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SECTORAL AGREEMENTS ON SERVICES 
IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

SG/TU/WG.SERV/DOC.2/97/Rev. 2
25 February 1998
Original: English


(Continuation)

3. TRANSPORT

3.1. Air Transport

A. Sub Regional Sectoral Agreements

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

 

1. Convenio Constitutivo de la Corporación Centroamericana de Servicios de Navigación Aérea (Agreement to Constitute the Central American Corporation for Air Navigation Services)

DATE: Signed on February 26, 1960 and published on September 13, 1961 

MEMBERS: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua

Summary of Provisions

Objective:
Article 1:
A Public Services Organization is created, which will be called “Central American Corporation for Air Navigation Services”, or from now on “The Corporation”.

Attributions:
Article 2:
 

1) The Corporation will have exclusive rights for the provision of air traffic services, services of aerial telecommunications and of radio assistance for the aerial navigation in the territories of the Member Parties: 

a) it will provide the above services and assistance contained in the regional plan of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in the territories of the Member Parties and in areas covered by an International Agreement; 

b) it may provide the mentioned services to other countries, through an agreement; 

c) it may provide services and assistance which are not contained in the regional plan of the ICAO in the territories of the Member Parties, through contracts with public or private entities.

3) The Corporation will have the following attributions: 

a) study and propose to the Member Parties the uniformity of the national standards which regulate air traffic, and of the measures adopted to organize it and to control its security, based on the standards and methods recommended by the ICAO; 

b) take all necessary measures for the adequate training of personnel; 

c) promote and coordinate studies on air navigation services and installations, taking the technical evolution into consideration, and, when appropriate, propose to the Member Countries amendments to the regional plan on air navigation, to be submitted to the ICAO.

Article 9: To accomplish the functions foreseen in paragraph one of Article 2, the Corporation will apply the regulations in vigor in the territories of the Member Countries to the control of air traffic, as well as in the whole aerial space where the air traffic services were provided.

If difficulties arise over the application of the provisions of this Article, the Corporation, in conformity with Article 2, paragraph three, items a) and c), will propose to the Member Countries the measures it considers adequate.

Article 13: When exercising its functions, the Corporation will respect the national laws and regulations, and the international agreements concerning access to, flight over and security of, the territories of the Member Parties.

Administration:
Article 4:
The Corporation will be administered by a Directive Council composed of a representative member of each Member Party.

The presence of all the Council’s members is required to consider its meeting valid, and its decisions are adopted by a majority of votes. The Council will establish its internal regulations and other regulations that may be necessary to its functioning, through a unanimous decision by its members.

Concession of Facilities and Privileges:
Article 6:
The Member Parties will grant the Corporation facilities and privileges concerning the work and provision of services in their respective territories, which may be necessary to the performance of the Corporation’s functions, and which are given to international and autonomous organizations, and official entities.

Infractions:
Article 12:
The Corporation will communicate to the competent national authorities the infractions against the standards which regulate the aerial traffic, incurred within the jurisdiction to which they were confided.

Transparency:
Article 14:
In order to make the application of national laws and regulations possible for the Member Parties, the Corporation will provide the information required concerning aircraft, and all other information related to the case in consultation, even if not requested.

Settlement of Disputes:
Article 25:
Any dispute among the Member Parties, or between one or many Member Countries and the Corporation, concerning the interpretation or application of the present Agreement which cannot be solved through direct negotiations, will be solved through an Arbitral Tribunal, which will be composed as follows: each Member Country will assign three magistrates belonging to their own Supreme Court of Justice. Within six months of the entry into force of the present agreement, such list will be notified to the General Secretary of the Organization of Central American States.

The General Secretary of the Organization of Central American States will draw from the complete list of candidates, the arbiters from different nationalities who will compose the Tribunal.

The sentence will be decided by the majority and will have the force of law to all the litigant Parties.

Modifications:
Article 27:
Any modification to the present agreement will be subject to unanimous agreement among the Member Countries.

Duration:
Article 28:
This Agreement will have a duration of fifteen years. It will be automatically renewed for successive periods of five years.

Entry into Force:
Article 32:
The present Agreement will be ratified and will enter into force at the first day of the month following the deposit of the ratification instrument of the fourth Member Party to complete this formality. The instruments of ratification will be deposited with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which will notify the other Member Parties.

 

2. Agreement on Subregional Air Transport Services (Subregional Agreement on Air Transport Services between the Governments of the Argentine Republic, the Republic of Bolivia, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Chile, the Republic of Paraguay and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay)

DATE: December, 1996

MEMBERS: MERCOSUR Countries, Bolivia and Chile

Summary of Provisions

Objective:
Article 1:
The objective of the Agreement is to make possible the provision of new regular subregional air services, in routes that are different from the ones effectively operated in the framework of the Bilateral Agreements, with the goal to promote and develop new markets and to adequately serve the users’ demand.

Definitions:
Article 2:
The following definitions are covered: “ State Party”, “Air Authorities”, “Subregional Services”, “Council”, “Designated Enterprise”, “Country of Origin”, “Bilateral Agreements”.

“Subregional Air Services” mean regular passengers, cargo or mail air services, operated separately or in combination, which are provided within the subregion comprising the territories of the Parties to this Agreement in conformance with the criteria specifically established for this end, and through routes that differ from the regional routes effectively operated in the framework of the Bilateral Agreements.

Concession of Rights:
Article 4:
The designated enterprises, in order to operate the subregional air services, will have:

(a) the right to fly over the Parties’ territories;

(b) the right to land on such territories for noncommercial ends;

(c) the right to receive and deliver mail, cargo or passengers in the Parties’ territories, in regular flights exclusively operated within the Subregion.

Designation and Authorization:
Article 5:
Each Party will have the right to designate one or more enterprises to operate the subregional air services.

The Air Authorities of each Party, in conformance with their laws and regulations, will grant the necessary authorizations for the exploitation of the agreed services to the designated enterprises.

Application of Bilateral and Multilateral Provisions:
Article 7:
The provisions of other Agreements on Air Transport Services subscribed between the Parties to this Agreement, which result compatible with it, will be subsidiarily applied.

The provisions of this Agreement shall not constitute, under any circumstances, restrictions to what has already been established in other Agreements on Air Transport Services signed by the Member Parties.

When applying the provisions of this Agreement, none of the Parties will grant more favorable treatment to its enterprises than to the enterprises of the other Parties. (National Treatment).

In the case a Multilateral Agreement includes the treatment of Air Transport Services in the Subregion in its provisions, the Air Authorities of the Parties will carry out consultations in order to determine the degree in which the present Agreement can be affected by such provisions and decide on which modifications will result necessary.

Exchange of National Provisions:
Article 8:
Each Party, through its authorities, will communicate to the Authorities of the other Parties the current provisions in their respective countries, in order to grant authorizations to aerial enterprises for commercial and operational activities, along with information on the standards for the authorization of routes, frequencies and schedules for regular flights.

Fees:
Article 9:
The fees to be applied to the subregional air services will be bound by the standards of the country of origin.

Facilitation and Security:
Article 10:
Each Member Party will employ all efforts to simplify and make compatible standards and procedures for the facilitation of international air transport in the subregion, in accordance with the Civil Aviation’s Standards of Security, and in harmony with Annexes 9 and 11 of the International Civil Aviation Convention.

Council of Air Authorities:
Article 12:
A Council of Air Authorities is created with stated purpose to observe the implementation of this Agreement. The Council’s attributions and composition constitute Annex II to this Agreement.

Nondiscriminatory Measures:
Article 13:
Each Party will adopt the appropriate measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination and practices of unfair competition in the exercise of commercial opportunities.

Adherence:
Article 15:
This Agreement will be open to the adherence of other countries of South America, whose requests will be examined by the Member Parties.

Announcement:
Article 16:
If a Member Party wishes to end its membership to this Agreement, it shall communicate its intention to the other Member Parties, delivering an official document with this announcement, within sixty days, to the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Depositary Country, which will distribute it to the other Member Parties.

Settlement of Disputes:
Article 17:
Disputes arising over the interpretation and/or application of the provisions of the present Agreement will be settled according to the procedures described in Annex III to this Agreement.

Revision:
Article 18:
The Agreement will be periodically reviewed, and at least every three years. In those reviews the Member Parties will seek to gradually eliminate the existing restrictions to the Agreement.

Entry into Force:
Article 20:
The Agreement will enter into force thirty days after the deposit of the third instrument of ratification. The instruments of ratification will be deposited with the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, which will communicate the date of the deposit to the Governments of the other Member Parties.

 

3. Decision 297: “Integración del Transporte Aéreo en la Subregión Andina” (DECISION 297: Air Transport Integration within the Andean Subregion)

DATE: May 16, 1991

MEMBERS: Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela)

Summary of Provisions

Definitions:
Article 1:
For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions are used: 

“First Freedom”: The right to fly through another country’s territory without landing; 

“Second Freedom”: The right to land in another country for non-commercial ends; 

“Third Freedom”: The right to disembark in another country, passengers, cargo and mail embarked in the territory of same nationality as the transporter’s; 

“Fourth Freedom”: The right to embark in a country passengers, cargo and mail destined to the territory of same nationality as the transporter’s; 

“Fifth Freedom”: The right to embark passengers, cargo and mail in a country of different nationality from the transporter’s, with destination to other country of the Subregion, or outside it, also of different nationality from the transporter’s.

Other definitions are: 

“Country of Origin”; “Regular and Non-Regular Flights”; “Series of Flights”; “Package, all included”; Certificate of exploitation”;

“Multiple Designation”: the designation of one or more air lines by a country for the provision of services of international air transport; “Member Country”; “Board” of the Cartagena Agreement; “Commission” of the Cartagena Agreement; 

“Competent National Agencies”: the Civil Aviation Authorities of the Member Countries.

Scope of Application:
Article 2:
The Member countries will apply the present decision to the provision of services of international air transport of passengers, cargo and mail, regular or non-regular, between their respective territories and between their territories and countries outside the Subregion.

Article 3: This decision will not impose, under any circumstances, restrictions to facilities granted by the Member Countries among themselves through bilateral and multilateral agreements.

Article 4: The Member Countries, with no damage to the freedoms granted in the present decision, also grant each other the rights of first and second freedom of air.

About the Conditions for Regular and Non-Regular Flights within the Subregion
Article 5:
The Member Countries grant themselves the free exercise of the rights over the third, fourth and fifth freedoms of the air, in regular flights of passengers, cargo and mail within the subregion.

Article 9: The Member Countries accept the principle of multiple designation in the provision of regular passengers, cargo and mail services. The Andean Committee of Aviation Authorities will adopt, within ninety (90) days after the approval of this current decision, the uniform regulation needed for the application of such a principle, guaranteeing, in any case, free market access.

About the Conditions for Flights Outside the Subregion
Article 11:
The Member Countries will grant, the right to exercise the fifth freedom for regular flights to all aerial traffic, before December 31, 1992, subject to bilateral or multilateral negotiations, while maintaining the principle of equity, and under adequate formulas of compensation, and will establish the conditions for non-regular flights of passengers between countries of the Subregion and third countries.

Article 12: The Member Countries adopt a regime of freedom for their enterprises’ non-regular flights of cargo taking place between countries of the Subregion and third countries.

About the Andean Committee of Aviation Authorities
Article 13:
The Andean Committee of Aviation Authorities, created by Resolution V. 104 of the V Meeting of Ministers of Transport, Communication and Public Works of the Member Countries, will be in charge of watching over the integral implementation and application of the present Decision.

Article 14: The Andean Committee of Aviation Authorities will be composed of the authority responsible for the civil aviation of each Member Country and its substitute, who will act respectively as the Official and Alternate Representatives and who will be accredited by the Board.

Article 15: The Andean Committee of Aviation Authorities has the following functions: 

a) Follow and evaluate the application of the Commission’s Decisions on air transport; 

b) Recommend solutions to problems arising on this area in the Subregion and outside; 

c) The indicated by Decisions of the Commission; 

d) Recommend objectives, policies, programs and actions to develop and facilitate the provision of air services; 

e) Promote the harmonization and updating of current standards, techniques and legal provisions in the Member Countries in terms of aviation; 

f) Make available to the Board or the competent national agencies, the working documents and orientations previously analyzed in meetings of the Committee to specify resolutions and agreements related to the aviation sector; 

g) Ask the Board, or through it ask the competent national agencies and international organizations, the necessary support to the realization of studies, seminars, working programs and other actions viewing to modernize the air transport services and make them effective;

h) Register and disseminate in permanent form the information on air enterprises which operate in the Andean Subregion, the statistics on movements of passengers and merchandise, and the standards and provisions applied in each Member Country in the air transport area;

i) Constitute working groups to elaborate studies or implement actions that complement the resolutions taken by the Committee;

j) Arrange joint positions for the negotiations with third countries, which allow the Subregion to obtain maximum benefits;

k) Dictate its own regulations.

General Provisions
Article 18:
Each Member Country will communicate to the other Member countries and to the Board, the current national provisions in their respective countries to grant authorizations for routes, frequencies, itineraries, and schedules for regular flights, as well as authorizations for non-regular flights.

Article 19: The Commission, within a hundred and eighty (180) days after the entry into force of the present Decision, will adopt and implement a provision to prevent or correct distortions generated by unfair competition in the services of air transport.

Article 20: Fees: The principle of Country of Origin will be applied to intrasubregional fees.

Article 21: Entry into Force: This decision will enter in vigor on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement.

 

4. Decision 360: Modificación de la Decisión 297 “Integración del Transporte Aéreo en la Subregión Andina” (DECISION 360: Modification of Decision 297 “Air Transport Integration within the Andean Subregion”)

DATE: May 25-27, 1994

MEMBERS: Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela)

Summary of Provisions

Objective: To modify the text of Decision 297.

Definitions:
Article 1:
Substitute the definitions of “regular flights” and “non-regular flights” contained in Article 1 of the Decision 297 for the following text:

“Regular Flights”: flights subject to itineraries, pre-fixed schedules and offered to the public through a systematic schedule and series. Such conditions should be observed together.

“Non-Regular Flights”: flights not subject to the conjunction of the elements which define the regular flights.

About the Conditions for Regular Flights within the Subregion
Article 2:
Substitute Article 5 of the Decision 297 for the following text:

“Article 5: The Member Countries grant themselves the free exercise of the rights over third, fourth and fifth freedoms of air, in regular combined flights of passengers, cargo and mail, or exclusively of passengers or cargo, within the Subregion.”

About the Conditions for Flights Outside the Subregion
Article 3:
Substitute Article 12 of Decision 297 for the following text:

“Article 12: The Member Countries adopt a regime of freedom for their enterprises’ non-regular flights of cargo, which do not constitute a systemic group of flights with the same origin and destination taking place between countries of the Subregion and third countries.”

 

5. Decision 320: “Múltiple Designación en el Transporte Aéreo de la Subregión Andina” (DECISION 320: Multiple Designation in the Air Transport of the Andean Subregion)

DATE: June 15-17, 1992

MEMBERS: Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela)

Summary of Provisions

Objective:
Article 1:
The Member Countries can designate one or more national air transport enterprises with an operation license to provide regular services of international air transport of passengers, cargo and mail, in any route within the Subregion, guaranteeing free market access and without any type of discrimination.

For the purpose of this Decision, a national air transport enterprise susceptible to be designated is an enterprise legally constituted in the designating Member Country. 

Article 2: The Competent National Entity will handle the requests of its country’s air transport enterprises to be designated to exploit air services, on a regular basis, within the Subregion.

Article 3: Once a request to become a designated air transport enterprise is received, the Competent National Entity will have a maximum of thirty days to make a decision about it and about the operation’s details as well.

Article 4: The Competent National Entity, once the designation is decided, will send a written notification to each of the Competent National Entities of the other Member Countries, communicating that the designated enterprise will exercise its aerial-commercial rights, indicating the social denomination, the routes, frequencies and equipments with which it will operate.

Article 5: The Competent National Entity, once notified by other Member Country with the designation of an air transport enterprise, will immediately allow the provision of services in the routes and frequencies authorized by the designating country, within a maximum of thirty days after receiving the notification.

The Competent National Entity will coordinate with the designated enterprise any modifications to the requested schedule that might be needed for technical reasons.

Article 6: The fact that an air transport enterprise has been designated to carry regular flights is in no conflict with its capacity to carry non-regular flights of passengers, cargo and mail, following the requirements of Article 10 of Decision 297.

Article 7: When discrepancies or observations in relation to this Decision occur, the Competent National Entities may undertake direct consultations among themselves in order to solve the indicated discrepancies, with no damage to the provisions of the Treaty for the Creation of the Justice Tribunal of the Cartagena Agreement. 

Article 8: The present Decision will enter into force on the day of its publication on the Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement.

 

6. Decision 361: Modificación de la Decisión 320 “Múltiple Designación en el Transporte Aéreo de la Subregión Andina” (DECISION 361: Modification of Decision 320 “Multiple Designation in the Air Transport of the Andean Subregion”)

DATE: May 25-27, 1994

MEMBERS: Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela)

Objective:
To modify the text of Decision 320.

Article 1: Substitute Article 5 of Decision 320 for the following text:

“Article 5: The Competent National Entity, once notified by other Member Country with the designation of an air transport enterprise, will allow the provision of services in the routes and frequencies authorized by the designating country, within a maximum of thirty calendar days after receiving the notification, given the fulfillment of the following requirements: 

1. Copy of the Operation License granted by the designing authority, properly legalized or authenticated, in conformance with the legislation of the receptor country;

2. Accredit the legal representation and fulfill the requirements on domiciliar or commercial inscription, all in conformance with the juridic order of the receptor Member Country;

3. Certification of insurance policies in conformance with the accepted international requirements for air transport;

4. Accreditation of the payment for the rights originating in the granting of the operation license established by the receptor country.

The documents described above will be presented by the designated enterprise to the competent national entity of the receptor Member Country, which will coordinate with the enterprise any modifications to the requested schedule that might be needed for technical reasons."

Article 2: Include the following Article after Article 7 of Decision 320:

“Article ...: The Member Countries which require in their legislations the presentation of certificates of lack of narcotraffic and subversion reports or lawsuits, can demand the fulfillment of this requirement to the designated air enterprises, whereas established by its national legislation.”

 

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