CELEX: 21992A1231(03)
Language: fi
Date: 1992-12-21 00:00:00
Title: Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Latvia on trade and commercial and economic cooperation

108                                               Euroopan yhteisöjen virallinen lehti                                         li /Nide 20
292A1231 03 )
N:oL 403/11                            EUROOPAN YHTEISÖJEN VIRALLINEN LEHTI                                                        31.12.92
                                                              AGREEMENT
              between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Latvia on trade and commercial
                                                         and econonuc cooperation
              THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
              hereinafter called the 'Community', of the one part, and
              THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA ,
              hereinafter called 'Latvia', of the other part,
              CONSIDERING the importance of establishing and expanding trade links between the Community and
              Latvia *,
              DESIROUS ofcreating favourable conditions for a substantial and harmonious development and diversification of
              trade and the promotion of commercial and economic cooperation in areas of mutual interest on the basis of
              equality , non-discrimination, mutual benefit and reciprocity;
              AWARE of the particular importance of foreign trade and other forms of international economic cooperation for
              the economic and social development of each of the Contracting Parties;
              AWARE of the importance of giving full effect to all the provisions and principles of the CSCE process, and in
              particular those set out in the Helsinki Final Act, the concluding documents of the Madrid, Vienna and
              Copenhagen meetings, and those of the Charter of Paris for a new Europe, particularly with regard to the rule of .
              law, democracy and human rights, as well as those of the Bonn CSCE Conference on Economic
              Cooperation ;
              RECOGNIZING the importance of guaranteeing the rights of ethnic and national groups and minorities, in
              accordance with the undertakings made within the context of the CSCE;
              AWARE of the importance of strengthening their democratic institutions and of supporting the process of
              economic reform in Latvia ;
              BELIEVING that a further impetus should be given to the trading and economic relationship between the
              Community and Latvia by establishing contractual links which will contribute to progress towards the objective of
              an association agreement in due course , when conditions are met , and to further development of relations between
              them ;
              TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the favourable implications for trade and economic cooperation between the
              Contracting Parties of reform under way in Latvia;
              HAVE DECIDED to conclude this Agreement and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries:
              THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY:
                  Joao de Deus PINHEIRO ,
                  Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, President-in-Office of the Council of the European
                  Communities,
                  Frans ANDRIESSEN ,
                  Vice-President of the Commission of the European Communities ,
              THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA :
                  Janis JURKANS ,
                  Minister for Foreign Affairs,
              WHO, having exchanged their full powers , found in good and due form ,
              HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS :
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                            TITLEI                                                            Article 5
                            General                                1.     The Contracting Parties shall accord each other
                                                                   most-favoured-nation treatment in all matters regarding:
                           Article 1                               — customs duties and charges of any kind imposed on or in
                                                                       connection with importation or exportation .
 Respect for the democratic principles and human rights            — the method of levying such duties and charges,
 established by the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris
 for a New Europe inspires the domestic and external policies      — all rules and formalities in connection with importation
of the Community and Latvia and constitutes an essential               and exportation , including provisions relating to customs
 element of the present agreement .                                    clearance, transit , warehousing and transshipment,
                                                                   — taxes and other internal charges levied directly or
                           Article 2                                   indirectly on imported products ,
                                                                   — methods of payment and the transfer of such
Within the framework of their respective laws and
                                                                      payments ,
regulations, the Contracting Parties undertake to facilitate
and promote:                                                      — the regulations affecting the sale, purchase , transport ,
                                                                       distribution and use of goods on the domestic market.
— the harmonious development and diversification of trade
     between them,
                                                                  2.     The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to :
— the development of various types of commercial and
     economic cooperation.                                        ( a) advantages accorded to adjacent countries in order to
                                                                        facilitate frontier traffic;
They therefore confirm their resolve to consider favourably,
each for its own part , suggestions made by the other Party       (b ) advantages accorded with the aim of creating a customs
with a view to attaining these aims.                                    union or a free trade area or pursuant to the creation of
                                                                        such a union or area;
                                                                  (c) advantages accorded to particular countries in
                                                                        accordance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and
                                                                        Trade and other international arrangements in favour of
                         • TITLE II                                     developing countries .
              Trade and commercial cooperation
                                                                                              Article 6
                           Article 3
                                                                  Without prejudice to the rights and obligations stemming
                                                                  from international conventions on the temporary admission
1.     This Agreement shall apply to trade in all products        of goods which bind both sides, the Contracting Parties shall
originating in the Community and in Latvia with the               furthermore grant each other reciprocal exemption from
exception of products covered by the Treaty establishing the      import charges and duties on goods admitted temporarily, in
European Coal and Steel Community and of the textiles and         the instances and according to the procedures stipulated by
apparel covered by Section XI of the harmonized system.           any other international convention on this matter binding
                                                                  only one of them. Account shall be taken of the conditions
2. The provisions of this Agreement may be                        under which the obligations stemming from such a
supplemented if necessary by sectoral agreements or               convention have been accepted by the Contracting Party in
arrangements concluded between the Community and                  question.
Latvia . In particular , a separate agreement for textile
products will be negotiated .
                                                                                              Article 7
                           Article 4
                                                                  Latvia shall grant imports of products originating in the
                                                                  Community treatment which is non-discriminatory in
Unless otherwise specified in this Agreement, trade and other     relation to products originating in other countries , as regards
commercial cooperation between the Contracting Parties            the application of quantitative restrictions, the granting of
shall be conducted in accordance with their respective            licences and access to the foreign currency needed to pay for
regulations .                                                     such imports .
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                              Article 8                                5.      If, following action under paragraphs 1 to 4 ,
                                                                       agreement is not reached between the Contracting Parties,
                                                                       the Contracting Party which requested the consultations
1 . Without prejudice to Article 7 , each of the Contracting           shall be free to restrict the imports of the products concerned
Parties shall grant imports of products originating in the             to the extent and for such time as is necessary to prevent or
other the highest degree of liberalization generally extended
                                                                       remedy the injury. The other Contracting Party shall then be
to third countries . To that end , the specific quantitative           free to deviate from its obligations towards the first Party in
restrictions applying to imports from Latvia into the                  respect of substantially equivalent trade,
Community shall be eliminated .
2. For the purposes of this Agreement, 'specific                       6.      In critical circumstances , where delay would cause
quantitative restrictions' shall mean those quantitative               damage difficult to repair, such preventive or remedial action
restrictions applied by the Community to imports originating           may be taken provisionally without prior consultation ,
in Latvia under Regulation (EEC) No 3420 / 83 , which                  provided consultations are held immediately after such
concerns products other than those to which quantitative               action is taken.
restrictions are applied under Regulation (EEC)
No 288 / 82 .
                                                                        7.     In the selection of measures under this Article, the
                                                                        Contracting Parties shall give priority to those which cause
                                                                        the least disturbance to the functioning of this Agreement.
                              Article 9
The Parties shall inform each other of any changes in their             8.     Where necessary the Contracting Parties may hold
tariff or statistical nomenclature or of any decision taken in          consultations to determine when the measures adopted
accordance with the procedures in force concerning the                  pursuant to paragraphs 4 to 6 shall cease to apply.
classification of products covered by this Agreement.
                              Article 10                                                             Article 12
Goods shall be traded between the Contracting Parties at                1 . This Agreement shall not preclude prohibitions or
market-related prices .                                                 restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified
                                                                        on grounds of public morality, public policy or public
                                                                        security, the protection of life and health of humans animals
                                                                        or plants, the protection of industrial , commercial and
                              Article 11
                                                                        intellectual property , or rules relating to gold or silver or
                                                                        imposed for the protection of national treasures of artistic,
 1.    The Contracting Parties shall consult each other if any          historic or archaelogical value.
 product is being imported into the territory of one of them in
 such increased quantities or on such terms as to cause or
 threaten to cause serious injury to domestic producers of like         Such prohibitions and restrictions must not , however,
 or directly competing products.                                        constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or disguised
                                                                        restrictions on trade between the Contracting Parties.
 2.     The Contracting Party claiming serious injury or threat
 thereof shall request consultations by notification in writing         2.      This Agreement shall not preclude the taking of action
 and shall provide the other Party with all the relevant                justified on grounds of protection of essential security
 information required for a detailed examination of the                 interests :
 situation.
                                                                        ( a) relating to fissionable materials or the materials from
 3.     The consultations requested pursuant to paragraph 1                   which they are derived ;
 shall be held with a view to seeking mutually satisfactory
 solutions and with due regard for the fundamental aims of
 the Agreement; they shall be completed not later than 30 days           (b ) relating to traffic in arms, ammunition and implements
 from the date of notification of the request by the Party                    of war and to such traffic in other goods and materials as
 concerned, unless the Parties agree otherwise.                               is carried on directly or indirectly for the purpose of
                                                                              supplying a military establishment;
 4.     If, as a result of such consultations , it is agreed that the
 situation referred to in paragraph 1 exists, exports shall be           ( c) taken in time of war or other emergency in international
 limited or such other action taken, possibly with regard to the              relations or to allow it to comply with obligations it has
 price at which these exports are sold , as will prevent 'or                  accepted in connection with the maintenance of
 remedy the injury.                                                           international peace and security .
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                            Article 13                                   cooperation transactions concluded by companies,
                                                                         enterprises or economic organizations of the Community
1 . The Contracting Parties shall make every effort to                   and those of Latvia ,
promote, expand and diversify their trade on the basis of
non-discrimination and reciprocity. In the spirit of this            — agree that when a dispute is submitted to arbitration,
Article, the Joint Committee established under Title V of this           each party to the dispute may freely choose its own
Agreement will attach special importance to examining ways               arbitrator, irrespective of nationality , and that the
of encouraging the reciprocal and harmonious expansion of                presiding third arbitrator or the sole arbitrator may be a
trade .                                                                  citizen of a third State,
2.      In furtherance of the aims of this Article and within the
                                                                     — shall encourage recourse to the arbitration rules
limits of their respective powers, the Contracting Parties               developed by the United Nations Commission on
agree on the necessity to improve favourable business                    International Trade Law (Uncitral) and to arbitration by
regulations and facilities for each other's firms or companies           any centre of a State signatory to the Convention on
on their respective markets, inter alia, by taking steps:                Recognition and enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
— to ensure the publication and facilitate exchanges of                  concluded in New York on 10 June 1958 .
    commercial and economic information on all matters
    which would assist the development of commercial and
    economic cooperation, for example:
    — general and sectoral import arrangements ,
                                                                                                 TITLE III
    — economic and commercial law, including regulations •
          on markets, companies and investment ,
    — macro-economic information and statistics,                                         Economic Cooperation
          including production, consumption and foreign trade
          statistics ,
— to facilitate the establishment and operation of each                                         Article IS
    other's companies ,
— to encourage trade promotion activities,
                                                                     1.     In the light of their respective economic policies and
                                                                     objectives , the Contracting Parties, whithin the limits of their
— to provide natural and legal persons of the other Party            respective powers, shall foster economic cooperation on as
    with guarantees of their individual and property rights,         broad a base as possible in all fields deemed to be in their
    such as non-discriminatory access for that purpose to            mutual interest.
    courts and appropriate administrative bodies of the
    Community and Latvia.                                            The objectives of such cooperation shall be, inter alia:
3.      Latvia will take measures guaranteeing an effective and      — to reinforce and diversify economic links between the
adequate protection of intellectual , industrial and                     Contracting Parties ,
commercial property, at a level similar to that which exists in
the Community, and will adhere to International
Conventions on intellectual , industrial and commercial              — to contribute to the development of their respective
                                                                         economies and standards of living,
property .
4.      The Contracting Parties undertake to facilitate, within      — to open up new sources of supply and new markets,
the limits of their respective powers, administrative
cooperation between the appropriate authorities in matters           — to encourage cooperation between economic operators
relating to customs, in particular in the following areas:               with a view to promoting joint ventures, licensing
                                                                         agreements , and other forms of industrial cooperation to
— vocational training,                                                   develop their respective industries,
— simplification of          customs      documentation      and     — to encourage scientific and technological progress,
    procedures , and
— prevention and detection of infringements of the rules on          — to support structural changes in the Latvian economy
    customs matters, including the rules governing import •              which will increase and diversify trade in goods and
    quotas .                                                             services with the Community ,
                                                                     — to encourage the participation of small and medium-sized
                            Article 1 4                                  enterprises in trade and industrial cooperation.
Within the limits of their respective powers, the Contracting
Parties :                                                            2.     In order to achieve these objectives, the Contracting
                                                                     Parties shall make efforts to encourage and promote
— shall encourage the adoption of arbitration for the                economic cooperation in areas of mutual interest, in
    settlement of disputes arising out of commercial and             particular in the following sectors:
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— industry ,                                                       — the encouragement of activities contributing to
                                                                       technical competence in specific fields , notably
— agriculture , including agro-industry ,                              commercialization .
— fisheries ,
                                                                                             Article 16
— science and technology in areas in which the Contracting
    Parties are active and which they consider to be of mutual     Without prejudice to the relevant provisions of the Treaties
    interest,                                                      establishing the European Communities, this Agreement and
                                                                   any action taken pursuant to it shall in no way affect the
— telecommunications ,                                             powers of the Member States of the Community to undertake
                                                                   bilateral activities with Latvia in the field of economic
— energy, including the saving of energy and the                   cooperation and to conclude , where appropriate , new
    development of new sources of energy ,                         economic cooperation agreements with Latvia .
— mining and production of building materials,
— environmental protection, including protection from
    water and air pollution and industrial accidents , and the                                TITLE IV
    management of natural resources; also taking into
    account environmentar requirements in other policy              Accession to international organizations and conventions
    areas such as industry , agriculture , energy, transport,
— transport, communications and the running of ports,                                        Article 17
— tourism and other Service activities,
                                                                   The Community undertakes , within the limits of its powers,
— economic, monetary, banking, insurance and financial             to support the accession of Latvia to international
    services ,
                                                                   organizations and conventions to which the Community is a
                                                                   party, in order to enable Latvia to become more active in the
                                                                   world economic system.
— development of human resources and training,
— health ,
— economic policy,                                                                             TITLEV
— standards ,
                                                                                          Joint Committee
— statistics .
                                                                                             Article 18
3.     To give effect to the objectives of economic
cooperation and within the limits of their respective powers ,
the Contracting Parties shall encourage the adoption of             1.    A Joint Committee shall be set up , comprising
measures aimed at creating favourable conditions for               representatives of the Community, on the one hand , an
economic and industrial cooperation, including:'                   representatives of Latvia , on the other.
— the facilitation of exchanges of commercial and economic         The Joint Committee shall formulate recommendations by
    information ,                                                  mutual agreement between the Contracting Parties.
— the development of a favourable climate for investment,          The Joint Committee shall, as necessary, adopt its own rules
    notably by the extension by the Member States of the           of procedure and programme of work.
    Community and Latvia of arrangements for investment
    promotion and protection, in particular for the transfer       The Joint Committee shall meet once a year in Brussels and
    of profits and the repatriation of invested capital and also   Riga alternately. Special meetings may be convened by
    of agreements on the avoidance of double taxation ,            mutual agreement, at the request of either Contracting Party.
                                                                   The Joint Committee shall be chaired alternately by each of
— exchanges and contacts between persons and delegations           the Contracting Parties . Wherever possible, the agenda for
    representing commercial or other appropriate                   meetings of the Joint Committee shall be agreed
    organizations ,                                                beforehand .
— the organization of seminars , fairs or exhibitions,             The Joint Comittee may decide to set up working parties to
    symposia and business weeks,                                   assist it in carrying out its duties .
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2.      The Joint Committee shall ensure the proper                                              TITLE VI
functioning of this ' Agreement and shall devise and
recommend practical measures for achieving its objectives ,                           General and final provisions
keeping in view the economic and social policies of the
Contracting Parties.
                                                                                                 Article 19
3.      The Joint Committee shall endeavour to find ways of           Subject to the provisions of Article 16 , the provisions of this
encouraging the development of trade and commercial and               Agreement shall replace the provisions of agreements
economic cooperation between the Contracting Parties. In             concluded between Member States of the Community and
particular , it shall :                                              Latvia -where the latter provisions are either incompatible
                                                                     with , or identical to , the former .
— examine the various aspects of trade between the Parties,
     notably its overall pattern, rate of growth, structure and                                  Article 20
     diversification , the trade balance and the various forms of
     trade and trade promotion,
                                                                     This Agreement shall apply , on the one hand , to the
                                                                     territories in which the Treaty establishing the European
— make recommendations on any trade or economic                      Economic Community is applied and under the conditions
     cooperation problem of mutual concern ,                         laid down in that Treaty and , on the other, to the territory of
                                                                     the Republic of Latvia .
— seek appropriate means of avoiding possible difficulties
     in the fields of trade and cooperation and encourage                                        Article 21
     various forms of commercial and economic cooperation
     in areas of mutual interest,
                                                                     This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the
                                                                     second month following the date on which the Contracting
— consider measures likely to develop and diversify trade            Parties notify each other that the legal procedures necessary
     and economic cooperation» notably by improving import           to this pnd have been completed . The Agreement is
     opportunities in the Community and in Latvia ,                  concluded for an initial period of 10 years. The Agreement
                                                                     shall be automatically renewed year by year provided that
                                                                     neither Contracting Party gives the other Party written notice
— exchange information on macroeconomic plans and                    of denunciation of the Agreement six months before it
     forecasts for the economies of the Contracting Parties          expires.
     which have an impact on trade and cooperation and, by
     extension, on the scope for developing complementarity          However, the two Contracting Parties may amend the
     between their respective economies and also on proposed         Agreement by mutual consent in order to take account of new
    programmes of economic reform,                                   developments, notably the situation which would arise from
                                                                     the accession of Latvia to the General Agreement on Tariffs
— examine the situation concerning the procedure for the             and Trade. In the latter case, the Contracting Parties shall
     award of contracts for supplying goods and services             prepare together the amendments to this Agreement
     following an international invitation to tender,                necessary to take account of the protocol of accession of
                                                                     Latvia to the General Agreement. If the Parties are unable to
                                                                     agree on this subject they reserve the right to denounce this
— exchange information on amendments to and                          Agreement.
     developments in the laws, regulations and formalities of
     the Contracting Parties in the areas covered by this            The Parties reserve the right to suspend this Agreement in
     Agreement,                                                      whole or in part with immediate effect if a serious violation
                                                                     occurs of the essential provisions of the present
                                                                     agreement .
— examine favourably ways of improving conditions for the
    development of direct contacts between firms established
     in the Community and those established in Latvia ,                                          Articte 22
— formulate and          submit to the authorties of both            This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Danish,
     Contracting Parties recommendations for resolving any           Dutch, English , French , German, Greek, Italian,
    problems that arise, where appropriate by means of the           Portuguese , Spanish and Latvian languages, each text being
     conclusion of arrangements or agreements.                       equally authentic.
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    En fe de lo cual , los plenipotenciarios abajo firmantes suscriben el presente Acuerdo .
    Til bekræftelse heraf har undertegnede befuldmægtigede underskrevet denne aftale.
    Zu Urkund dessen haben die unterzeichneten Bevollmächtigten ihre Unterschriften unter dieses
    Abkommen gesetzt.
    Εις πίστωση των ανωτέρω, οι υπογεγραμμένοι πληρεξούσιοι έθεσαν τις υπογραφές τους στην παρούσα
    συμφωνία.
    In witness whereof the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have signed 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 .
    Em fé do que, os plenipotenciários abaixo assinados apuseram as suas assinaturas no final do presente
    Acordo .
    So apliecinot Piivarotás personas ir parakstijuSas doto ltgumu .
    Hecho en Bruselas, el once de mayo de mil novecientos noventa y dos.
    Udfærdiget i Bruxelles, den ellevte maj nitten hundrede og tooghalvfems .
    Geschehen zu Brüssel am elften Mai neunzehnhundertzweiundneunzig.
    Έγινε στις Βρυξέλλες, στις ένδεκα Μαΐου χίλια εννιακόσια εννενήντα δύο .
    Done at Brussels on the eleventh day of May in the year one thousand nine hundred and
    ninety-two.
    Fait à Bruxelles, le onze mai mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-douze.
    Fatto a Bruxelles, addì undici maggio millenovecentonovantadue.
    Gedaan te Brussel , de elfde mei negentienhonderd tweeënnegentig.
    Feito em Bruxelas, em onze de Maio de mil novecentos e noventa e dois.
    Noslegts Brisele, 1992.gada ll.maijä.
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            Por la Comunidad Econömica Europea
            For Det Europaeiske Φkonomiske Fællesskab
            Fur die Europâische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft
            Ha την Eυρωπαϊκί) Oικoνoμική Koιvότητα
            For the European Economic Community
            Pour la Communauté économique européenne
            Per la Comunità economica europea
            Voor de Europese Economische Gemeenschap
            Pela Comunidade Econömica Europeia
           Eiropas Ekonomiskäs Kopienas vᾱrdᾱ
           Por la Republica de Letonia
           For Republikken Letland
           Fur die Republik Lettland
           na Tn Δημoκρατία Tn; Aεττοvία;
           For the Republic of Latvia
           Pour la république de Lettonie
           Per la Repubblica di Lettonia
           Voor de Republiek Letland
           Pela República da Letónia
           Latvijas Republikas vᾱrdᾱ