CELEX: 21992A1231(02)
Language: sv
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 /Vol . 20                                   Europeiska gemenskapernas officiella tidning                                               99

292A 123 1(02)

Nr L 403/2                         EUROPEISKA GEMENSKAPERNAS OFFICIELLA TIDNING                                                      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 :

                    Joäo 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 ESTON1A-.

                    Jaan MANITSKI ,
                    Minister for Foreign Affairs ,

                 WHO , having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form ,

                 HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS :
 ---pagebreak---   100                                   Europeiska gemenskapernas officiella tidning                               Il /Vol . 20

                            TITLE I                                                         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 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 .

                Trade and commerciai 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 'mattér binding
                                                                 only one of them . Account shall be taken of the conditions
2.    The provisions of this Agreement may bé                    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   gelation 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.
 ---pagebreak---    Il / Vol . 20                            Europeiska gemenskapernas officiella tidning                                        101

                             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
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 .

                            Artide 10                                                           Artide 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
                            Artide 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 .
 ---pagebreak---      102                                      Europeiska gemenskapernas officiella tidning                              11 /Vol . 20

                               Artide 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 centre 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 15
  other's companies ,
                                                                       1.    In the light of their respective economic policies and
—- to encourage trade promotion activities ,
                                                                       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 :
 ---pagebreak---   Il /Vol . 20                          Europeiska gemenskapernas officiella tidning                                      103

— industry , including the textile and apparel sectors ,                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 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 öf 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.
 ---pagebreak---  104                                     Europeiska gemenskapernas officiella tidning                               11 /Vol . 20

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                              Artide 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
— tnake 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                                     Artide 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 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
                                                                  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 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 Estonia ,                                       Artide 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 .
 ---pagebreak--- Il /Vol . 20                             Europeiska gemenskapernas officiella tidning                                   105

               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 Brusselis uheteistkumnendal mail tuhande uheksasaja uheksakumnenda teisel
           aastal .
 ---pagebreak---                                                                              Il /Vol . 20
106                           Europeiska gemenskapernas officiella tidning

      Eesti Vabariigi nimel

      Por la República de Estonia

      For Republikken Estland
      Für die Republik Estland
      Για τη Δημοκρατία της Εσθονίας

      For the Republic of Estonia
      Pour la république d'Estonie

      Per la Repubblica di Estonia
      Voor de Republiek Estland

      Pela República da Estònia

      Euroopa Majandusühenduse nimel

      Por la Comunidad Económica Europea
      For Det Europæiske Økonomiske Fællesskab

      Für die Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft
      Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Οικονομική Κοινότητα
      For the European Economic Community
      Pour la Communauté économique européenne
      Per la Comunità economica europea
      Voor de Europese Economische Gemeenschap
      Pela Comunidade Económica Europeia