Key Benefits:
Law 13.957
COMMERCIAL CONVENTION WITH THE SWITZERLAND
BUENOS AIRES, September 18, 1950
The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation,
in Congress, etc.
SANCIONAN WITH FORCE OF LEY.
Article 1.- Approve the trade agreement signed in the city of Buenos Aires on 20 January 1947 by the plenipotentiaries of the governments of the Argentine Republic and the Swiss Confederation.
Art. 2.- Contact the Executive.
WHOLE - CAMPORA - Zavalla Carbó.
Approval of the Commercial Convention signed in Buenos Aires on 20 January 1947 between the Argentine Republic and the Swiss Confederation.
CHAPTER I
General classes
Art. 1.- The High Contracting Parties declare their intention to strengthen their economic linkages and encourage the exchange of their products by ensuring permanent markets in accordance with their respective national needs.
Art. 2.- The Governments of the Argentine Republic and the Swiss Confederation will study and resolve with the greatest benevolence the proposals that are formulated to facilitate and increase their economic relations.
Art. 3.- The High Contracting Parties undertake to provide the maximum facilities, consistent with their respective legislation, to natural or manufactured products originating from the territory of one of the two countries that are imported into the other in terms of duties, fees, taxes or tax charges and in respect of the administrative procedures and procedures to which the import, circulation, transport and distribution of the same are subject.
Art. 4.- The Governments of the Argentine Republic and the Swiss Confederation shall take the necessary measures and arrangements to ensure, within the spirit of the provisions and treaties in force in this field, respect for the designations of origin and quality that correspond to the exclusive products of one of the two countries, by repressing with application of appropriate sanctions the circulation and sale of those produced in its own territory or in third countries with false denominations of origin, quality or type.
CHAPTER II
Export of Argentine products to Switzerland
Art. 5.- The Government of the Argentine Republic undertakes to sell and the Government of the Swiss Confederation to buy, a minimum of 100,000 and a maximum of 250,000 tons per year of wheat, during the years 1947 to 1951, inclusive, provided that in each of those years the exportable balance of wheat of Argentina is not less than 2,600,000 tons. In the event that the balance does not reach this last amount, the Argentine Government undertakes to sell to the Swiss Government and the latter to buy, from 4% to 95% of the respective year's exportable balance. The fifth part, approximately, of the annual amount of wheat to be delivered will be composed as much as possible by "chandeal" wheat.
Art. 6.- The Government of the Argentine Republic undertakes to sell and the Government of the Swiss Confederation to buy, 120,000 tons of corn in 1947 and 100,000 tons per year of the same cereal in the years 1948 to 1951, even if in each of those years the exportable balance of corn of Argentina is not less than 500,000 tons. In the event that in the above-mentioned years the balance does not reach this last amount, the Argentine Government undertakes to sell to the Swiss Government and the latter to buy the amounts that represent 24 per cent during the year 1947 and 20 per cent during the years 1948 to 1951, including the exportable balance of the respective year.
Art. 7.- The Government of the Argentine Republic undertakes to sell and the Government of the Swiss Confederation to buy, 100,000 tons of barley in 1947, and 80,000 tons per year, of the same product in the years 1948 to 1951, inclusive, provided that in each of those years the exportable balance of barley of Argentina is not less than 600,000 tons. In the event that in the above-mentioned years the balance does not reach this last amount, the Argentine Government undertakes to sell to the Swiss Government and the latter to buy, the amounts that represent 16.5 per cent during the year 1947 and 13 per cent during the years 1948 to 1951, including the respective year ' s exportable balance.
Art. 8.- The Government of the Argentine Republic undertakes to sell and the Government of the Swiss Confederation to buy, 150,000 tons of oats in 1947 and 100,000 tons per year of the same product in the years 1948 to 1951, inclusive, provided that in each of those years the exportable balance of oats of Argentina is not less than 450,000 tons. In the event that in the above-mentioned years the balance does not reach this last amount, the Argentine Government undertakes to sell to the Swiss Government and the latter to buy, the amounts that represent 33% during the year 1947 and 22% during the years 1948 to 1951, inclusive, on the exportable balance of the respective year.
Art. 9.- The Government of the Argentine Republic undertakes to sell and the Government of the Swiss Confederation to buy, 20,000 tons per year of rye during the years 1947 to 1951, even if in each of those years the exportable balance of rye of Argentina is not less than 170,000 tons. In the event that the balance does not reach this last amount, the Argentine Government undertakes to sell to the Swiss Government and the latter to buy, the amount that represents 12% on the respective year's exportable balance.
Art. 10.- The products indicated in the five articles that precede, by the amounts indicated therein, will be acquired by the Swiss Confederation directly or, if the Confederation wishes, through Swiss importers, and/or with the intervention of the Argentine Institute for the Promotion of Exchange, unless this agency prefers that they be purchased from another institution or exporting firms established in the Argentine Republic. This provision shall also apply to other purchases of Argentine products which, during the validity of this Convention, the Government of the Swiss Confederation shall directly or indirectly.
Art. 11.- The products specified in the arts. 5 to 9, inclusive, will be delivered by the Argentine Institute for the Promotion of Exchange in quarterly quotas that will be determined at a minimum of thirty days prior to the initiation of each calendar quarter, by agreement between the aforementioned agency and the Swiss Legation in Buenos Aires. The quota for the first quarter of 1947 shall be established, under the conditions specified in the preceding paragraph, within thirty days of the date of the entry into force of this Convention. Maize deliveries for the current year will be made after 1 March.
Art. 12.- The Argentine Institute for the Promotion of Exchange will invoice to Switzerland the Argentine products that have been sold through its mediation at the contractually established prices.
Art. 13.- In the event that Switzerland, during the prefixed periods, will find other sources of supply that effectively provide it with wheat, corn, barley, oats and rye of quality equal to those of the Argentine Republic for prices lower than those quoted by the Argentine Institute for the Promotion of Exchange for the respective quarterly quota, it will notify this Agency, who will decide within a maximum of five days if it is in a position to equalize. If otherwise or by means of a lack of response to the notification, Switzerland may acquire the quarterly quota of the product concerned in the other supplier source, the amount thus purchased deducted from the commitment made by this Convention. In this case, the Argentine Republic is free to have the quota deducted and sell it to another customer.
Art. 14.- The Argentine Government will provide facilities to enable Switzerland, once the internal needs are covered, to acquire in the Argentine Republic, at the prices that in each case are agreed, during the years 1947 to 1951, even the following products for the annual quantities listed below: Product....... Quantity (in tonnes) Oleaginous tortoises...................45.000 edible oils................................................................................................................................................2,000............2,000... Once the domestic needs have been met and the sales commitments made with other countries have been met, the Argentine Government will, as far as possible, facilitate exports to Switzerland of meat, butter, fat of pork, millet, soupist, wheat flour for fodder, suffice, strawberries, wax and castor oil.
Art. 15.- Exports of Argentine products to Switzerland, as well as those from Switzerland to Argentina, will be subject to the provisions governing the selling country.
Art. 16.- The Swiss Government ensures that all Argentine products exported to Switzerland by application of this Convention will be exclusively intended to meet the domestic consumption of that country.
CHAPTER III
Export of Swiss goods to the Argentine Republic
Art. 17.- The High Contracting Parties agree that between the total amount of the Argentine remittances that corresponds to Switzerland, and the Swiss remittances that correspond to Argentina, under any concept of the Swiss-Argentine traffic of payments (exchange of goods, diplomatic, consular expenses, accessories to the traffic of goods, of administration, licensing rights, insurance, reassurance, interests, financial services or whatever the concept to which they respond), there must be principle of parity. The calculation of this parity should, however, take into account the different aspects and nature of the production of each country. The Swiss National Bank and the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic will agree on how the balances will be established on a regular basis in favour of one or another country, which results, of the operations as a result of the realization of this Convention, for the concepts established in the Convention. At the end of this Convention, the existing balances will be settled in common agreement between both Governments, through sales of goods or machinery established by this Convention, or in Swiss francs, national currency pesos, other foreign currency or gold.
Art. 18.- The government of the Swiss Confederation will give all kinds of facilities to the Argentine Republic so that this country, to the extent of its needs, can acquire during the years 1947 to 1951, including Swiss products or goods, especially the following: -Industrial machinery and its spare parts, excluded special machines for the manufacture of watches. -Tears and weaving machines. Motors (hydrolic and wind, gas, internal combustion). Steam boilers. -Materials for electricity, telephone, telegraph and radio. -Chemical and pharmaceutic products. The Government of the Swiss Confederation will not object to the departure of the necessary technicians and to the provision of the procedures for the machinery acquired under this Agreement.
CHAPTER IV
Shipping and air communications
Art. 19.- The High Contracting Parties reserve the right, during the validity of this Agreement, to take appropriate measures to ensure that the transport of goods that exchange Argentina and Switzerland is carried out preferably on Argentine and Swiss national flagships on equal tonnage. If any of the two countries did not have sufficient vessels for the transport of the cargo that they had, pursuant to the preceding paragraph, they should be subject to such lack of wineries using, preferably, ships from the flag of the other contracting country. These provisions may not, however, result in a delay in the delivery or care of the products to be transported.
Art. 20.- The contracting Governments undertake to promote commercial air communications between the two countries, for which purpose the necessary facilities and authorizations will be granted, in reciprocity, both with regard to the rights of overflight, landing and use of the services and facilities of their airports, such as the traffic of passengers, correspondence and airborne goods from one country to the other. To this end, the terms of an agreement shall be considered as soon as possible, in which, in the spirit of the present declaration, the modalities of its implementation shall be determined within the provisions of the respective laws and international conventions on the subject.
CHAPTER V.- _
Art. 21.- The Argentine government reserves the right to secure in Argentine companies the Argentine goods that are exported to Switzerland and the Swiss products that are imported in Argentina when they are transported on behalf of the seller or the buyer respectively. The Swiss government reserves the right to secure Swiss goods exported to Argentina in Swiss companies and the Argentine products imported in Switzerland when transported on behalf of the seller or the buyer respectively.
CHAPTER VI.- Film films
Art. 22.- In order to increase the exchange of cinematographic films between the two nations, the governments of the Argentine Republic and the Swiss Confederation will have the necessary measures to ensure that the import, commercialization, exhibition or tax regime of films produced in one of the two countries enjoy the other of the maximum facilities compatible with their respective laws.
CHAPTER VII
Final provisions
Art. 23.- According to the legislation in force in both countries, their governments will facilitate the installation in them of branches or agencies of official banks and agencies of the same nature established in the other.
Art. 24.- Under the Customs Union treaty concluded on 29 March 1923 between the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein, this Agreement shall also apply to the territory of the Principality of Liechtenstein.
Art. 25.- This Agreement shall be ratified in accordance with the constitutional procedure of each High Contracting Party and the exchange of its ratifications shall be made in the city of Buenos Aires as soon as possible. Without prejudice to its timely ratification, this Convention shall enter into force on the day of signature and shall govern until 31 December 1951. In faith of which, the above-mentioned plenipotentiaries sign this Agreement, in two copies of the same tenor, in the Spanish and French languages, equally valid, and place their stamps on them, on the twenty days of the month of January of the year thousand nine hundred forty-seven.- Pfenninger.- J. Vollenweider.- Juan A. Bramuglia - Juan C. Picazo Elordy.- Rolando Lagomarsino.- Miguel Miranda.
Eduardo A. Feer.