AGREEMENT

between the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on trade and commercial and economic cooperation

THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, and

The EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY,

hereinafter together called ‘the Community’, of the one part, and

THE UNION Of SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS,

hereinafter called ‘the USSR’, of the other part,

RECOGNIZING that the Community and the USSR desire to establish direct contractual relations with one another which will permit further development at a later stage,

CONSIDERING that the development of relations between the Contracting Parties will complement and extend bilateral relations between the Community's Member States and the USSR,

HAVING REGARD to the importance of giving full effect to the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Concluding Documents of subsequent meetings of the CSCE participating States,

DESIROUS of creating favourable conditions for the harmonious development and diversification of trade and the promotion of commercial and economic cooperation in areas of mutual interest on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and reciprocity,

BELIEVING that the volume and structure of trade between the Contracting Parties do not correspond to the potential represented by their current levels of economic development and their future prospects,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the favourable implications for trade and economic relations between the Contracting Parties of the economic restructuring under way in the USSR,

RECALLING the Joint Declaration on the establishment of official relations between the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the European Economic Community,

THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY:

Roland DUMAS,

Ministre d'Etat,

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the French Republic,

President-in-Office of the Council of the European Communities;

Frans ANDRIESSEN,

Vice-President of the Commission of the European Communities;

THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY:

Frans ANDRIESSEN,

Vice-President of the Commission of the European Communities;

THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

Eduard SHEVARDNADZE,

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS

TITLE I

General

Article 1

Within the framework of their respective laws and regulations, the Contracting Parties shall use their best endeavours to facilitate and promote

To that end, they confirm their resolve to consider favourably, each for its own part, suggestions made by the other Party with a view to attaining these objectives.

TITLE II

Trade and commercial cooperation

Article 2

1.   This Agreement shall apply to trade in all goods originating in the Community or in the USSR, with the exception of the products covered by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.

2.   This Agreement shall not affect the provisions of the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the USSR on trade in textile products initialled on 11 December 1989 and applied provisionally as from 1 January 1990, nor the provisions of any exchange of letters, any other arrangements concluded in connection therewith and any agreements on trade in textile products subsequently concluded, for the period of application of these provisions.

Article 3

1.   The Contracting Parties shall accord to one another most-favoured-nation treatment in all areas in respect of:

2.   The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to:

Article 4

The Contracting Parties undertake to allow relief from duties, taxes and other charges, and to grant licences in respect of goods temporarily remaining in their territories for re-exportation either in the unaltered state or after inward processing.

Article 5

The USSR shall grant imports of products originating in the Community non-discriminatory treatment as regards the application of quantitative restrictions, the granting of licences and the allocation of the currency needed to pay for such imports.

Article 6

Unless otherwise specified in this Agreement, trade and other commercial cooperation between the Contracting Parties shall be conducted in accordance with their respective regulations.

Article 7

Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 5, each Contracting Party shall accord the highest possible degree of liberalization to imports of the other's products. The process of liberalization shall take account of the development of trade between the Contracting Parties, market conditions, changes in the rules concerning trade in the Community or in the USSR and progress made in implementing the Agreement.

Article 8

To this end the Community undertakes:

Article 9

As regards the specific quantitative restrictions not contained in Annexes I and II, the Contracting Parties shall examine, before 30 June 1992, in the framework of the joint committee referred to in Article 22, the further changes which can be made in the then existing import arrangements. The changes to be considered may include any of the following measures:

Article 10

1.   For each calendar year, the Community shall open import quotas for products which are of interest for the USSR and which are subject to quantitative restrictions.

2.   The Contracting Parties shall hold consultations each year in the joint committee provided for in Article 22 to determine what increases can be made in the quotas referred to in paragraph 1 and whether quotas can be opened for other products for the following year.

Article 11

1.   The Community undertakes to abolish by 31 December 1995 at the latest the remaining specific quantitative restrictions with the exception of those concerning a limited number of products which might be deemed sensitive at that time.

2.   The joint committee set up pursuant to Article 22 shall, during its meeting in 1995, draw up the arrangements which shall apply for a prescribed period after 31 December 1995 to the imports of the sensitive products referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 12

Imports into the Community of products covered by this Agreement shall not be charged against the quotas referred to in Article 10 where they are declared as being intended for re-export and are actually re-exported from the Community either in the unaltered state or after inward processing, under the administrative control arrangements in force in the Community.

Article 13

The Parties shall inform one another of any changes in their tariff or statistical nomenclature or of any decision taken in accordance with the procedures in force concerning the classification of products covered by this Agreement.

Article 14

Goods shall be treated between the Contracting Parties at market-related prices.

Article 15

1.   The Contracting Parties shall try to avoid conflict situations requiring safeguard measures in mutual trade. If problems nevertheless arise in trade between the Contracting Parties, the Parties shall open consultations not later than 30 days after the submission by one of them of an appropriate request within the framework of the joint committee set up in accordance with Article 22. Such consultations will aim at seeking mutually satisfactory solutions to these problems. Each Contracting Party will ensure that, except in critical circumstances, as defined in paragraph 4, no action is taken before consultations are held.

2.   In particular, the provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply if any product is being imported into the territory of one of the Contracting Parties in such increased quantities or under such conditions as to cause, or threaten to cause, injury to domestic producers of like or directly competitive products. In this case, the Contracting Party requesting the consultations shall provide the other Party with all the information required for a detailed examination of the situation.

3.   If, as a result of the consultations, the Contracting Parties do not reach agreement on actions to avoid the situation, the Party which requested consultations shall be free to restrict the imports of the products concerned to the extent and for such time as is necessary to prevent or remedy the injury. The other Contracting Party shall then be free to deviate from its obligations towards the first Party in respect of substantially equivalent trade.

4.   In critical circumstances where delay would cause damage difficult to repair, the Contracting Parties may take safeguard actions provisionally before the consultations, on the condition that consultations shall be effected immediately after taking such action.

5.   In the selection of measures under this Article, the Contracting Parties shall give priority to those which cause least disturbance to the achievement of the aims of this Agreement.

Article 16

1.   This Agreement shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public morality, law and order or public security, the protection of life and health of humans, animals or plants, the protection of industrial, commercial and intellectual property, or rules relating to gold or silver or imposed for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value.

Such prohibitions and restrictions must not, however, constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between the Contracting Parties.

2.   This Agreement shall not preclude the taking of action justified on grounds of protection of essential security interests:

TITLE III

Commercial and economic cooperation

Article 17

1.   The Contracting Parties shall make every effort to promote, expand and diversify their trade. The joint committee set up by Article 22 shall attach special importance to ways of encouraging the reciprocal and harmonious expansion of trade.

2.   The Contracting Parties undertake to facilitate exchange of commercial and economic information on all matters which would assist the development of trade and economic cooperation.

To this end, the Contracting Parties agree to ensure the publication of comprehensive data on commercial and financial issues, including production, consumption and foreign trade statistics.

3.   The Contracting Parties undertake to facilitate cooperation between their respective customs services, in particular in the following areas:

4.   The Contracting Parties, within the limits of their respective powers, undertake to facilitate their trade and economic cooperation, inter alia, by the following:

5.   The Contracting Parties will encourage forms of trade compatible with the efficient conduct of international business relations and will also encourage business partners to decide independently upon their trading patterns.

The Contracting Parties therefore agree that counter-trade practices should be regarded as temporary and exceptional.

They further agree not to compel companies established in the Community or in the USSR to engage in such trade practices. Nevertheless, where firms or companies decide to resort to counter-trade operations, the Contracting Parties will encourage them to furnish all relevant information to facilitate the transaction.

6.   In furtherance of the aims of this Article, the Contracting Parties agree to maintain and improve favourable business regulations, facilities and practices for each other's firms or companies on their respective markets, inter alia as indicated in Annex III.

Article 18

Within the limits of their respective powers, the Contracting Parties:

Article 19

Within the limits of their respective powers, the Contracting Parties undertake to:

TITLE IV

Economic cooperation

Article 20

1.   In the light of their respective economic policies and objectives, the Contracting Parties shall foster economic cooperation on as broad a base as possible in all fields deemed to be in their mutual interest.

Such cooperation shall be aimed in particular at:

2.   In order to achieve these objectives, the Contracting Parties shall encourage economic cooperation in areas of mutual interest, in particular in the following areas:

3.   To give effect to the objectives of economic cooperation and within the limits of their respective powers and in accordance with their respective laws and policies, the Contracting Parties shall encourage the adoption of measures aimed at creating favourable conditions for economic and industrial cooperation, in particular by:

Article 21

Without prejudice to the relevant provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Communities, this Agreement and any action taken thereunder shall in no way affect the powers of the Member States of the Community to undertake bilateral activities with the USSR in the field of economic cooperation and to conclude, where appropriate, new economic cooperation agreements with the USSR.

TITLE V

Joint committee

Article 22

TITLE VI

General and final provisions

Article 23

Subject to the provisions concerning economic cooperation in Article 21, the provisions of this Agreement shall replace the provisions of the Agreements concluded between the Member States of the Community and the USSR, to the extent to which the latter provisions are either incompatible with, or identical to, the former.

Article 24

This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties and, on the other hand, to the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Article 25

1.   This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other that the legal procedures necessary to this end have been completed. The Agreement shall be 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 of denunciation of the Agreement six months before it expires.

The ContraFcting Parties may expand and /or amend this Agreement or elaborate further on its specific provisons by mutual consent in order to take account of new developments.

The Annexes, the Joint Declaration and the exchange of letters attached to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof.

Article 26

This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian languages, each text being equally authentic.