AGREEMENT between the Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community and the Syrian Arab Republic (79/1031/ECSC)

THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,

THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,

IRELAND,

THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,

THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG,

THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS,

and

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,

being Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (hereinafter called "the Member States"),

of the one part,

THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC,

of the other part,

WHEREAS the European Economic Community and the Syrian Arab Republic are concluding a Cooperation Agreement concerning the sectors covered by that Community,

PURSUING the same objectives and desiring to find like solutions for the sector covered by the European Coal and Steel Community,

HAVE DECIDED, in pursuit of these objectives and considering that no provision of this Agreement may be interpreted as exempting the Contracting Parties from the obligations which are incumbent upon them under other international agreements,

TO CONCLUDE THIS AGREEMENT, and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries:

THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM:

Renaat VAN ELSLANDE,

Minister for Foreign Affairs;

THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK:

Jens CHRISTENSEN,

Ambassador,

Permanent Under-Secretary;

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY:

Hans-Dietrich GENSCHER,

Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs;

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC:

Louis de GUIRINGAUD,

Minister for Foreign Affairs;

IRELAND:

Garret FITZGERALD,

Minister for Foreign Affairs;

THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC:

Arnaldo FORLANI,

Minister for Foreign Affairs;

THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG:

Gaston THORN,

President and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg;

THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS:

Max van der STOEL,

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands;

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND:

Anthony CROSLAND MP,

Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;

THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC:

Mohamed IMADI,

Minister for Economic Affairs and External Trade.

Article 1

This Agreement shall apply to the products covered by the European Coal and Steel Community which are specified in the Annex.

TITLE I Trade cooperation

Article 2

The object of the Agreement is to promote trade between the Contracting Parties, taking account of their respective levels of development and of the need to ensure a better balance in their trade, with a view to increasing the rate of growth of Syria's trade and improving the conditions of access for its products to the Community market.

Article 3

Customs duties and charges having equivalent effect on imports into the Community of products originating in Syria covered by the European Coal and Steel Community shall be abolished in accordance with the following timetable: >PIC FILE= "T0009878">

Article 4

1. For each product, the basic duties to which the reductions provided for in Article 3 are to be applied shall be: - for the Community as originally constituted : those duties actually applied in respect of Syria on 1 January 1975,

- for Denmark, Ireland andthe United Kingdom : those duties actually applied in respect of Syria on 1 January 1972.

2. The reduced duties calculated in accordance with Article 3 shall be applied, rounded to the first decimal place.

Subject to the application by the Community of Article 39 (5) of the Act concerning the conditions of accession and the adjustments to the Treaties of 22 January 1972 as regards the specific duties or the specific part of the mixed duties in the Irish and United Kingdom customs tariffs, Article 3 shall be applied, with rounding to the fourth decimal place.

Article 5

1. The products originating in Syria referred to in this Agreement may not enjoy more favourable treatment when imported into the Community than that applied by the Member States between themselves.

2. For the application of paragraph 1, account shall not be taken of the customs duties and charges having equivalent effect resulting from the application of Articles 32 and 36 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession and the adjustments to the Treaties referred to in Article 4.

Article 6

Quantitative restrictions on imports into the Community and measures having an equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions on imports shall be abolished on the date of the entry into force of the Agreement.

Article 7

Articles 21 to 34 of the Cooperation Agreement signed this day shall apply mutatis mutandis to this Agreement.

Article 8

1. If the offers made by Syrian undertakings are likely to be detrimental to the functioning of the common market and if any such detriment is attributable to a difference in the conditions of competition as regards prices, Member States may take appropriate measures under the conditions and in accordance with the procedures laid down in paragraph 2.

2. The Contracting Parties shall provide the Joint Committee with all relevant information and shall give it the assistance it requires in order to examine the case and, where necessary, to consider appropriate measures.

If Syria fails to put an end to the practice objected to within the period fixed by the Joint Committee, or in the absence of agreement in the Joint Committee within one month of the date on which the matter is referred to it, the Member States may adopt the safeguard measures they consider necessary to avoid, or put an end to, any detriment to the functioning of the common market ; in particular they may withdraw tariff concessions.

Article 9

The Agreement shall not modify the provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community or the powers and jurisdiction deriving therefrom.

TITLE II General and final provisions

Article 10

1. A Joint Committee is hereby established, which shall be responsible for the administration of the Agreement and shall ensure its proper implementation. For this purpose, it shall make recommendations and take decisions in the cases provided for in the Agreement.

The decisions taken shall be binding on the Contracting Parties which, in accordance with their own rules, shall take such measures as are required to implement them.

2. For the purpose of the proper implementation of the Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall exchange information and, at the request of either Party, shall hold consultations within the Joint Committee.

3. The Joint Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 11

1. The Joint Committee shall be composed of representatives of the Community on the one hand and of representatives of Syria on the other.

2. The Joint Committee shall act by mutual agreement between the Community and Syria.

Article 12

1. The office of chairman of the Joint Committee shall be held alternately by each of the Contracting Parties, in accordance with detailed rules to be laid down in its rules of procedure.

2. The chairman shall convene meetings of the Joint Committee at least once a year in order to review the general functioning of the Agreement.

The Joint Committee shall, in addition, meet whenever necessary, at the request of either Contracting Party, in accordance with the conditions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.

3. The Joint Committee may decide to set up any working party that can assist it in carrying out its duties.

Article 13

Articles 40 to 46 of the Cooperation Agreement shall apply mutatis mutandis to this Agreement

Article 14

This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories to which the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community applies under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and, on the other, to the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Article 15

This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian and Arabic languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

Article 16

This Agreement shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by the Contracting Parties in accordance with their own procedures. They shall notify each other when the procedures necessary to this end have been completed.

This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the notifications provided for in the first paragraph have been carried out.

Til bekræftelse heraf har undertegnede befuldmægtigede underskrevet denne aftale.

Zu Urkund dessen haben die unterzeichneten Bevollmächtigten ihre Unterschriften unter dieses Abkommen gesetzt.

In witness whereof, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have affixed their signatures below this Agreement.

En foi de quoi, les plénipotentiaires soussignés ont apposé leurs signatures au bas du présent accord.

In fede di che, i plenipotenziari sottoscritti hanno apposto le loro firme in calce al presente accordo.

Ten blijke waarvan de ondergetekende gevolmachtigden hun handtekening onder deze Overeenkomst hebben gesteld. >PIC FILE= "T0009879">

Udfærdiget i Bruxelles, den attende januar nitten hundrede og syvoghalvfjerds.

Geschehen zu Brüssel am achtzehnten Januar neunzehnhundertsiebenundsiebzig.

Done at Brussels on the eighteenth day of January in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven.

Fait à Bruxelles, le dix-huit janvier mil neuf cent soixante-dix-sept.

Fatto a Bruxelles, addì diciotto gennaio millenovecentosettantasette.

Gedaan te Brussel, de achttiende januari negentienhonderd zevenenzeventig. >PIC FILE= "T0009880">

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ANNEX List of products referred to in Article 1 of the Agreement

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