Ref. Ares(2022)4073243 - 01/06/2022
L 167/88
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
1.7.2015
DECISION No 4/2014 OF THE EU-COLOMBIA-PERU TRADE COMMITTEE
of 16 May 2014
Adoption of the Rules of Procedure for the Group of Experts in Trade and Sustainable
Development referred to in Article 284(6) of the Trade Agreement between the European Union
and its Member States, of the one part, and Colombia and Peru, of the other part [2015/1048]
THE TRADE COMMITTEE,
Having regard to the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and
Colombia and Peru, of the other part (‘the Agreement’), signed in Brussels on 26 June 2012, and in particular
Article 284(6) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Article 284 of the Agreement provides that a Party may request that a Group of Experts be convened to examine
a trade and sustainable development matter that has not been satisfactorily addressed through governmental
consultations under Article 283 of the Agreement.
(2)
At its first meeting the Trade Committee shall adopt Rules of Procedure for the functioning of the Group of
Experts.
(3)
The Trade Committee has the exclusive authority to evaluate and adopt decisions as envisaged in the Agreement
regarding any subject matter which is referred to it by the specialised bodies established according to the
Agreement,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
1. The Rules of Procedure for the Group of Experts are established as set out in the Annex.
2. This Decision shall enter into force on 7 October 2014
Done at Lima, 16 May 2014
For the Trade Committee
Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism
Commissioner for Trade of the European
Minister for Foreign Trade and Tourism
of Colombia
Commission
of Peru
Cecilia ÁLVAREZ-CORREA
Karel DE GUCHT
Blanca Magali SILVA VELARDE-ÁLVAREZ
1.7.2015
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 167/89
ANNEX
RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE GROUP OF EXPERTS OF THE TRADE AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT TITLE
GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. In Title IX (Trade and Sustainable Development) of the Agreement and under these rules:
(a) ‘the Agreement’ means the Trade Agreement between Colombia and Peru, of the one part, and the European
Union and its Member States, of the other part, signed on 26 June 2012.
(b) ‘day’ means a calendar day.
(c) ‘expertf’ means a person with expertise on the issues covered by Title IX (Trade and Sustainable Development),
who is suitable to be appointed to serve in a Group of Experts, in accordance with Article 284 of the Agreement.
(d) ‘Group of Experts’ means a group convened in accordance with the procedures set out in Article 284 of the
Agreement.
(e) ‘Party to a procedure’ shall be understood as a consulting Party which participates in a procedure before a Group
of Experts.
(f) ‘requesting Party’ means any consulting Party which requests that a Group of Experts be convened pursuant to
Article 284(1) of the Agreement.
2. The requesting Party shall be in charge of the logistical administration of proceedings, unless otherwise agreed. The
Parties to a procedure shall equally share the costs derived from the organisation of a procedure of the Group of
Experts, including the expenses of the experts. The Parties to a procedure may, however, decide that these costs, with
the exception of the expenses of the experts, be distributed differently taking into account the particulars of the case
and other circumstances that may be deemed relevant.
NOTIFICATIONS
3. The Parties shall transmit any request that a Group of Experts be convened, or any notice, written submission or
other document by delivery against receipt, registered post, courier, facsimile transmission, telex, telegram or any
other means of telecommunication that provides a record of the sending thereof.
4. Each Party to a procedure shall provide the other Party and each of the members of the Group of the Experts with a
copy of each of its written submissions. A copy of the document shall also be provided in electronic format.
5. Minor errors of a clerical nature in any request, notice, written submission or other document related to the Group
of Experts may be corrected by delivery of a new document clearly indicating the changes.
6. For the purposes of calculating a period of time under Articles 284 and 285 of the Agreement and these rules, such
period shall begin to run on the day following the day when a notice, written submission or other document is
received. If the last day of such period is an official holiday or a non-work day for any of the Parties to a procedure,
the period is extended until the first work day which follows. Official holidays or non-work days occurring during
the running of the period of time are included in calculating the period.
7. Where a Party to a procedure receives a document on a date other than the date on which this document is received
by the other Party, any period of time that is calculated on the basis of the date of receipt of that document shall be
calculated from the last date of receipt of that document.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A GROUP OF EXPERTS
8. If pursuant to Article 284 of the Agreement the Chairperson is selected by lot from the list of non-nationals of any
Party to the Agreement, representatives of both Parties to a procedure shall be invited with due anticipation to be
present when lots are drawn.
L 167/90
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
1.7.2015
9. The Parties to a procedure shall notify experts regarding their appointment.
10. An expert who has been appointed according to the procedure established under Article 284 of the Agreement
shall notify his/her acceptance to the Sub-committee on Trade and Sustainable Development within five days of the
date in which he/she was informed of his/her appointment.
INITIATION OF THE GROUP OF EXPERTS
11. Unless the Parties to a procedure agree otherwise, these Parties shall meet with the Group of Experts within
fourteen days of its establishment in order to determine such matters that such Parties or the Group of Experts
deem appropriate.
12. (a) Unless the Parties to a procedure agree otherwise, within seven days from the date of establishment of the
Group of Experts, the terms of reference of the Group of Experts shall be:
‘to examine, in the light of the relevant provisions of the Trade and Sustainable Development Title, the matter
referred to in the request for the establishment of the Group of Experts, and to issue a report, in accordance
with Article 285 of Title IX (Trade and Sustainable Development) of the Agreement, making recommendations
for satisfactorily addressing the matter.’.
(b) The Parties to a procedure must notify the agreed terms of reference to the Group of Experts within two days
after reaching the agreement.
SUBMISSIONS
13. The Parties to a procedure may present submissions to the Group of Experts at any stage of the process. The Group
of Experts may request and receive written submissions or any other information from organisations, institutions,
and persons with relevant information or specialised knowledge, including written submissions or information from
the relevant international organisations and bodies, on matters concerning the international conventions and
agreements referred to in Articles 269 and 270 of the Agreement.
14. Once the Group of Experts has decided on the list of institutions, organisations and persons it will request
information from, it will provide this list to the Parties to a procedure for their information. The Group of Experts
shall notify the Parties to a procedure of any institutions, organisations, or persons it subsequently chooses to
approach or of those making submissions to the Group of Experts on their own initiative.
OPERATION OF THE GROUP OF EXPERTS
15. The chairperson of the Group of Experts shall preside at all its meetings. The Group of Experts may delegate to the
chairperson authority to make administrative decisions regarding the proceedings.
16. The chairperson shall inform the Parties to a procedure of administrative decisions; such administrative decisions
will apply unless otherwise agreed by the Parties to a procedure.
17. Unless otherwise provided in the Agreement or in these Rules, the Group of Experts may conduct its activities by
any means, including telephone, facsimile transmissions or computer links.
18. Only members of the Group of Experts may take part in the deliberations of the Group of Experts.
19. The drafting of any Group of Experts report shall remain the exclusive responsibility of the Group of Experts and
may not be delegated.
20. Subject to the provisions of the Agreement and these Rules, where a procedural question arises that is not covered
therein, the Group of Experts may adopt its own procedures to address such a question. Where a procedural
question arises that is not covered by the provisions of the Agreement or in these Rules, a Group of Experts may
adopt an appropriate procedure that is compatible with those provisions.
1.7.2015
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 167/91
21. When the Group of Experts considers it is necessary to modify any period of time applicable to the proceedings or
to make any other procedural or administrative adjustment, it shall inform the Parties to a procedure in writing of
the reasons for the change or adjustment, indicating the period of time or adjustment needed. Such adjustment will
apply unless otherwise agreed by the Parties to the procedure.
22. Consistent with Articles 284 and 285 of the Agreement and these rules, the Group of Experts shall conduct all
proceedings in such a manner as it considers appropriate, provided that the Parties to a procedure are treated with
equality, and that subject to Article 284(5) of the Agreement, each Party to a procedure is given a full opportunity
to present its case.
23. Consistent with Articles 284 and 285 of the Agreement and these rules, the Parties to a procedure may request
meetings with the Group of Experts after the initial report has been presented and prior to the presentation of the
final report.
CONFIDENTIALITY
24. Each Party to a procedure shall treat as confidential any information submitted by the other Party to the Group of
Experts which that Party has designated as confidential.
25. Where a Party to a procedure submits a confidential version of its written submissions to the Group of Experts, it
shall also, upon request of the other Party, provide a non-confidential summary of the information contained in its
submissions no later than 15 days after the date of either the request or the submission of the confidential version,
whichever is later.
26. Written submissions made to the Group of Experts shall be considered confidential but shall be provided to the
Parties to a procedure. The Parties to a procedure may issue joint statements of their positions to the extent that
they do not contain confidential commercial information.
27. The Group of Experts shall meet in closed session when the submissions and arguments of any Party to a procedure
contain confidential commercial information.
TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION
28. The Parties to a procedure shall have the right to present and receive written submissions in the languages of their
choice.
29. Each Party to a procedure shall expeditiously arrange for and bear the costs of the translation of its written
submissions into English and Spanish. The costs incurred during the deliberations of the Group of Experts for
translation and interpretation into or from English and Spanish shall be shared by the Parties to a procedure.
Translation and interpretation into or from other languages shall be borne by the requesting Party.
30. Group of Experts reports shall be notified in English and Spanish.
OTHER PROVISIONS
31. The Code of Conduct established for the List of Arbitrators under the Trade Agreement shall also apply for the
Group of Experts.
Document Outline