Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. 1. The Agreement shall not preclude the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free-trade areas or other arrangements between either of the Parties and third countries, except in so far as they alter the rights and obligations provided for in this Agreement.
2. Consultation between the Community and South Africa shall take place within the Cooperation Council concerning agreements establishing or adjusting customs unions or free-trade areas and, where required, on other major issues related to their respective trade policy with third countries. In particular, in the event of a third country acceding to the European Union, such consultation shall take place so as to ensure that account can be taken of the mutual interests of the Community and South Africa.
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. 1. Nothing in this Framework Agreement shall preclude the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free trade areas or other arrangements between either of the Parties and non-parties, insofar as they do not alter the rights and obligations provided for in this Framework Agreement.
2. On request of a Party, consultations between the Parties shall take place within the Joint Committee concerning agreements establishing or adjusting customs unions or free trade areas and, where required, on other major issues related to the Parties’ respective trade policies with non-parties.
3. In case of accession of Turkey to the European Union, the Parties shall enter into consultations on the consequences of the accession.
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. Nothing in this Agreement shall preclude the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free trade areas or other arrangements between either of the Parties and third countries, insofar as they do not alter the rights and obligations provided for in this Agreement.
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. 1. Nothing in this Agreement shall preclude the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free trade areas or other arrangements between either of the Parties and third countries, insofar as they do not alter the rights and obligations provided for in this Agreement.
2. At the request of a Party, consultations between them shall take place within the Association Committee concerning agreements establishing or adjusting customs unions or free trade areas and, where required, on other major issues related to the Parties' respective trade policies with third countries. In particular, in the event of accession, such consultation shall take place so as to ensure that account can be taken of the mutual interests of the Parties.
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. 1. The Parties, without prejudice to the rights and obligations provided for in this Agreement, preserve the right to maintain or establish customs unions, free trade areas or other arrangements with third countries.
2. Any Party, in case the rights and obligations provided for under this Agreement are being affected, may request to hold consultations within the Joint Committee concerning agreements establishing or adjusting customs unions or free trade areas and, where required, on other major issues related to the Parties’ respective trade policies with third countries.
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. 1. This Agreement shall not preclude the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free-trade areas or other arrangements between either of the Parties and third countries, except in so far as they alter the rights and obligations provided for in this Agreement.
2. Consultation between the EC Party and the SADC EPA States shall take place within the Joint Council concerning agreements establishing or adjusting customs unions or free-trade areas and, where required, on other major issues related to their respective trade policy with third countries. CE/SADC/en 32
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. Contracting parties which constitute a customs union or free trade area within the meaning of Article XXIV of the General Agreement may apply to one another measures relating to the protection of intellectual property rights without extending them to other contracting parties, in order to facilitate trade between their territories.
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. The representative of the Community said that the underlying purpose of the Article was to enable the Com- munity to continue to apply the principle of Community exhaustion in respect of trade among the member States.
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. 1. Nothing in this Decision shall preclude the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free-trade areas or other arrangements between either of the Parties and third countries, except insofar as they do not alter the rights and obligations provided for in this Decision.
2. At the request of a Party, consultations between the Community and Mexico shall take place within the Joint Committee concerning agreements establishing or adjusting customs unions or free-trade areas and, where required, on other major issues related to the Parties' respective trade policies with third countries.
Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas. The MFN principle posed a challenge for preferential arrangements, such as customs unions and free trade areas, that had been entered into by the States that had negotiated GATT. States were not prepared, however, to abandon those arrangements. Instead, in article XXIV they permitted their continuation as well as the conclusion of new customs unions and free trade areas provided that they met certain conditions. The rationale for allowing customs unions and free trade areas is set out in article XXIV, para 4, where the parties recognize the desirability of closer economic integration between the economies of States provided that it facilitates trade between those economies and does not pose barriers to other States. Accordingly, the conditions for establishing or maintaining customs unions and free trade areas is that the “general incidence” of duties and regulations applicable to States not party to the customs union or free trade area are not “higher or more restrictive” than the duties and regulations of the parties to the customs union or free trade area were before the arrangement for economic integration was entered into. Moreover, in order to ensure that customs unions and free trade areas are in fact trade liberalizing, article XXIV defines a customs union as one where the duties and regulations of commerce between the constituent members are, with certain exceptions, eliminated on substantially all of the trade in products originating within their territories. The same requirement is applicable to free trade areas. These rules relating to what constitutes a customs union or a free trade area and when they are GATT-consistent have proved notoriously difficult to apply and as a result no real control over preferential economic arrangements was ever exercised by GATT. The most important development in respect of customs unions during the GATT period was the creation of the European Economic Community (hereinafter “EEC”). There was close cooperation between GATT contracting parties and the negotiators of the EEC and ultimately no objection was raised against the EEC under article XXIV. By the time of the Xxxxxx Round, 1959-1962, the EEC was a reality in international trade negotiations. Although it never became a member of GATT, the European Communities, as the EEC had become, was an original member of the WTO.
