Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 54 / 1995 Coll.
Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the negotiation of a Central European Free Trade Agreement between the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic
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Effective from 01.07.1994
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54
COMMUNICATION
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the Central European Free Trade Agreement between the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic was signed in Krakow on 21 December 1992.
The agreement was approved by the Parliament of the Czech Republic and ratified by the President of the Republic. The instrument of ratification was deposited with the Government of the Republic of Poland, depositary of the Agreement, on 10 January 1994.
The Agreement has been applied provisionally since 1 March 1993 on the basis of the Joint Declaration of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic and entered into force on 1 July 1994 on the basis of Article 40 thereof.
The Czech translation of the agreement is announced simultaneously.
The English version, which is decisive for its interpretation, can be consulted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
CENTRAL EUROPEAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
closed
between
the Czech Republic,
the Republic of Hungary,
Republic of Poland
and
Slovakia
PREAMBLE
the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as "the Parties'),
reaffirming its commitment to pluralistic democracy based on legality, human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Bearing in mind the Visegrad Declaration of 15 February 1991 and the Krakow Declaration of 6 October 1991, adopted as a result of the meeting of the Supreme Representatives of the Parties,
Recalling their intention to participate actively in the process of economic integration in Europe and expressing their readiness to cooperate in finding ways and means to strengthen this process,
reaffirming its firm commitment to the principles of the market economy that underpin their relations,
Recalling its firm commitment to the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Paris Charter and in particular the principles contained in the final document of the Bonn Conference on Economic Cooperation in Europe,
Decisions to this end to gradually remove obstacles to essentially all their mutual trade in accordance with the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,
firmly convinced that this Agreement will promote the strengthening of mutually beneficial trade relations between them and contribute to the integration process in Europe,
Taking into account that no provision of this Agreement can be interpreted as excluding the Parties from their obligations under other international agreements, in particular the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,
agree as follows:
Objectives
1. The Parties shall progressively establish a free trade area in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and in accordance with Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade during a transitional period ending on 1 January 2001 at the latest.
2. The objectives of this Agreement are:
(a) promote the harmonious development of economic relations between the Parties by expanding trade and thus facilitate the development of economic activity, improving living and working conditions and increasing productivity and financial stability in the Parties;
(b) to provide fair conditions of competition for trade between Parties;
(c) contribute in this way by removing barriers to trade to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade.
CHAPTER I
- INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS
Scope
The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to industrial products originating in the Parties. The term "industrial products' for the purposes of this Agreement means products falling within Chapters 25 to 97 of the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, with the exception of products listed in Annex I.
Import duties
1. No new import duties will be introduced in trade between the Parties.
2. Import duties shall be abolished in accordance with the provisions of Protocols 1, 2 and 3.
Provisions for the abolition of import duties between
- the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, of the one part, and the Republic of Hungary, of the other part, are laid down in Protocol 1;
- the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, of the one part, and the Republic of Poland, of the other part, are laid down in Protocol 2;
- The Republic of Hungary and the Republic of Poland are laid down in Protocol 3.
Basic duty
1. For each product, the basic duty from which the subsequent reductions provided for in this Agreement are to apply shall be the most favourable duty rate applied on 29 February 1992.
2. Where, after the entry into force of this Agreement, any reduction in customs duties under the "erga omnes' principle takes place, in particular those resulting from the tariff agreement negotiated as a result of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, such reduced duties shall replace the basic duties referred to in paragraph 1 as from the date on which such reductions are applied.
3. The reduced duties calculated in accordance with Article 2 shall apply, rounded to the first decimal place.
4. The Parties shall notify each other of their respective customs duties.
Fees equivalent to customs duties
1. No new charge shall be introduced in trade between the Parties which has an effect equivalent to the import duty.
2. All charges having an effect equivalent to import duties shall be abolished on the date of entry into force of this Agreement, except for leave in Annex II.
Fiscal duties
Article 3 shall also apply to duties of a fiscal nature.
Export duties and charges having equivalent effect
1. No export duties or charges having equivalent effect shall be introduced in trade between Parties.
2. No later than 1 January 1997, the Parties shall gradually abolish any export duties and charges having equivalent effect.
Quantitative restrictions on imports and measures having equivalent effect
1. No new quantitative restrictions on imports or measures having equivalent effect shall be introduced in trade between Parties.
2. All quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect on imports of products originating in the Parties shall be lifted as from the date of entry into force of the Agreement, with the exceptions permitted in Annexes III / a, III / b and III / c.
Quantitative restrictions on exports and measures having equivalent effect
1. No new quantitative restrictions on exports or measures having equivalent effect shall be introduced in trade between Parties.
2. All quantitative restrictions on exports from the Parties and measures having equivalent effect shall be lifted at the date of entry into force of the Agreement, with the exceptions permitted in Annexes IV / a, IV / b and IV / c.
Procedure for the exchange of information on draft technical regulations
1. The Parties shall inform each other, as soon as possible and in accordance with the provisions laid down in Annex V, of the draft technical regulations and of the draft supplements they intend to issue.
The Joint Committee shall decide on the deadline for implementing the provisions of paragraph 1.
CHAPTER II.
- AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS
Scope
1. The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to agricultural products originating in the Parties to this Agreement.
2. The term "agricultural products" for the purposes of this Agreement shall mean products falling within Chapters 1 to 24 of the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System and products listed in Annex I.
Exchange of concessions
1. The Parties to this Agreement shall grant each other the concessions specified in Protocols 4, 5 and 6 in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and set out in those Protocols.
Concessions exchanged between:
- the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, of the one part, and the Republic of Hungary, of the other part, are laid down in Protocol 4;
- the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, of the one part, and the Republic of Poland, of the other part, are laid down in Protocol 5;
- The Republic of Hungary and the Republic of Poland are laid down in Protocol 6.
2. Taking into account:
- the role of agriculture in their economies,
- the development of trade in agricultural products between the Parties,
- specific sensitivity of agricultural products,
- the rules of their agricultural policies,
- the consequences of multilateral trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,
The Parties shall examine the possibilities of granting each other other concessions.
Concession and agricultural policy
1. Without prejudice to concessions granted under Article 12, the provisions of this Chapter shall not restrict, by any means, the implementation of the relevant agricultural policies of the Parties or the adoption of any measures under these policies, including the implementation of the results resulting from the Uruguay Round Agreements.
2. The Parties shall notify the Joint Committee of any changes made to their respective agricultural policies or measures taken which may affect the conditions of agricultural trade between them as set out in this Agreement. An immediate consultation shall be held at the request of the Party in order to examine the situation.
Special protective measures
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Agreement, and in particular Article 27, where, in a situation of particular sensitivity to agricultural markets, imports of products originating in a Party which are the subject of concessions granted under this Agreement cause serious market infringements of another Party or of the Parties to which this applies shall enter into consultations immediately in order to find appropriate solutions. Before reaching this solution, the Parties concerned may take the measures they consider necessary.
Sanitary and phytosanitary measures
The Parties shall apply their provisions in veterinary, health and health matters in a non-discriminatory manner and shall not introduce any new measures which, by their effect, unduly impede trade.
CHAPTER III.
- GENERAL PROVISIONS
Rules of origin and customs cooperation
1. Protocol 7 lays down the rules of origin and methods of administrative cooperation applicable to them.
2. The Parties shall take appropriate measures, including regular reviews by the Joint Committee and adjustments to administrative cooperation, to ensure that the provisions of Protocol 7 and Articles 3 to 9, 12, 17 and 28 of the Agreement are applied effectively and harmonically, and to reduce to the minimum possible the formalities imposed on trade and to achieve mutually satisfactory solutions to any difficulties arising from the implementation of those provisions.
Internal taxation
1. The Parties shall refrain from any measures or practices of an internal fiscal nature which, either directly or indirectly, discriminates between products originating in the Parties.
2. Products exported to the territory of one of the Parties shall not benefit from reimbursement of internal taxation if they exceed the amount of direct or indirect taxation imposed on them.
General exemptions
This Agreement shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on the import, export or transit of goods authorised for reasons of public morality, public interest or public security; the protection of health or human life, animal or plant life; protection of national monuments of artistic, historical or archaeological value; the protection of intellectual property or rules relating to gold or silver, or the maintenance of usable natural resources, where such measures are applied in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption. Such prohibitions or restrictions may not, however, become a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between the Parties.
Safety exemptions
Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent the Party from taking any measure it deems necessary:
(a) to prevent disclosure of information contrary to its essential security interests;
(b) to protect their essential security interests or to fulfil international obligations or national policies;
(i) relating to trade in arms, munitions and war material, provided that such measures do not distort the conditions of competition for products not intended for specific military purposes and for such trade in other goods, materials and services operated directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying armed forces; or
(ii) related to the non-proliferation of biological and chemical weapons, nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; or
(iii) adopted during war or other serious international tensions.
State Monopoly
1. The Parties shall gradually adapt any state monopoly of a commercial nature to ensure that, at the end of the fifth year following the entry into force of the Agreement, there is no discrimination between Party nationals regarding the conditions under which goods are procured and traded. The Joint Committee shall be informed of the measures to be taken to implement this objective.
2. The provisions of this Article shall apply to any authority through which the competent authorities of the Parties, either directly or indirectly, supervise, decide on or significantly influence imports or exports between the Parties. These provisions will apply similarly to monopolies delegated by States to other authorities.
Payments
1. Payments in freely convertible currencies relating to the trading of goods between the Parties and the transfer of such payments to the territory of the State, the Party to this Agreement where the creditor is established shall be exempt from any restrictions.
2. The Parties shall refrain from any foreign exchange or administrative restrictions on the provision, repayment or acceptance of short-term and medium-term loans in respect of trade in goods in which the resident participates.
3. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, until Article VIII of the International Monetary Fund Agreement becomes applicable to the Parties, the Parties reserve the right to apply foreign exchange restrictions on the provision or acceptance of short-term and medium-term loans in respect of trade in goods to the extent permitted under their International Monetary Fund Statute, provided that such restrictions are applied in a non-discriminatory manner as regards the origin of the products, and that they are not applied only to certain products or types of products. Restrictions will be of limited duration and will be removed as soon as the conditions do not justify their continued maintenance. The Parties shall immediately inform the Joint Committee of the introduction of such measures and of any amendment thereto.
Competition rules concerning undertakings
1. The following facts are incompatible with the proper functioning of this Agreement if they may affect trade between the Parties:
(a) all agreements between undertakings, decisions of associations of undertakings and agreed practices between undertakings which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition;
(b) abuse of a dominant position by one or more undertakings in the territories of the Parties as a whole or a substantial part thereof.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply to the activities of all undertakings, including public undertakings and undertakings to which the Parties grant special or exclusive rights.
Undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest or having the character of a monopoly producing a state pension shall be subject to the provisions of paragraph 1, unless the application of those provisions prevents the performance, in law or in fact, of the specific public tasks assigned to them.
3. As regards the products referred to in Chapter II, the provisions referred to in paragraph 1 (a) shall not apply to such agreements, decisions and practices forming an integral part of the organisation of the national market.
4. Where a Party considers that a practice is incompatible with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article and causes such practice or threatens to cause serious harm to the interests of that Party or material damage to its domestic industry, it may take appropriate measures, under the conditions and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 31.
State aid
1. Any aid granted by a State which is a Party to this Agreement or through State resources in any form whatsoever which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods, insofar as it may affect trade between that Party and other Parties to this Agreement, shall be incompatible with the proper functioning of this Agreement.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to products referred to in Chapter II.
3. Within three years of the entry into force of this Agreement, the Joint Committee shall adopt the criteria on the basis of which the practices transposing paragraph 1 and the rules governing their implementation shall be evaluated.
4. The Parties shall ensure transparency in the field of State aid, inter alia, by providing the Joint Committee with annual reports on its overall amount and on the distribution of aid granted and the provision of other Parties, at their request, information on assistance programmes and specific individual State aid cases.
5. If the Party considers that a specific practice, including practices in agriculture
- is incompatible with the conditions of paragraph 1 and is not adequately treated in accordance with the implementing rules referred to in paragraph 3, or
- these rules are missing and cause or threaten to cause serious harm to the interests of the Party or material damage to its domestic industry;
may take appropriate measures under the conditions and in accordance with the provisions referred to in Article 31.
Such appropriate measures may be taken only in accordance with the procedures and under the conditions laid down in GATT and any other relevant agreements negotiated under its auspices which are in force between the Parties.
Government contracts
1. The Parties shall consider the liberalisation of their respective government procurement markets as an objective of this Agreement.
2. The Parties shall gradually establish their respective rules for government contracts with the intention to grant, at the latest by the end of the transitional period referred to in Article 1 of this Agreement, access to the procurement procedures of other Parties on their respective government procurement markets under the provisions of the GATT Agreement of 12 April 1979, as amended by the Protocol on Amendments of 2 February 1987.
3. The Joint Committee shall examine developments relating to the achievement of the objectives of this Article and may recommend practical arrangements for implementing the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article in order to ensure free access, transparency and full balance of rights and obligations.
4. During the examination referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, the Joint Committee may consider, in particular in the light of developments in this field in international relations, the possibility of extending the substantive scope or the degree of opening up of the market provided for in paragraph 2.
5. The Parties shall endeavour to accede to the relevant GATT Agreements.
Protection of intellectual property
1. The Parties shall provide and ensure the protection of intellectual property rights on a non-discriminatory basis, including measures for the provision and enforcement of such rights. Protection shall be progressively improved and shall be at a level consistent with the relevant standards of multilateral agreements set out in Annex VI before the end of the fifth year following the entry into force of this Agreement.
2. For the purposes of this Agreement, "intellectual property protection 'shall include, in particular, the protection of copyright, including computer programs and databases, and related rights, trade marks, geographical indications, industrial designs, patents, topographies of integrated circuits, as well as classified information on know-how.
3. Protection of topographies of integrated circuits secured by any Party will be provided on a reciprocal basis.
4. The Parties shall cooperate on intellectual property issues. At the request of any Party, experts shall be consulted on these issues, in particular on activities relating to existing or future international conventions on the harmonisation, enforcement and enforcement of intellectual property and on the activities of international organisations such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, WIPO, as well as on the relations of the Parties with third countries on intellectual property issues.
Dumping
Where a Party finds that dumping within the meaning of Article VI of the GATT is being applied in trade relations governed by this Agreement, it may take appropriate measures against such practices in accordance with Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and Agreements relating to this Article, under the conditions and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 31.
General safeguard measures
Where any product is imported in such increased quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause:
(a) serious damage to domestic producers of like or directly competing products in the territory of the importing Party; or
(b) serious disturbances in any related sector of the economy or difficulties which could cause a serious deterioration of the economic situation of the area,
the Party concerned may take appropriate measures under the conditions and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 31.
Structural adjustments
1. Any Party may adopt exceptional measures of limited duration derogating from the provisions of Article 3 in the form of increased duties.
2. These measures may concern only newly developed industries or certain sectors undergoing restructuring or facing serious difficulties, in particular where these difficulties create serious social problems.
3. The import duties applied by the Party concerned to products originating in another Party introduced by these measures may not exceed 25% ad valorem and shall maintain a preferential element for products originating in the Parties. The total value of imports of products subject to these measures shall not exceed 15% of the total imports of industrial products from other Parties as defined in Chapter I during the last year for which statistical data are available.
4. These measures shall be applied for a period not exceeding five years, unless their duration is approved by the Joint Committee. They shall cease to apply at the latest at the end of the transitional period.
5. No such measures may be introduced for a product if more than three years have elapsed since the elimination of all customs duties and quantitative restrictions or charges or measures having equivalent effect on that product.
6. The relevant Party shall inform the Joint Committee of any exceptional measures it intends to take and, at the request of the other Parties, shall be consulted within the Joint Committee on such measures and on the sectors to which they apply before they are introduced. When taking such measures, the Party concerned shall provide the Joint Committee with a timetable for the elimination of the duties introduced under this Article. This timetable shall allow for a gradual reduction and elimination of these duties from this process no later than two years after their introduction, at the same annual rates. The Joint Committee may decide on a different timetable.
Reexport and serious deficiency (goods)
Where compliance with the provisions of Articles 7 and 9 leads to:
(a) re-export to a third country in respect of which the exporting Party maintains quantitative export restrictions, export duties or measures or charges having equivalent effect for the product in question; or
(b) a serious deficiency or threat thereof for the product necessary for the exporting Party;
and where the above situations cause or are likely to cause significant difficulties for the exporting Party, that Party may take appropriate measures under the conditions and in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 31.
Implementation of commitments
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Regulation Information
| Citation | Communication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 54 / 1995 Coll., on the negotiation of a Central European Free Trade Agreement between the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | - |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 14.04.1995 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 01.07.1994 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
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