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Although we have tried to use plain English content on the site, you may come across specialist terms and acronyms. Find out what they mean in our glossary of terms.
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1. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, this Chapter shall apply to the avoidance and settlement of disputes between the Parties concerning the interpretation, implementation or application of this Agreement.
2. Subject to Paragraph 4, and notwithstanding Paragraph 1, nothing in this Chapter shall affect the rights of the Parties to have recourse to a dispute settlement procedure available under any other international agreement to which they are parties.
3. If a Party decides to have recourse to a dispute settlement procedure under another international agreement, it shall notify the other Party in writing of its intention to bring a dispute to a particular forum before doing so.
4. Once a dispute settlement procedure has been initiated between the Parties with respect to a particular dispute under this Chapter or under any other international agreement to which the Parties are party, that procedure shall be used to the exclusion of any other procedure for that particular dispute. This paragraph does not apply if substantially separate and distinct rights or obligations under different international agreements are in dispute.
5. Paragraph 4 shall not apply where the Parties expressly agree to have recourse to dispute settlement procedures under this Chapter and another international agreement.
6. For the purposes of this Article, a dispute settlement procedure under the WTO Agreement shall be regarded as initiated by a Party’s request for a panel under Article 6 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.
1. A Party shall accord adequate opportunity for consultations requested by the other Party with respect to any matter affecting the interpretation, implementation or application of this Agreement.
2. If a request for consultations is made, the Party to which the request is made shall reply to the request within 7 days after the date of its receipt and shall enter into consultations within 30 days after the date of receipt of the request, with a view to reaching a mutually satisfactory solution.
3. The Parties shall make every effort to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution through consultations on any matter raised in accordance with this Article.
1. The Parties may at any time agree to good offices, conciliation or mediation. They may begin at any time and be terminated at any time.
2. Good offices, conciliation or mediation may continue while procedures of an arbitral tribunal established in accordance with this Chapter are in progress.
1. If the consultations referred to in Article 17.2 fail to settle a dispute within 60 days of the date after receipt of the request for consultations, the Party which made the request for consultations may make a written request to the other Party to establish an arbitral tribunal.
2. The request to establish an arbitral tribunal shall identify:
1. An arbitral tribunal shall consist of three members. Each Party shall appoint a member within 30 days after the receipt of the request under Article 17.4. The two members appointed shall, within 30 days after the appointment of the second of them, designate by common agreement the third member.
2. The Parties shall, within 7 days after the date of the designation of the third member, approve or disapprove the appointment of that member, who shall, if approved, chair the tribunal.
3. If within the periods specified in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article the necessary appointments have not been made, either Party may, in the absence of any other agreement, invite the President of the International Court of Justice to make the necessary appointments. If the President is a national of either Party or is otherwise prevented from discharging the said function, the Vice-President shall be invited to make the necessary appointments. If the Vice-President is a national of either Party or is prevented from discharging the said function, the Member of the International Court of Justice next in seniority, who is not a national of either Party, shall be invited to make the necessary appointments.
4. An arbitral tribunal shall be regarded as established on the day on which the appointment of the third member of the tribunal has been approved or agreed by the Parties in accordance with this Article.
5. If a member appointed under this Article resigns or becomes unable to act, a successor member shall be appointed in the same manner as prescribed for the appointment of the member being replaced and the successor shall have all the powers and duties of the member being replaced.
6. A person appointed as a member of an arbitral tribunal:
7. A person appointed as chair of an arbitral tribunal shall not be a national of, nor have his or her usual place of residence in the territory of, nor be employed by, either Party nor have dealt with the dispute in any capacity.
1. An arbitral tribunal established under Article 17.4:
2. The award of an arbitral tribunal shall be final and binding on the Parties.
3. An arbitral tribunal shall attempt to make its decision, including its award, by consensus but may also make such decisions by majority vote.
1. An arbitral tribunal shall meet in closed session. The Parties shall be present at the meetings only when invited by an arbitral tribunal to appear before it.
2. The deliberations of an arbitral tribunal and the documents submitted to it shall be kept confidential. Nothing in this Article shall preclude a Party from disclosing to the public statements of its own positions or its submissions, but a Party shall not disclose information submitted by the other Party to an arbitral tribunal which the latter Party has designated as confidential.
3. The Parties shall transmit to the tribunal written submissions in which they present the facts of their cases and their arguments and shall do so within the following time limits:
4. At its first substantive meeting with the Parties, an arbitral tribunal shall ask the Party which requested the establishment of the tribunal to present its submission. At the same meeting, the arbitral tribunal shall ask the other Party to present its submission.
5. Formal rebuttals shall be made at the second substantive meeting of an arbitral tribunal. The Party which did not request the establishment of the tribunal shall have the right to present its submission first. Before the meeting, the Parties shall submit written rebuttals to the tribunal.
6. An arbitral tribunal may at any time put questions to the Parties and ask them for explanations either in the course of a meeting or in writing. The responding Party shall respond fully and without undue delay.
7. The Parties shall make available to an arbitral tribunal a written version of their oral statements.
8. The submissions, rebuttals and statements referred to in Paragraphs 4 to 6 shall be made in the presence of the Parties. Each Party’s written submissions, including any comments on the draft award made in accordance with Article 17.9 (2), written versions of oral statements and responses to questions put by an arbitral tribunal, shall be made available to the other Party.
9. An arbitral tribunal shall have no ex parte communications concerning a dispute it is considering.
10. At the request of a Party, or on its own initiative, an arbitral tribunal may seek information and technical advice from any individual or body which it deems appropriate. Where information or technical advice is sought by an arbitral tribunal, the Parties may set terms and conditions on the provision of confidential information and technical advice. The arbitral tribunal shall provide the Parties with a copy of the information or technical advice received and an opportunity to provide comments. Where the arbitral tribunal takes the information or technical advice into account in the preparation of its report, it shall also take into account any comments by the Parties on the information or technical advice. This Paragraph does not apply to information and technical advice provided by any person or body as part of the submissions referred to in Paragraphs 4 to 6.
11. An arbitral tribunal shall, in consultation with the Parties, regulate its own procedures governing the rights of Parties to be heard and its own deliberations where such procedures are not otherwise set out in this Chapter.
1. Where the Parties agree, an arbitral tribunal may suspend its work at any time for a period not exceeding 12 months. If the work of an arbitral tribunal has been suspended for more than 12 months, the tribunal’s authority for considering the dispute shall lapse unless the Parties agree otherwise.
2. The Parties may agree at any time to terminate the proceedings of an arbitral tribunal established under this Agreement by jointly notifying the chair of that arbitral tribunal.
3. An arbitral tribunal may, at any stage of the proceedings prior to release of its final award, propose that the Parties seek to settle the dispute amicably.
1. Unless the Parties otherwise agree, an arbitral tribunal shall base its award on the submissions and arguments of the Parties and on any information it has obtained in accordance with Article 17.7 (10).
2. An arbitral tribunal shall prepare a draft award and accord adequate opportunity for the Parties to review this draft. The Parties may submit to the tribunal written comments on the draft award within 14 days after the date of its receipt. The tribunal shall consider any comments received from the Parties in finalising its award.
3. An arbitral tribunal shall release to the Parties its final award on a dispute within 120 days after the date of its establishment. If the tribunal considers it cannot release its final award within 120 days, it shall inform the Parties in writing of the reasons for the delay, together with an estimate of the period within which it will issue its award.
4. The final award of an arbitral tribunal shall become a public document within 10 days of its release to the Parties.
1. The Parties shall promptly comply with an award of an arbitral tribunal.
2. A Party shall notify the other Party in writing of any action it proposes to take to implement an award of an arbitral tribunal within 30 days after the date of the receipt of the final award by the Parties.
3. If a Party considers that prompt compliance with an award of an arbitral tribunal is impracticable, or if a Party which requested the establishment of an arbitral tribunal considers that an action proposed or subsequently taken by the other Party does not implement the award of the tribunal, the Parties shall immediately enter into consultations with a view to developing a mutually acceptable resolution, such as compensation or any alternative arrangement and agreeing on a reasonable period to implement any such resolution. Compensation and any alternative arrangement are temporary measures, neither of which is preferred to full implementation of the original award.
1. If:
the Party which requested the establishment of an arbitral tribunal may at any time thereafter provide written notice to the other Party that it intends to suspend the application of benefits of equivalent effect to the non-conformity found by the tribunal. The notice shall specify the level of benefits that the Party proposes to suspend. The Party which requested the establishment of an arbitral tribunal may begin suspending benefits 30 days after the date on which it provides notice to the other Party.
2. In considering what benefits to suspend under this Article:
Any suspension of benefits under this Article shall be temporary and shall only be applied until such time as the Party that must implement an arbitral tribunal’s award has done so, or until a mutually satisfactory solution is reached.
3. If the Party complained against considers that:
it may, within 30 days after the other Party provides notice under Paragraph 1, request that the tribunal be reconvened to consider this matter. The Party complained against shall deliver its request in writing to the other Party. The tribunal shall reconvene within 30 days after delivery of the request to the other Party and shall present its determination to the Parties within 90 days after it reconvenes. If the tribunal determines that the level of benefits proposed to be or actually suspended is excessive, it shall determine the level of benefits it considers to be of equivalent effect to the non-conformity found by the tribunal, adjusted to reflect any loss sustained by a Party as a result of excessive suspension.
4. The tribunal’s award under Paragraph 3 shall be final and binding on the Parties.
Each Party shall bear the costs of its appointed member and its own expenses. The costs of the chair of an arbitral tribunal and other expenses associated with the conduct of its proceedings shall be borne in equal parts by the Parties.
