2. člen

Besedilo sporazuma se v izvirniku v angleškem jeziku in v slovenskem jeziku glasi: THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA, hereinafter referred to as Slovenia, on the one hand, and the REPUBLIC OF ICELAND, the PRINCIPALITY OF LIECHTENSTEIN, and the KINGDOM OF NORWAY, hereinafter when referred to collectively, to be known as the EEA EFTA States, on the other, TOGETHER hereinafter referred to as the “Parties”, CONSIDERING the close ties that exist between Slovenia and the EEA EFTA States, in particular through the Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and the Republic of Slovenia, CONSIDERING the close relationship between the European Community and the EEA EFTA States through the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as the “EEA Agreement”, signed on 2 May 1992, and that the EEA EFTA States are integrated into the Internal Market and thereby adopt and implement Community legislation, WHEREAS Slovenia has applied for membership of the European Union and such membership implies the effective implementation of the acquis of the European Community, WHEREAS it is appropriate to conclude this Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial products between Slovenia and the EEA EFTA States, hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement”, equivalent to the Protocol to the Europe Agreement establishing an Association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Slovenia, of the other part, on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products, hereinafter referred to as the “PECA”, CONSIDERING that, in the sectors covered by this Agreement the Slovenian national law substantially takes over the Community law also incorporated into the EEA Agreement, CONSIDERING their shared commitment to the principles of free movement of goods and to promoting product quality, so as to ensure the health and safety of their citizens and the protection of the environment, DESIRING to conclude this Agreement providing for the application of the mutual acceptance of industrial products, which fulfil the requirements to be lawfully placed on the market in one of the Parties and of the mutual recognition of the results of conformity assessment of industrial products, which are subject to EEA legislation or Slovenian national law, BEARING IN MIND that the relations with regard to conformity assessment between the EEA EFTA States are governed by the EEA Agreement, BEARING IN MIND their status as Contracting Parties to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation and conscious in particular of their obligations under the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, HAVE AGREED AS follows: 1. The purpose of this Agreement is to facilitate the elimination by Slovenia, on the one hand, and the individual EEA EFTA States, on the other, of technical barriers to trade in respect of industrial products. The means to this end is the progressive adoption and implementation by Slovenia of national law, which is equivalent to Community law also incorporated into the EEA Agreement. 2. This Agreement provides for: a) The mutual acceptance of industrial products, listed in the annexes on mutual acceptance of industrial products, which fulfil the requirements to be lawfully placed on the market in one of the Parties; b) The mutual recognition of the results of conformity assessment of industrial products subject to EEA legislation and to the equivalent Slovenian national law, both listed in the annexes on mutual recognition of results of conformity assessment. For the purpose of this Agreement, “EEA EFTA States” means those members of the European Free Trade Association that are Parties to the EEA Agreement, i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. “Industrial products” means products, as specified in Article 2(*1) of the Protocol to the Europe Agreement establishing an Association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Slovenia, of the other part, on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (PECA). “EEA legislation” means any legal act and implementing practice of the European Community, as incorporated into the EEA Agreement and subsequently amended by decisions of the EEA Joint Committee, applicable to a particular situation, risk or category of industrial products. “Slovenian national law” means any legal act and implementing practice by which Slovenia takes over the Community law applicable to a particular situation, risk or category of industrial products. “Joint Committee” means the Joint Committee established under Article 13 of this Agreement. The terms used in this Agreement shall have the meaning given in EEA legislation and the Slovenian national law. The Parties agree that, for the purpose of mutual acceptance, industrial products listed in the annexes on “mutual acceptance of industrial products”, which fulfil the requirements to be lawfully placed on the market of a Party, may be placed on the market of the other Parties, without further restriction. This shall be without prejudice to prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public morality, public policy or public security; the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants; the protection of exhaustible national resources; the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic, or archaeological value or the protection of intellectual, industrial and commercial property or rules relating to gold and silver. Such prohibitions or restrictions shall not, however, constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between the Parties. The Parties agree to recognize the results of conformity assessment procedures carried out in accordance with EEA legislation or Slovenian national law listed in the annexes on “mutual recognition of the results of conformity assessment”. The Parties shall not require procedures to be repeated, nor shall they impose additional requirements, for the purposes of accepting that conformity. Where a Party finds that an industrial product placed on its territory by virtue of the present Agreement, and used in accordance with its intended use, may compromise the safety or health of users or other persons, or any other legitimate concern protected by legislation identified in the annexes, it may take appropriate measures to withdraw such a product from the market, to prohibit its placing on the market, putting into service or use, or to restrict its free movement. The annexes shall provide for the procedure to be applied in such cases. As Slovenia adopts and implements further national law taking over Community law, also incorporated into the EEA Agreement, the Parties may amend the annexes or conclude new ones, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13. The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to industrial products irrespective of their origin. 1. The Parties shall ensure that authorities under their jurisdiction, which are responsible for the effective implementation of EEA legislation and Slovenian national law shall continuously apply it. Further, they shall ensure that these authorities are able, where appropriate, to notify, suspend, remove suspension and withdraw notification of bodies, to ensure the conformity of industrial products with EEA legislation or Slovenian national law or to require their withdrawal from the market. 2. The Parties shall ensure that bodies, notified under their respective jurisdiction to assess conformity in relation to requirements of EEA legislation or Slovenian national law specified in the annexes, continuously comply with the requirements of Community or national law. Further, they shall take all necessary steps to ensure that these bodies maintain the necessary competence to carry out the tasks for which they are notified. 3. The Parties may only notify bodies notified under the PECA and EEA Agreement respectively. 1. Initially, the bodies notified for the purpose of this Agreement shall be those included in the lists, which Slovenia and the EEA EFTA States have exchanged before the completion of the procedures for entry into force. 2. Afterwards, the following procedure shall apply for the notification of bodies to assess conformity in relation to the requirements of EEA legislation or Slovenian national law specified in the annexes: a) A Party shall forward its notification to the other Parties in writing. b) On the acknowledgement of the other Parties, given in writing, the body will be considered as notified and as competent to assess conformity in relation to the requirements specified in the annexes from that date. 3. If a Party decides to withdraw a notified body under its jurisdiction, it shall inform the other Parties in writing. The body will cease to assess conformity in relation to the requirements specified in the annexes from the date of its withdrawal at the latest. Nevertheless, conformity assessment carried out before that date shall remain valid, unless otherwise decided by the Joint Committee. 1. Each Party may request the other Parties to verify the technical competence and compliance of a notified body under its jurisdiction. Such request will be justified in order to allow the Party responsible for the notification to carry out the requested verification and report speedily to the other Parties. The Parties may also jointly examine the body, with the participation of the relevant authorities. To this end, the Parties shall ensure the full co-operation of bodies under their jurisdiction. The Parties shall take all appropriate steps, and use whatever available means may be necessary, with a view to resolving any problems which are detected. 2. If the problems cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the Parties, they may notify the chair of the Joint Committee of their dissent, giving their reasons. The Joint Committee may decide on appropriate action. 3. Unless and until decided otherwise by the Joint Committee, the notification of the body and the recognition of its competence to assess conformity in relation to the requirements of EEA legislation or Slovenian national law specified in the annexes shall be suspended in part or totally from the date on which the disagreement of the Parties has been notified to the Chair of the Joint Committee. 1. In order to ensure a correct and uniform application and interpretation of this Agreement, the Parties, their authorities and their notified bodies shall: a) Exchange all relevant information concerning implementation of law and practice including, in particular, on procedure to ensure compliance of notified bodies. b) Take part, as appropriate, in the relevant mechanisms of information, co-ordination and other related activities of the Parties. c) Encourage their bodies to co-operate with a view to establishing mutual recognition arrangements in the voluntary sphere. Representatives, experts and other agents of the Parties shall be required, even after their duties have ceased, not to disclose information acquired under this Agreement, which is of the kind covered by the obligation of professional secrecy. This information may not be used for purposes other than those envisaged by this Agreement. 1. A Joint Committee consisting of the representatives of the Parties is hereby established. It shall be responsible for the effective functioning of the Agreement and shall meet whenever deemed necessary by one of the Parties. 2. The Joint Committee shall take its decisions and adopt its recommendations by consensus. 3. The Joint Committee shall determine its own rules of procedure, which shall contain, inter alia, provisions on the convening of meetings, the appointment of the Chair and the Chair’s term of office. It may decide to delegate specific tasks to Joint Sectoral Groups referred to in point 6 below. 4. The Joint Committee may consider any matter related to the operation of this Agreement. In particular, it shall have the power to take decisions regarding: a) amending the Annexes; b) adding new Annexes; c) appointing a joint team or teams of experts to verify the technical competence of a notified body and its compliance with the requirements; d) exchanging information on proposed and actual modifications of the EEA legislation and Slovenian national law referred to in the Annexes; e) considering new or additional conformity assessment procedures affecting a sector covered by an Annex; f) resolving any questions relating to the application of this Agreement. 5. The Joint Committee established under this Agreement is independent of and separate from the Joint Committee that has been established under the Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Slovenia. 6. The Joint Committee may establish Joint Sectoral Groups for individual Sectoral Annexes comprising the appropriate designating and regulatory authorities and experts of the Parties. These groups will address the specific conformity assessment, acceptance of industrial products and regulatory issues related to a given sector. The responsibility of the Joint Sectoral Groups may include the following: a) at the request of a Party, to examine specific problems arising in the implementation of any transitional plans for mutual recognition and to give advisory opinions to the Joint Committee on issues of mutual concern; b) furnish information and advice on any matters relating to implementation, and on the regulations, procedures and conformity assessment system related to a particular Annex, as may be requested by a Party; c) review various aspects of the implementation and operation of each Sectoral Annex; d) consider issues of interpretation of requirements in the Sectoral Annexes, and where appropriate to make recommendations to the Joint Committee. Any Party may refer any dispute relating to the interpretation or application of this Agreement to the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee shall endeavour to settle the dispute, and must be supplied with any information, which may facilitate a thorough examination of the situation with a view to finding an acceptable solution. For that purpose, the Joint Committee shall consider every possible means of maintaining the smooth functioning of this Agreement. The Parties agree that agreements on conformity assessment concluded by any Party with a country which is not a party to this Agreement shall not entail an obligation upon the other Parties to accept the results of conformity assessment procedures carried out in that third country, unless there is an explicit agreement between the Parties in the Joint Committee. 1. The Government of Norway, acting as Depositary, shall notify all States that have signed this Agreement of the depositing of instruments of ratification or acceptance, as well as the entry into force of this Agreement. The Depositary shall also notify the States of any notifications of termination, amendments and of the expiry of the Agreement. 2. This Agreement is subject to ratification or acceptance. The instruments of ratification or acceptance shall be deposited with the Depositary. 1. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the depositing of instruments of ratification or acceptance by the last of all signatory States. 2. Without prejudice to Article 13 paragraph 4 letters (a) and (b), if a Party wishes to have this Agreement amended, it shall inform the Joint Committee. Amendments may be decided by written procedure if the Parties so agree. Amendments shall enter into force 30 days after receipt by the Depositary of the notification of all Parties that the requisite internal procedures have been completed. 3. Each Party to this Agreement may withdraw therefrom with six months notice by means of a written notification to the Depositary. Should one or more EEA EFTA States withdraw from this Agreement, the Agreement will continue in force for the remaining EEA EFTA States, on the one hand, and for Slovenia, on the other. 4. This Agreement shall be repealed on the date of accession of Slovenia to the EEA Agreement. This Agreement is drawn up in four originals in the English language. Done at Brussels, 30 January 2003 For the Republic of Slovenia Renata Vitez (s) For the Republic of Iceland Kjartan Johannsson (s) For the Principality of Liechtenstein H.S.H. Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (s) For the Kingdom of Norway Bjorn T. Grydeland (s) (*1) Article 2 refers to Article 9 and Protocol 2 of the Europe Agreement. ANNEXES on mutual recognition of results of conformity assessment REPUBLIKA SLOVENIJA, v nadaljevanju Slovenija, na eni strani in Republika Islandija, Kneževina Lihtenštajn in Kraljevina Norveška, v nadaljevanju države EGP EFTA, kadar se sklicuje na vse tri, na drugi strani, V NADALJEVANJU “pogodbenici”, so GLEDE NA tesne vezi, ki obstajajo med Slovenijo in državami EGP EFTA, posebej na podlagi Sporazuma o prosti trgovini med državami EFTE in Republiko Slovenijo, GLEDE NA tesne vezi med Evropsko skupnostjo in državami EGP EFTA na podlagi Sporazuma o evropskem gospodarskem prostoru, v nadaljevanju “sporazum EGP”, podpisan 2. maja 1992, in da so države EGP EFTA vključene v notranji trg in tako sprejemajo in izvajajo zakonodajo Skupnosti, KER je Slovenija zaprosila za članstvo v Evropski uniji in ker tako članstvo pomeni učinkovito izvajanje pravnega reda Evropske skupnosti, KER je primerno skleniti ta sporazum o ugotavljanju skladnosti in prevzemanju industrijskih izdelkov med Slovenijo in državami EGP EFTA, v nadaljevanju “sporazum”, ki je enakovreden Protokolu k Evropskemu sporazumu o pridružitvi med Slovenijo na eni strani in Evropskimi skupnostmi in njihovimi državami članicami na drugi strani o ugotavljanju skladnosti in prevzemanju industrijskih izdelkov, v nadaljevanju “PECA”, GLEDE NA TO, da na področjih, ki jih zajema ta sporazum, slovensko notranje pravo v veliki meri prevzema pravo Skupnosti, ki je vključeno v sporazum EGP, GLEDE NA njihovo skupno zavezanost načelom prostega pretoka blaga in pospeševanju kakovosti izdelkov, da bi zagotovile zdravje in varnost svojih državljanov in varstvo okolja, V ŽELJI, da bi sklenile ta sporazum, ki predvideva medsebojno prevzemanje industrijskih izdelkov, ki izpolnjujejo zahteve zakonitega dajanja na trg v eni od pogodbenic, in medsebojno priznavanje rezultatov ugotavljanja skladnosti industrijskih izdelkov, ki jih ureja zakonodaja EGP ali slovensko notranje pravo, OB UPOŠTEVANJU, da sporazum EGP ureja odnose glede ugotavljanja skladnosti med državami EGP EFTA, OB UPOŠTEVANJU statusa pogodbenic Sporazuma o ustanovitvi Svetovne trgovinske organizacije in zavedajoč se zlasti svojih obveznosti, ki izhajajo iz Sporazuma Svetovne trgovinske organizacije o tehničnih ovirah v trgovini, SKLENILE: