ANNEX

PROCEDURES FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

Party complained against: the Party that is alleged to be in violation of the provisions referred to in Article 46 of the Agreement;

Representative of a Party: an employee or any natural person appointed by a government department or agency or any other public entity of a Party who represents the Party in a dispute under the Agreement;

Non-working day: Saturdays, Sundays and any other day designated by a Party as a holiday for the purposes of the application of these rules of procedure;

Assistant: a natural person who, under the terms of appointment of an arbitrator, conducts research for or provides assistance to the arbitrator;

For the purposes of these procedures for the settlement of disputes (the ‘rules of procedure’), the following definitions apply:

3. All Parties may resort to arbitration in the framework of the implementation of the Agreement in order to resolve any disputes that may arise between them.

2. These rules of procedure are intended to enable the Parties to resolve disputes that may arise between them through a mutually satisfactory solution reached by means of the arbitration mechanism.

1. The provisions of these rules of procedure supplement and clarify the Agreement, and in particular Article 49 and the subsequent articles thereof on arbitration.

7. Depending on the nature of the issues under dispute, copies of all requests and notifications addressed to the EPA Committee in accordance with these rules of procedure shall also be copied to the other relevant institutional bodies.

6. If the last day for delivery of a notification is a non-working day for Côte d’Ivoire or the European Union, the notification may be delivered on the next working day. No notification or request of any kind shall be deemed to have been received on a non-working day.

5. Minor errors of a clerical nature in notifications related to the arbitration procedure may be corrected by the sending of a new notification clearly indicating the changes that have been made.

4. All notifications shall be addressed to the Directorate-General for Trade of the European Commission and to the coordinator appointed by Côte d’Ivoire.

3. Any notification shall be made by e-mail or, where appropriate, by any other means of telecommunication that provides a record of the sending thereof. Unless proven otherwise, such notification shall be deemed to have been delivered on the date of its sending.

any notification from one Party which is addressed to the other Party shall be copied to the arbitration panel at the same time, where appropriate.

any notification from one Party which is addressed to the arbitration panel shall be copied to the other Party at the same time; and

any notification from the arbitration panel shall be sent to both Parties at the same time;

2. ‘Notification’, for the purposes of these rules of procedure, means any request, notice, written submission or other document related to the arbitration procedure, on the understanding that:

1. The arbitration procedure is considered to have been launched on the date on which the request for the establishment of an arbitration panel is received by the Party complained against and by the EPA Committee, in accordance with Article 49(2) of the Agreement.

4. The arbitrators shall be drawn by lot from among the persons officially proposed by one or both of the Parties if the list of arbitrators referred to in Article 64 of the Agreement has not been drawn up or does not contain enough names at the moment when the request is made under Article 50(2) of the Agreement.

3. The Chairperson of the EPA Committee shall, in writing, inform each individual selected of his or her appointment as arbitrator. Each individual shall confirm his or her availability to both Parties within 5 days of the date on which he or she was informed of his or her appointment.

2. The lot drawing shall take place in the presence of the representatives of the Parties.

1. If, pursuant to Article 50 of the Agreement, an arbitrator is selected by drawing lots, the Chairperson of the EPA Committee shall promptly inform the Parties of the date, time and venue of the drawing by lot.

4. The Parties shall notify the agreed terms of reference to the arbitration panel within 3 days of their agreement on the mandate.

‘to examine, in the light of the relevant provisions of the Agreement, the matter referred to in the request for the setting-up of the arbitration panel, to rule on the compatibility of the measure in question with Article 46 of the Agreement, and to make a ruling in accordance with Articles 52, 62 and 63 of the Agreement.’

3. Unless the Parties agree otherwise within 5 days of the date of the setting-up of the arbitration panel, the terms of reference of the arbitration panel shall be:

2. The arbitrators and the representatives of the Parties may take part in this meeting by telephone or by video conference.

the remuneration for each arbitrator’s assistant, the total of which shall not exceed 50 per cent of the total remuneration of that arbitrator;

the remuneration and expenses to be paid to the arbitrators, which shall be in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) standards;

1. Unless the Parties agree otherwise, they shall meet the arbitration panel within 7 days of its establishment in order to determine such matters that the Parties or the arbitration panel deem appropriate, including:

The complaining Party shall deliver its initial written submission no later than 20 days after the date of the setting-up of the arbitration panel. The Party complained against shall deliver its written counter-submission no later than 20 days after the date of delivery of the initial written submission.

Article 7

Working of the arbitration panels

1. The Chairperson of the arbitration panel shall chair all meetings. An arbitration panel may delegate to its Chairperson the authority to make administrative and procedural decisions in the area concerned.

2. In accordance with Article 9 of these rules of procedure, the arbitrators and the persons requested shall attend the hearing. Unless otherwise provided for in the Agreement or these rules of procedure and without prejudice to Article 9(5) of these rules of procedure, the arbitration panel may conduct its activities by telephone, by fax or by any other means, including electronically.

3. Only arbitrators may take part in the deliberations of the arbitration panel, but the arbitration panel may permit its assistants to be present at its deliberations.

4. The drafting of any ruling shall be the exclusive responsibility of the arbitration panel and shall not be delegated.

5. The observations, conclusions and recommendations of the arbitration panel referred to in Articles 51 and 52 of the Agreement should be made by consensus, where possible; if a consensus cannot be reached, they should be made by a majority of its members. Arbitrators may not issue separate opinions on matters not unanimously agreed.

6. Where a procedural question arises that is not covered by the provisions of Title V of the Agreement (Prevention and settlement of disputes), the arbitration panel, after consulting with the Parties, may adopt an appropriate procedure that is compatible with those provisions and that ensures equal treatment between the Parties.

7. If the arbitration panel considers that there is a need to change any of the time limits for its proceedings other than the time limits set out in Title V of the Agreement (Prevention and settlement of disputes), or to make any other procedural or administrative adjustment, it shall inform the Parties in writing of the reasons for which the change or adjustment has been made and of the time limit or adjustment needed. The arbitration panel may adopt such changes or adjustments after having consulted the Parties.

8. Any time limit established under these Rules of Procedure may be amended by the mutual agreement of the Parties. Upon the request of one Party, the arbitration panel may modify the time limits applicable in the proceedings.

9. At the request of both Parties, the arbitration panel may suspend the proceeding at any time for a period agreed by the Parties and not exceeding 12 consecutive months.

10. In the event of a suspension, the relevant time limits shall be extended by the same amount of time as the proceeding before the arbitration panel was suspended. The arbitration panel shall resume the proceeding at any time at the joint request of both Parties, or at the end of the agreed suspension period at the written request of one of the Parties. The Chairperson of the arbitration panel and, where necessary, the other Party shall be informed of the request. If the proceeding before the arbitration panel has been suspended for over 12 consecutive months, the powers conferred for the setting-up of the arbitration panel shall become invalid and the proceeding before the arbitration panel shall be terminated. The Parties may at any time agree to terminate the proceeding before the arbitration panel. The Parties shall jointly notify the Chairperson of the arbitration panel of this agreement.