Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the European Community and the United Mexican States
Date: 2004-02-03
Institutions: European Community, Mexico
Subjects: Mexico, cooperation agreement (EU), research and development, scientific cooperation, scientific research, technical cooperation

4.11.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 290/17

for Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the European Community and the United Mexican States

AGREEMENT

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Community’,

of the one part, and

THE UNITED MEXICAN STATES, hereinafter referred to as ‘Mexico’,

of the other part,

hereinafter referred to as ‘the Parties’,

CONSIDERING the Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement between the United
Mexican States and the European Community and its Member States of 8 December 1997;

CONSIDERING the importance of science and technology for their economic and social development;

CONSIDERING the ongoing scientific and technological cooperation between the Community and Mexico;

CONSIDERING that the Community and Mexico are currently pursuing research and technological development activities,
including projects as defined in Article 2(e), in areas of common interest and that participation in each other’s research
and development activities on the basis of reciprocity will provide mutual benefits;

DESIRING to establish a solid basis for cooperation in scientific and technological research which will extend and
strengthen the cooperative activities in areas of common interest and encourage the application of the results of such
cooperation to the economic and social benefit of both Parties;

CONSIDERING that this Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation is part of the general cooperation
between Mexico and the Community,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Purpose

The Parties shall encourage, develop and facilitate cooperative
research and development activities in fields of science and
technology of common interest between the Community and
Mexico.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Agreement:

(a)

‘cooperative activity’ means any activity which the Parties
undertake or support, pursuant
to this Agreement, and
includes joint research and training of human resources;

(c)

‘intellectual property’ shall have the meaning defined in
Article 2 of the Convention establishing the World Intel-
lectual Property Organisation, signed in Stockholm on 14
July 1967;

(d) ‘joint research’ means research, technological development
and/or demonstration projects implemented with or without
from one or both Parties and which
financial support
involves collaboration between participants from both the
Community and Mexico;

(e)

economic

‘demonstration projects’ means projects aimed at demon-
strating the viability of new technologies which offer a
potential
advantage but which cannot be
commercialised without a prior study of their viability on
the market. The Parties shall keep each other mutually and
regularly informed about the joint research activities in the
context of the coordination and facilitation of cooperative
activities (Article 6);

(b) ‘information’ means scientific or technical data, results or
methods of
stemming from
research and development
joint research and any other data deemed necessary by
the participants
including, as
necessary, by the Parties themselves;

to cooperative activities,

(f)

‘participant’ or ‘research entities’ means any physical or legal
person, research institute, or any other firm or legal entity
established in the Community or in Mexico involved in
cooperative activities, including the Parties themselves.

L 290/18

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

4.11.2005

Article 3

Principles

— biotechnologies,

Cooperative activities shall be conducted on the basis of the
following principles:

(a) mutual benefit based on an appropriate balance of

advantages;

(b) reciprocal opportunities to participate in the research and
technological development activities undertaken by each
Party;

(c)

timely exchange of
erative activities;

information which may affect coop-

(d) within the framework of

the applicable laws and regu-
intellectual property and
lations, effective protection of
equitable
in
sharing of
accordance with the Annex on intellectual property rights,
which forms an integral part of this Agreement.

intellectual property

rights,

Article 4

Areas of cooperative activities

(a)
the
Cooperation under this Agreement may cover all
activities on research, technological development, demonstration
and high-level scientific and technological training, hereinafter
included in the RTD Framework
referred to as
Programme of
including funda-
abovementioned activities must be
mental
industrial
directed towards promoting scientific progress,
in
competitiveness and economic and social development,
particular in the following areas:

‘RTD’,
the European Community,

research. The

— research on the environment and climate,

including Earth

observation,

— biomedical and health research,

— agriculture, forestry and fisheries,

— industrial and manufacturing technologies,

— research on electronics, materials and metrology,

— non-nuclear energy,

— transport,

— information society technologies,

— research on economic and social development,

— aeronautics and space research and applied research, and

— science and technology policy.

Other areas of cooperation may be added to this list
(b)
to prior examination and recommendation by the
subject
Joint Committee referred to in Article 6(c)(7),
in accordance
with the procedures in force for each party, together with all
similar RTD activities undertaken in Mexico in the corre-
sponding fields.

This Agreement does not affect the participation of Mexico, as a
in Community activities in the field of
developing country,
research for development.

Article 5

Forms of cooperative activities

education,

The Parties shall foster the participation of institutes of
(a)
and
research and development
higher
in cooperative activities
research and development entities
under
internal
policies and regulations, with a view to providing opportunities
for participation in their scientific and technological research
and development activities.

in conformity with their

this Agreement

centres

(b)

Cooperative activities may take the following forms:

— establishment of networks

and long-term institutional
alliances between research centres and research and tech-
nology institutes and joint implementation of projects of
common interest,

— implementation of RTD projects between research and
including tech-

business centres in Mexico and Europe,
nology-based undertakings,

— participation of Mexican research institutes in RTD projects
under the existing Framework Programme and reciprocal
established in the
participation of
Community in Mexican projects in similar fields of RTD.
Such participation shall be subject
to the rules and
procedures applicable in the RTD programmes of each
Party,

research institutes

— visits and exchanges of scientists, RTD policy-makers and
training through

including scientific

experts,

technical
research,

— joint organisation of

conferences,
scientific
workshops and symposia, as well as participation of
experts in such activities,

seminars,

4.11.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 290/19

— exchanges

and sharing of
including shared use and/or
structure and equipment,

equipment
loans of

and materials,
laboratory infra-

3. promoting, pursuant to the second indent of Article 5(b),
together with the scientific communities of the two Parties,
identification of projects which would be of mutual benefit,
complementary and/or priorities;

— exchanges of information on procedures, laws, regulations
and programmes
this
Agreement, exchanges of experience and studies on best
practice on science and technology policy,

to cooperation under

relevant

— any other form recommended by the Steering Committee, as
provided for
in Article 6(b), and considered to be in
conformity with the policies and procedures applicable in
both Parties.

Joint RTD projects shall be implemented when the participants
have developed a technology management plan, as indicated in
the Annex to this Agreement.

Article 6

Coordination and facilitation of cooperative activities

(a)
For the purposes of this Agreement, the Parties appoint
the following authorities, acting as co-signatory executive
for the coordination and facilitation of cooperative
agents,
activities: on behalf of the United Mexican States, el Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (National Science and Tech-
nology Council) and, on behalf of the Community, the repre-
sentatives of the European Commission.

4. making recommendations, pursuant to the fifth indent of

Article 5(b);

5. advising the Parties on ways to enhance and improve coop-
eration and dissemination thereof consistent with the prin-
ciples set out in this Agreement;

6. monitoring and reviewing the efficient

functioning and

implementation of this Agreement;

7. providing an annual report to the Parties on the status, the
level reached and the effectiveness of cooperation undertaken
under this Agreement. This report shall be submitted to the
Joint Committee
the Association
Agreement of 8 December 1997.

established

under

The Steering Committee shall, as a general rule, meet
(d)
once a year, preferably before the meeting of
the Joint
Committee, according to a jointly agreed schedule, and shall
report to the Joint Committee; the meetings shall be held alter-
nately in the Community and in Mexico. Extraordinary meetings
may be organised at the request of either Party.

(b)
The executive agents shall establish a bilateral RTD Coop-
the
eration Steering Committee, hereinafter
‘Steering Committee’, for the management of this Agreement;
this Committee shall consist of a similar number of official
representatives of each Party; it shall establish its own rules of
procedure.

referred to as

(e)
Each Party shall bear the costs of its participation in the
meetings of the Steering Committee. Costs other than those for
travel and accommodation which are directly associated with
meetings of the Steering Committee shall be borne by the host
Party.

(c)

The functions of the Steering Committee shall

include:

1. promoting and overseeing the different cooperative activities
referred to in Article 4 as well as those that could be imple-
mented in the framework of RTD cooperation for devel-
opment and any others which arise in the future;

2.

to the first

identifying, pursuant
among the potential sectors for RTD cooperation,
priority sectors or subsectors of mutual
cooperation is sought;

indent of Article 5(b),
those
interest in which

Article 7

Funding

(a)
Cooperative activities shall be subject to the availability of
appropriated funds and to the applicable laws, regulations,
policies and programmes of the Parties. Costs incurred by the
participants in cooperative activities shall, in principle, give rise
to no transfer of funds from one Party to the other.

(b) When cooperative schemes of one Party provide for
financial support
to participants from the other Party, any
such grants, financial or other contributions shall be granted
free of tax and customs duties in accordance with the laws and
regulations applicable in the territories of each Party.

L 290/20

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

4.11.2005

Article 8

Entry of personnel and equipment

other that their respective internal procedures necessary for its
entry into force have been completed.

Each Party shall
take all necessary steps and provide the
necessary facilities for participants officially involved in coop-
erative activities under this Agreement to enter, stay in and
leave its territory. They shall also make the efforts necessary
to provide the necessary facilities,
in the national migration,
tax, customs, health and safety regulations in force in the
receiving country, for the material, data and equipment used
in the activities covered by the Agreement.

(b)
This Agreement shall be concluded for an initial period of
five years and may be tacitly renewed after full evaluation, based
on the results, during the penultimate year of each successive
five-year period.

Article 9

Dissemination and use of information

(c)
the
This Agreement may be amended by decision of
Parties. Amendments shall enter into force under the same
conditions as defined in paragraph (a).

the

shall

regards

follow, as

rules on dissemination of

The research entities established in Mexico which are involved
in Community RTD projects
the
information and as
ownership, dissemination and use of
regards the intellectual property stemming from this invol-
vement,
research results
stemming from the specific Community RTD programmes as
well as the provisions in the Annex to this Agreement. The
research entities established in the Community which are
involved in Mexican RTD projects shall have, as regards the
ownership, dissemination and use of
information and as
regards the intellectual property stemming from this invol-
the same rights and the same obligations as the
vement,
Mexican research entities and shall be subject to the provisions
in the Annex to this Agreement.

This Agreement may be terminated at any time by either
(d)
Party upon six months’ written notice to the other Party
through diplomatic channels. The expiration or termination of
this Agreement shall not affect the validity or duration of any
arrangements made under it, or any specific rights and obli-
gations that have accrued in compliance with the Annex to
this Agreement.

(e)
All questions or disputes related to the interpretation or
implementation of this Agreement shall be settled by mutual
agreement between the Parties.

Article 10

Territorial application

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

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorised
thereto, have signed this Agreement.

Article 11

Entry into force, termination and dispute settlement

(a)
This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the
last written communication by which the Parties notify each

Done at Brussels on the third day of February in the year two
thousand and four in two copies, in the Danish, Dutch, English,
Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and
Swedish languages, all texts being equally authentic. The English
version will prevail whenever there is a divergent interpretation
between these texts.

4.11.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 290/21

Por la Comunidad Europea
For Det Europæiske Fællesskab
Für die Europäische Gemeinschaft
Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα

For the European Community
Pour la Communauté européenne
Per la Comunità europea
Voor de Europese Gemeenschap
Pela Comunidade Europeia
Euroopan yhteisön puolesta
På Europeiska gemenskapens vägnar

Por los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
For De Forenede Mexicanske Stater
Für die Vereinigten Mexikanischen Staaten
Για τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες του Μεξικού

For the United Mexican States
Pour les États-Unis mexicains
Per gli Stati Uniti messicani
Voor de Verenigde Mexicaanse Staten
Pelos Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Meksikon yhdysvaltojen puolesta
För Mexikos förenta stater

L 290/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

4.11.2005

ANNEX

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
This Annex is an integral part of the ‘Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the European
Community and the United Mexican States’, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’.

Rights to intellectual property created or furnished under the Agreement shall be allocated as provided in this Annex.

I. APPLICATION

This Annex is applicable to joint research undertaken pursuant to the Agreement, except as otherwise agreed by the
Parties.

II. OWNERSHIP, ALLOCATION AND EXERCISE OF RIGHTS

1. This Annex addresses the allocation of rights and interests of the Parties and their participants. Each Party and its
participants shall ensure that the other Party and its participants may obtain the rights to intellectual property
allocated to it in accordance with this Annex. This Annex does not otherwise alter or prejudice the allocation of
rights, interests and royalties between a Party and its nationals or participants, which shall be determined by the
laws and practices applicable to each Party.

2. The Parties shall also be guided by, and contractual arrangements shall provide for, the following principles:

(a) effective protection of intellectual property. The Parties shall ensure that they and/or their participants notify
one another within a reasonable time of the creation of any intellectual property arising under the Agreement
or implementation arrangements and seek protection for such intellectual property in a timely fashion;

(b) effective exploitation of results, taking into account the contributions of the Parties and their participants and

the provisions of Article 9 of the Agreement;

(c) non-discriminatory treatment of participants from the other Party as compared with the treatment given to its

own participants without prejudice to Article 9 of the Agreement;

(d) protection of business-confidential information.

3. The Parties or participants shall jointly develop a Technology Management Plan (TMP) in respect of the ownership
and use,
including publication, of information and intellectual property to be created in the course of joint
research. The TMP shall be approved by the responsible funding agency or other relevant agencies involved in
financing the technology, taking account of the opinion of the Steering Committee, before the conclusion of the
corresponding specific research and development cooperation contracts of research institutes. The TMP shall be
developed within the rules and regulations in force in each Party taking into account the aims of the joint research,
the financial or other contributions of the Parties and participants, the advantages and disadvantages of licensing
by territory or for fields of use, the transfer of export-controlled data, goods or services, requirements imposed by
applicable laws and other factors deemed appropriate by the participants. The rights and obligations concerning
the research generated by visiting researchers in respect of intellectual property shall also be addressed in the joint
technology management plans.

With respect to intellectual property, the TMP shall normally address, among other things, ownership, protection,
user rights for research and development purposes, exploitation and dissemination, including arrangements for
joint publication, the rights and obligations of visiting researchers and dispute settlement procedures. The TMP
may also address general and specific information, licensing and deliverables.

4. Information or intellectual property created in the course of joint research and not addressed in the TMP shall be
allocated, with the approval of the Parties, according to the principles set out in the TMP. In case of disagreement,
such information or intellectual property shall be owned jointly by all the participants involved in the joint
research from which the information or intellectual property results. Each participant to whom this provision
applies shall have the right to use such information or intellectual property for his own commercial exploitation
with no geographical limitation.

5. Each Party shall ensure that the other Party and its participants have the rights to intellectual property allocated to

them in accordance with these principles.

4.11.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 290/23

6. While maintaining the conditions of competition in areas affected by the Agreement, each Party shall endeavour to
ensure that rights acquired pursuant to the Agreement and arrangements made under it are exercised in such a
way as to encourage, in particular:

(i) the dissemination and use of information created, disclosed or otherwise made available, under the Agreement,

and

(ii) the adoption and implementation of international standards.

7. Termination or expiry of the Agreement shall not affect rights or obligations in accordance with this Annex.

III. COPYRIGHT WORKS AND SCIENTIFIC LITERARY WORKS

Copyright belonging to the Parties or to their participants shall be accorded treatment consistent with the Berne
Convention (Paris Act 1971). The copyright shall protect the expressions but not the ideas, procedures, methods of
operation or mathematical concepts as such. Limitations or exceptions to exclusive rights may be introduced only in
certain special cases which do not obstruct normal exploitation of results nor unduly endanger the legitimate interests
of the right-holder.

Without prejudice to Section II, and unless otherwise agreed in the TMP, results of joint research shall be published
jointly by the Parties or participants. Subject to the foregoing general rule, the following procedures shall apply:

1. In the case of publication by a Party or public bodies of that Party of scientific and technical journals, articles,
reports, books, including videos and software arising from joint research pursuant to the Agreement, the other
Party shall be entitled to a worldwide, non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to translate, reproduce, adapt,
transmit and publicly distribute such works.

2. The Parties shall ensure that literary works of a scientific character arising from joint research pursuant to the

Agreement and published by independent publishers shall be disseminated as widely as possible.

3. All copies of a copyright work to be publicly distributed and prepared under this provision shall indicate the
names of the author(s) of the work unless an author explicitly declines to be named. Copies shall also bear a
clearly visible acknowledgement of the cooperative support of the Parties.

IV. INVENTIONS, DISCOVERIES AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Inventions, discoveries and other scientific and technological achievements arising from cooperative activities between
the Parties themselves shall be owned by the Parties unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

V. UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION

A. Documentary undisclosed information

1. Each Party, its agencies or its participants, as appropriate, shall identify at the earliest possible moment, and
preferably in the TMP, the information which they wish to remain undisclosed in relation to the Agreement,
taking into account, inter alia, the following criteria:

(a) secrecy of the information in the sense that it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration or assembly
of its components, generally known among or readily accessible by lawful means to experts in the fields;

(b) the actual or potential commercial value of the information by virtue of its secrecy;

(c) previous protection of the information in the sense that it has been subject to steps that were reasonable

under the circumstances by the person lawfully in control, to maintain its secrecy.

The Parties and their participants may in certain cases agree that, unless otherwise indicated, parts or all of the
information provided, exchanged or created in the course of joint research pursuant to the Agreement may not
be disclosed.

L 290/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

4.11.2005

2. Each Party shall ensure that it and its participants clearly identify undisclosed information, for example by
means of an appropriate marking or restrictive legend. This also applies to any reproduction of the said
information, in whole or in part.

Any Party receiving undisclosed information pursuant to the Agreement shall respect the privileged nature
thereof. These limitations shall automatically terminate when this information is disclosed by the owner into
the public domain.

3. Undisclosed information communicated under this Agreement may be disseminated by the receiving Party to
persons linked to or employed by the receiving Party and other concerned departments or agencies in the
receiving Party authorised for the specific purposes of the joint research under way, provided that any undi-
sclosed information so disseminated shall be pursuant to an agreement of confidentiality and shall be readily
recognisable as such, as set out above.

4. With the prior written consent of the Party providing undisclosed information, the receiving Party may
disseminate such undisclosed information more widely than otherwise permitted in paragraph 3. The Parties
shall cooperate in developing procedures for requesting and obtaining prior written consent for such wider
dissemination, and each Party shall grant such approval to the extent permitted by its domestic policies,
regulations and laws.

B. Non-documentary undisclosed information

Non-documentary undisclosed or other confidential
information provided in seminars and other meetings
arranged under the Agreement, or information arising from the attachment of staff, use of facilities, or partici-
pation in joint projects, shall be treated by the Parties or their participants according to the principles specified for
documentary information in the Agreement, provided, however, that the recipient of such undisclosed or other
confidential or privileged information has been made aware of the confidential character of the information at the
time it was communicated.

C. Control

Each Party shall endeavour to ensure that undisclosed information received by it under the Agreement shall be
controlled as provided herein. If one of the Parties becomes aware that it will be, or may be reasonably expected to
become, unable to meet the non-dissemination provisions of sections A and B, it shall immediately inform the
other Party. The Parties shall thereafter consult to define the most appropriate course of action.