (a) A Contracting Party implementing the import restrictions referred to in Article XII may release them in a manner which derogates from the provisions of Article XIII to the extent necessary to obtain increased imports in excess of the maximum quantity of imports which it could carry out under the provisions of paragraphs 3 (a) and 3 (b) of Article XII, provided that its restrictions are fully in agreement with Article XIII, provided that:

(i) the level of the delivery prices of the products so imported will not substantially exceed the applicable prices of comparable products which are regularly available from the other Contracting Parties and that any difference between the price levels of the products thus imported will be gradually reduced within a reasonable time.

(ii) a Party resorting to these measures does not, as part of an agreement which substantially reduces the supply of gold or convertible currencies that a Party normally obtains, whether directly or indirectly, for its exports to other Contracting Parties which are not parties to such an agreement, below a level which can reasonably be expected to otherwise have been achieved;

(iii) such a measure does not cause unnecessary damage to the commercial or economic interests of any other Contracting Party.

(b) Each Contracting Party which takes measures under this paragraph shall respect the principles of the subparagraph (a). A Contracting Party shall refrain from transactions which prove contrary to this subparagraph but shall not be required to satisfy itself in cases where it is not feasible that the requirements of this subparagraph are met for each individual transaction.

'2. Each Contracting Party which takes measures under paragraph 1 of this Annex shall inform the CONTRACTING PARTIES on a regular basis and shall provide them with the relevant information which the CONTRACTING Parties will require.

'3. If the Contracting Parties find at any time that a Contracting Party carries out import restrictions in a discriminatory manner, other than those referred to in paragraph 1 of this Annex, the Contracting Party shall, within 60 days, remove or amend discrimination in accordance with the closer instructions of the CONTRACTING Parties; However, any measure referred to in paragraph 1 of this Annex, to the extent that it has been approved by the CONTRACTING PARTIES at the request of a Contracting Party in a similar procedure pursuant to paragraph 4 (c) of Article XII, shall not be rebuttable under this paragraph or under paragraph 4 (d) of Article XII on the ground that it is contrary to the provisions of Article XIII.

"Explanatory note to Annex J.

"The circumstances that a Contracting Party applies the provisions of Part II (a) of Article XX shall mean that that Contracting Party is not excluded from the application of the provisions of this Annex but that the provisions of Article XIV (including this Annex) do not in any way restrict the rights of the Contracting Parties under Part II (a) of Article XX. ';

IV. This protocol may be signed at the seat of the United Nations by 1 June 1948 on behalf of any government appointed at the beginning of it, which did not sign it today.

V. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article XXX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, this Protocol shall enter into force on the date on which it will be signed by all governments which will be parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade on that date.

The signature of this Protocol by a Government which is not a Party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade on the date of its signature will mean that the text of the amendments to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade contained in this Protocol is verified by it.