za ekonomske odnose
in razvoj in meroslovje
Republike Slovenije
dr. Edo Pirkmajer l. r.
Za Državni zavod
za standardizacijo
Republike Hrvaške
dr. Jakša Topić l. r.
The Ministry of Economic Relations and Development of the Republic of Slovenia and the State Office for Standardisation and Metrology of the Republic of Croatia, hereinafter referred to as “the Parties” as the competent state authorities for the implementation of those rights and obligations of the parties to the Agreement on Free Trade between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia (Official Journal RS-IA No. 8/99 in RS 25/99) (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement”) as stipulated in the second paragraph of Article 10, concerning the reduction or elimination of technical barriers to trade;
Have agreed the following:
1.
The Parties agree that the subject of this agreement is to determine the manner of co-operation and exchanging of the information referred to in the second paragraph of Article 10 of the Agreement, for the purpose of reducing or elimination technical barriers in mutual trade.
The co-operation and exchanging of information referred to in the preceding paragraph shall apply to all products:
– included in the mutual trade between manufacturing and trading legal and natural persons seated in the Republic of Slovenia or in the Republic of Croatia;
– that are governed by technical regulations which determine their technical requirements and procedures for conformity assessment with the prescribed technical requirements (for example testing and certification).
2.
The Parties commit themselves to take, within their capabilities and competencies, all the necessary measures to ensure, on the basis of information obtained from commercial subjects and their associations, the reduction or elimination of technical barriers encountered in mutual trade within the framework of the Agreement.
In order to achieve the goals determined in the preceding paragraph, the Parties also commit themselves also to exchange information on the following:
– technical regulations in force and procedure for conformity assessment;
– the conformity assessment bodies (laboratories, inspection bodies, certification bodies), which carry out specific tasks on the basis of technical regulations;
– the method to assess the competence of the bodies referred to in the preceding sub-paragraph (for example accreditation, decisions issued by the competent authorities);
– other documents (for example, standards, technical specifications) and bodies (for example, the competent inspection bodies), which may influence the free movement of goods between the parties to the Agreement.
3.
The Parties commit themselves, each for its national territory, to collect and analyse, within 30 days after entering into force of this agreement, information on the problems related to the fulfilment of the technical requirements for products. To fulfil this obligation they shall co-operate with other state authorities, commercial subjects and their associations. After the exchanging of the information collected they shall, within a further period of 30 days, draw up a joint proposal setting the measures to be taken for the reduction or elimination of the technical barriers encountered.
4.
The Parties agree to report, at least once a year, on the implementation of this agreement and on the situation regarding reduction or elimination of technical barriers, to the Joint Committee referred to in Article 34 of the Agreement and to propose to the committee, if necessary, the appropriate measures and recommendations that need to be adopted within the framework of the committee’s competencies.
5.
The Parties commit themselves each to designate its competent person and his/her deputy who shall be responsible for the swift and uninterrupted implementation of the obligations specified under items 2 to 4 hereof.
6.
The implementation of this agreement shall not result in any liability for damages or any other financial liability of the Parties due to technical barriers to trade between the parties to the Agreement.
7.
This agreement shall be without prejudice to the obligations of the Parties towards third parties.
8.
The proposed amendments to this agreement shall be submitted in writing for approval to the other Party and shall enter into force only after being approved by both Parties.
9.
The agreement shall be concluded for an indefinite period of time. The agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the month in which the last of the notifications on fulfilment of all constitutional requirements for entering into force is received.
10.
Each Party may terminate it by written notification to the other Party. In this event, the agreement shall cease to be valid on the first day of the seventh month following the date, on which the other Party received the notification.
Done at Ljubljana, 5. 9. 2000 in two original copies in the Slovene, Croatian and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.
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