CELEX: 21992A1231(02)
Language: fi
Date: 1992-12-21 00:00:00
Title: Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Estonia on trade and commercial and economic cooperation

Il /Nide 20                                       Euroopan yhteisöjen virallinen lehti                                                 99
292A 123 1(02
N:o L 403/2                            EUROOPAN YHTEISÖJEN VIRALLINEN LEHTI                                                      31.12.92
                                                                AGREEMENT
              between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Estonia, on trade and commercial
                                                         and economic cooperation
              THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
              hereinafter called the 'Community', of the one part, and
              THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA
              hereinafter called 'Estonia', of the other part ,
              CONSIDERING the importance of establishing and expanding trade links between the Community and
              Estonia ;
              DESIROUS of creating 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 Estonia ;
              BELIEVING that a further impetus should be given to the trading and economic relationship between the
              Community and Estonia 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 underway in Estonia;
              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 ESTONIA :
                  Jaan MANITSKI ,
                  Minister for Foreign Affairs ,
              WHO , having exchanged their full powers , found in good and due form,
               HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS :
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                           TITLE I                                                              Article S
                           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 Estonia and constitutes and 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 ,
— the harmonious development and diversification of trade               distribution and use of goods on the domestic market .
    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.
              Tråde 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 Estonia 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 .
Estonia . In particular , a separate agreement for textile
products will be negotiated .
                                                                                                Article 7
                          Article 4
                                                                   Estonia 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 hot reached between the Contracting Parties ,
                                                                           the Contracting Party which requested the consultations
 1.      Without prejudice to Article 7 , each of the Contracting
 Parties shall grant imports of products originating in the
                                                                           shall be free to restrict the imports of the products concerned
 other the highest degree of liberalization generally extended            to the extent and for such time as is necessary to prevent or
 to third countries . To that end , the specific quantitative             remedy the injury . The other Contracting Party shall then be
                                                                          free to deviate from its obligations towards the first Party in
 restrictions applying to imports from Estonia 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 Estonia 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 archeological 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 Estonia ,
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 ccntre of a State signatory to the Convention on
on their respective markets, inter alia by taking steps:                Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral
— to ensure the publication and facilitate exchanges of                 Awards 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, within 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 Estonia.                                         The objectives of such cooperation shall be , inter alia :
3.     Estonia will take measures guaranteeing an effective         — to reinforce and diversify economic links between the
and 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
     procedures, and
                                                                    — to encourage scientific and technological progress ,
 — prevention and detection of infringements of the rules on        — to support structural changes in the Estonian 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 14                                   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 , including the textile and apparel sectors,               — the encouragement of activities contributing to
                                                                           technical competence in specific fields, notably
— agriculture , including agro-industry,                                   commercialization .
— hsheries,
                                                                                             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 Estonia 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 Estonia.
— mining and the 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 environment requirements in other policy areas
    such as industry, agriculture, energy , transport ,            Accession to international organizations and conventions
— 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 Estonia to international
    services ,                                                    organizations and conventions to which the Community is a
                                                                  party , in order to enable Estonia to become more active in the
— development of human resources training ,                       world economic system .
— health ,
— economic policy,
                                                                                              TITLE V
— standards,
                                                                                          Joint Committee
— statistics .
3.     To give effect to the objectives of economic                                           Article 18
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 , and
economic and industrial cooperation, including:                   representatives of Estonia , on the other.
— the facilitation of exchanges of commercial and economic
    information ,                                                 The Joint Committee shall formulate recommendations by
                                                                  mutual agreement between the Contracting Parties .
— the development of a favourable climate for investment,
    notably by the extension by the Member States of the          The Joint Committee shall, as necessary, adopt its own rules
    Community and Estonia of arrangements for investment          of procedure and programme of work.
    promotion and protection , in particular for the transfer
    of profits and the repatriation of invested capital , and     The Joint Committee shall meet once a year in Brussels and
    also of agreements on the avoidance of double                 Tallinn alternately . Special meetings may be convened by
    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 Committee 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 :                                             Estonia 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
 — ftiake 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 hand , to the
                                                                    territory of the Republic of Estonia .
 — 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 end have been completed . The Agreement is
     opportunities in the Community and in Estonia,                 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 macro-economic plans and                 of denunciation of the Agreement six months before it
     forecasts for the economies of the Parties which have an       expires .
     impact on trade and cooperation and , by extension , on
     the scope for developing complementarity between their         However , the two Contracting Parties may amend the
     respective economies and also on proposed programmes           Agreement by mutual consent in order to take account of new
     of economic reform,                                            developments, notably the situation which would arise from
                                                                    the accession of Estonia to the General Agreement on Tariffs
 — examine the situation concerning the procedures for the          and Trade. In the latter case, the Contracting Parries 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
                                                                    Estonia 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 pan 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 Estonia,                                       Article 22
 — formulate and submit to the authorities 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 Estonian 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 .
            Käesolevaga on allakirjutanud Täievolilised esindajad toendanud selle Lepingu oma allkirjaga .
            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 .
            Allakirjutatud Brüsselis üheteistkümnendal mail tuhande üheksasaja üheksakümnenda teisel
            aastal .
 ---pagebreak--- 106                              Euroopan yhteisöjen virallinen lehti Il /Nide 20
    Eesti Vabariigi nimel
    Por la República de Estonia
    For Republikken Estland
    Für die Republik Estland
    Ha τη Δημoκρατία τη|<; Eσθoνίας
    For the Republic of Estonia
    Pour la république d'Estonie
    Per la Repubblica di Estonia
    Voor de Republiek Estland
    Pela República da Estonia
    Euroopa Majandusühenduse nimel
    Por la Comunidad Econômica Europea
    For Det Europasiske Φkonomiske Faellesskab
    Fur die Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft
    Ha τηv Eυρωπαïκή Oικoνoμική Koιvότητα
    For the European Economic Community
    Pour la Communauté économique européenne
    Per la Comunità economica europea
    Voor de Europese Economische Gemeenschap
    Pela Comunidade Econômica Europeia