AGREEMENT laying down a procedure for the exchange of information in the field of technical regulations

THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY,

on the one hand, and

THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA, THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND, THE REPUBLIC OF ICELAND, THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY, THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN AND THE SWISS CONFEDERATION,

hereinafter referred to as the EFTA Member States, on the other hand,

all the above being hereinafter collectively referred to as the Contracting Parties,

HAVING REGARD TO the Free Trade Agreements between the European Economic Community and the EFTA Member States, and in particular to the aims set out in Article 1 of each of these Agreements,

HAVING REGARD TO the information procedures on technical regulations applied within the European Economic Community, on the one hand, and within the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), on the other hand,

CONSIDERING the commitment of the EFTA Member States and the European Economic Community to realize a dynamic European economic space,

CONSIDERING the ongoing cooperation between the European Economic Community and the Member States of the European Free Trade Association in the field of technical barriers to trade and the common understanding reached within the framework of that cooperation to link together the two information procedures,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

For the purpose of this Agreement, the following definitions apply:

- 'technical specification`: a specification contained in a document which lays down the characteristics required of a product, such as levels of quality, performance, safety or dimensions, including the requirements applicable to the product as regards terminology, symbols, testing and test methods, packaging, marking or labelling,

- 'technical regulation`: technical specifications, including the relevant administrative provisions, the observance of which is compulsory, de jure or de facto, in the case of marketing or use in a Member State or a major part thereof, except those laid down by local authorities,

- 'draft technical regulation`: the text of a technical specification including administrative provisions, formulated with the aim of enacting it or of ultimately having it enacted as a technical regulation, the text being at a stage of preparation at which substantial amendments can still be made,

- 'product`: industrially manufactured goods and all agricultural products, including fish products.

Article 2

The Community shall notify the EFTA Member States, through the EFTA Council, of the draft technical regulations notified to it by its Member States, in accordance with the relevant Community legislation.

Article 3

The EFTA Member States shall likewise, through the EFTA Council, notify the Community of the draft technical regulations notified within EFTA in accordance with the relevant EFTA provisions.

Article 4

A full text of the draft technical regulation notified shall be made available in the original language as well as in a full translation into one of the official languages of the European Economic Community

Article 5

Where appropriate, a full text in the original language of the basic legislative or regulatory provisions principally and directly concerned shall also be communicated, should knowledge of such text be necessary in order to assess the implications of the draft technical regulation notified.

Article 6

Each Contracting Party may ask for further information on a draft technical regulation notified in accordance with this Agreement.

Article 7

The Community and the EFTA Member States may make comments upon the drafts communicated. The comments of the EFTA Member States shall be forwarded by the EFTA Council to the Commission of the European Communities (hereinafter called 'the Commission`) in the form of a single coordinated communication and the comments of the Community shall be forwarded by the Commission to the EFTA Council. The Contracting Parties shall, when a six-month standstill is invoked according to the rules of their respective internal systems for an exchange of information, inform each other thereof in a similar manner.

Article 8

The competent authorities shall postpone the adoption of draft technical regulations notified for three months from the date of receipt of the text of the draft regulation:

- by the Commission in case of drafts notified by Member States of the Community,

- by the EFTA Council for drafts notified by the EFTA Member States.

Article 9

However, this standstill period of three months shall not apply in those cases where, for urgent reasons relating to the protection of public health or safety, the protection of health and life of animals or plants, the competent authorities are obliged to prepare technical regulations in a very short space of time in order to enact and introduce them immediately without any consultations being possible. The reasons which warrant the urgency of the measures taken shall be given. The justification for urgent measures shall be detailed and clearly explained with particular emphasis on the unpredictability and the seriousness of the danger confronting the concerned authorities as well as the absolute necessity for immediate action to remedy it.

Article 10

The final text in the original language of the technical regulation shall also be communicated.

Article 11

The administrative arrangements for the abovementioned notifications are detailed in the Annex, which forms an integral part of this Agreement.

Article 12

Information supplied under this Agreement shall be considered as confidential upon request. However, both the Community and the EFTA Member States may, provided that the necessary precautions are taken, consult for an expert opinion natural or legal persons, including persons in the private sector.

Article 13

The Contracting Parties shall, within the framework of the established cooperation between experts of the Community and the EFTA Member States in the field of technical barriers to trade, hold regular consultations both to ensure the satisfactory functioning of the procedure laid down in this Agreement and to exchange views on the comments which have been submitted by any Contracting Party concerning

a draft technical regulation notified in accordance with

this Agreement. Furthermore, by common consent, the Contracting Parties may hold additional ad hoc meetings to deal with specific cases of particular interest to any Contracting Party.

Article 14

This Agreement shall be extended to the notification of draft technical regulations concerning processes and production methods as soon as the Contracting Parties have notified each other that the necessary internal procedures have been carried out to this end.

Article 15

This Agreement is concluded for an initial trial period of two years, after which the Agreement will either be subject to a joint review, or be renewed for a further period to be determined.

Article 16

A Contracting Party may withdraw from this Agreement provided that it gives six months' notice in writing to the other Contracting Parties.

Article 17

1. This Agreement shall enter into force on 1 July 1990 provided that the Contracting Parties before that date have deposited their instruments of acceptance with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Communities, which shall act as depository.

2. If this Agreement does not enter into force on 1 July 1990, it shall do so on the first day of the second month following the deposit of the last instrument of acceptance.

3. The depository shall notify the date of the deposit of the instrument of acceptance of each Contracting Party and the date of the entry into force of this Agreement.

Article 18

This Agreement, which is drawn up in a single copy in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portugese, Spanish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish languages, all texts being equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Secretariat of the Council of the European Community, which shall deliver a certified copy thereof to each Contracting Party.

Hecho en Bruselas, el diecinueve de diciembre de mil novecientos ochenta y nueve.

Udfærdiget i Bruxelles, den nittende december nitten hundrede og niogfirs.

Geschehen zu Brüssel am neunzehnten Dezember neunzehnhundertneunundachtzig.

éÅãéíå óôéò ÂñõîÝëëåò, óôéò äÝêá åííÝá Äåêåìâñßïõ ÷ßëéá åííéáêüóéá ïãäüíôá åííÝá.

Done at Brussels on the nineteenth day of December in the year one thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine.

Fait à Bruxelles, le dix-neuf décembre mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-neuf.

Fatto a Bruxelles, addì diciannove dicembre millenovecentottantanove.

Gedaan te Brussel, de negentiende december negentienhonderd negenentachtig.

Feito em Bruxelas, em dezanove de Dezembro de mil novecentos e oitenta e nove.

Tehty Brysselissä yhdeksäntenätoista päivänä joulukuuta vuonna tuhatyhdeksänsataa kahdeksankymmentä yhdeksän.

Gjört í Brussel, hinn nítjánda dag desembermánaöar nítján hundruö áttatíu og níu.

Utferdiget i Brussel, den nittende desember nittenhundreogåttini.

Som skedde i Bryssel den nittonde december nittonhundraåttionio.

Por el Consejo de las Comunidades Europeas

For Rådet for De Europæiske Fællesskaber

Für den Rat der Europäischen Gemeinschaften

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For the Council of the European Communities

Pour le Conseil des Communautés européennes

Per il Consiglio delle Comunità europee

Voor de Raad van de Europese Gemeenschappen

Pelo Conselho das Comunidades Europeias

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Für die Republik Österreich

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Suomen tasavallan puolesta

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Fyrir L´yõveldiõ Ísland

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For Kongeriket Norge

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För Konungariket Sverige

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Für die Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft

Pour la Confédération suisse

Per la Confederazione svizzera

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ANNEX

Under the Agreement, the following communications by electronic means are considered necessary:

1. Notification slips. They may be communicated before, or together with, the transmission of the full text.

2. Acknowledgement of receipt of draft text, containing, inter alia, the relevant expiry date of the standstill determined according to the rules of each system.

3. Messages requesting supplementary information.

4. Answers to requests for supplementary information.

5. Comments.

6. Requests for ad hoc meetings.

7. Answers to requests for ad hoc meetings.

8. Requests for final texts.

9. Information that a six month standstill has been called.

The following communications may, for the time being, be transmitted by normal mail:

10. The full text of the draft notified.

11. Basic legislative text or regulatory provisions.

12. The final text.

Communications 1 to 9 shall be given in one of the official languages of the European Economic Community.

Administrative arrangements concerning the communications, notably the exact set-up of the notification numbers and codes, as well as details of other communications, shall be jointly agreed by the Contracting Parties.