Key Benefits:
Law 13.962
TRADE AND FINANCIAL CONVENTION WITH NORWAY
BUENOS AIRES, September 18, 1950
The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation,
in Congress, etc.
_
Article 1.- Approve the Commercial and Financial Convention between the Argentine Republic and the Kingdom of Norway, which was signed in Buenos Aires on 9 August 1949.
Art. 2.- Contact the Executive.
WHOLE - CAMPORA - Zavalla Carbó.
Annex A- Commercial and Financial Agreement between the Argentine Republic and the Kingdom of Norway signed in Buenos Aires on August 9, 1949.-
General clauses.
Art.1.- The High Contracting Parties declare their intention to strengthen the economic ties that bind them and encourage the exchange of their products, ensuring them permanent markets.
Art. 2.- The Governments of the Kingdom of Norway and the Argentine Republic ensure the application of strict reciprocity treatment for all commercial and financial operations between the two countries. They will study and resolve with the greatest benevolence the proposals that are mutually formulated to facilitate and increase their economic relations.
Art.3.- The High Contracting Parties undertake to provide the maximum facilities compatible with their respective legislation to natural or manufactured products originating in the territory of one of the two countries that are imported into the other, in the field of duties, fees, taxes or tax charges and in the case of administrative procedures and procedures to which the import, circulation, transport and distribution of such goods are subject.
Art. 4.- The Governments of the Kingdom of Norway and of the Argentine Republic shall take the necessary measures to ensure, within the spirit of the provisions and treaties in force in the field, respect for the designations of origin and quality that correspond to exclusive products of one of the two countries, by repressing with application of appropriate sanctions the circulation and sale of the products in its own territory or in third countries with false denominations of origin, quality or type.
II.- Product exchange.
Art. 5.- The Contracting Governments agree to agree on all the facilities necessary for the rapid processing and granting of the import, export and exchange permits required to comply with the provisions of the subsequent articles of this Convention.
Art.6.- The Government of the Kingdom of Norway agrees to facilitate the Argentine Republic, in the first year of this Convention, the supply of goods by the values or quantities detailed in Planilla A of this Convention, and the Argentine Government agrees to grant all the necessary facilities for the importation in the Argentine Republic of such goods.
Art. 7.- The Argentine Government agrees to facilitate, in the first year, the supply to the Kingdom of Norway of goods by the values detailed in Table B of this Convention, and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway agrees to grant all the necessary facilities for the importation in the Kingdom of Norway of such goods.
Art. 8.- In order to promote trade between the two countries, the High Contracting Parties shall consider with the greatest benefit the possibility of granting export and import permits outside the scope of lists A and B.
Art. 9.- The products indicated in art. 7 will be acquired to the Argentine Institute for the Promotion of Exchange, or export firms established in the Argentine Republic, as appropriate, in accordance with the existing provisions.
Art. 10.- Exports of Argentine products to the Kingdom of Norway shall be subject to the general provisions governing the Argentine Republic at the time of each operation. Imports of the Kingdom of Norway of Argentine products shall be subject to the general provisions in force at the time of their dispatch to the place in that nation.
Art. 11.- Exports of Norwegian goods or goods to Argentina shall be subject to the general provisions in force in the Kingdom of Norway at the time of each operation. Imports in the Argentine Republic of Norwegian products or goods shall be subject to the general provisions in force at the time of their dispatch to a place in the said Nation.
Art. 12.- In order to promote the exchange between the two countries, the High Parties shall take the necessary measures to avoid the unreasonable rise in the prices of the Argentine and Norwegian products referred to in lists A and B or articles that may later be covered by the Convention in accordance with art. 8.
Art. 13.- The products indicated in art. 6 will be acquired by the Argentine Institute for the Promotion of Exchange, other Argentine official agencies or by importing firms established in the Argentine Republic.
Art. 14.- Argentine and Norwegian products that are exchanged between Argentina and Norway will be invoiced at the contractually established prices.
Art. 15.- With three months in advance of the expiration of each period of one year of this Convention, the High Contracting Parties shall determine the Argentine and Norwegian products that shall be the subject of special exchange between the two countries during the subsequent period of twelve months until the completion of this Convention.
Art. 16.- To ensure that the balances of the account referred to in art. 19 The Argentine Government and the Norwegian Government shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the exchange of goods between the two countries is carried out in equivalent proportions of their value.
Art. 17.- The Argentine Republic and the Kingdom of Norway ensure that all products that are exchanged between the two countries will be exclusively intended to meet the domestic consumption and industrial needs of the purchasing country.
III. Payments and financial arrangements.
Art. 18.- All payments of any kind made under this convention for direct operations between the Kingdom of Norway and the Argentine Republic shall be made in Norwegian crowns under the conditions provided for in this Convention, and in accordance with the regulations governing changes in both countries.
Art. 19.- All payments referred to in art. 18 will be made by the credit or debit, as appropriate, of an account: in Norwegian crowns entitled "Special Argentine Account" that the Norges Bank acting on behalf of the Norwegian Government will open to the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, which will act on behalf of the Argentine Government. The operations may be carried out, either directly between the two institutes, or through banks or institutions authorized to operate in changes, to which effect the Norwegian banks will open on behalf of their Argentine correspondents "special accounts", which will be considered sub-accounts of the account that the Norges Bank will open to the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic.
Art. 20.- Accounts opened under the provisions of art. 19 may cast total credit or debtor, indistinctly. During the validity of this Convention, the creditor institute shall not request any refund of the total balance in its favour that may disclose the accounts mentioned, until such balance does not exceed the amount of twenty million Norwegian kroner. The reported net total balance of the accounts, which will be fixed by the Norges Bank, should include the amount of the actual balances held by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic and the Argentine Banks in the special accounts opened in the Norges Bank and other Norwegian banks.
Art. 21.- The total creditor or debtor balance that lays down the special accounts referred to in art. 19 will not win or pay interest to the amount of eight million Norwegian kroner.
The surpluses of this amount will earn or pay interest until their complete cancellation, at the rate of 2.5% per year those who will be liquidated and accounted at the end of each calendar quarter in the special account opened in the Norges Bank on behalf of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic.
Art. 22.- When the total balance of the accounts referred to in art. 19, established by the Norges Bank, exceeds the limit set in art. 20, the creditor institute may request, by minimum contributions of 1 million Norwegian kroner, the conversion and payment of the surplus under the conditions set out in Article 1. 23.
Art. 23.- At the expiration of this Convention, which shall occur in accordance with the provisions contained in article 42, the cancellation of contracts and obligations incurred prior to their expiry shall be made through the accounts referred to in article. 19 and in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, which shall remain in force for such cancellations for a period of 6 months after the expiration of the period of validity of the Convention. The Norges Bank and the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic will, in common agreement, resolve how to cancel as soon as possible the contracts and obligations of the aforementioned nature that have not been liquidated within 6 months of the Convention's expiry. At the end of the aforementioned period of 6 months, the debtor institution must cancel the total balance of the accounts referred to in Article 19, in monaded gold or in good delivery bars or in free availability currency, in common agreement between the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic and the Norges Bank. For the conversion of the Norwegian crown balances to the available free currency, consideration shall be given to the contribution of the United States dollar in Oslo, referred to in article 28, at the date on which such conversion is made. The total balance of the accounts referred to in article 19 may also be paid in goods, in common agreement between the two countries.
Art. 24.- The debtor institute may, at any time, fully or partly amortize the accrued interests and the balance at its charge that lays down the accounts referred to in article. 19, payments must be made under the conditions set out in Article 19. 23.
Art. 25.- The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic will notify the first working day of each week, via telegraphic, the Norges Bank, the total Argentine position in Norwegian crowns, which will include the overall balance in that currency and the corresponding to the operations to be liquidated through the accounts referred to in Article. 19. In case of modification of the price of gold established with the elements indicated in Art. 27, the total Argentine position in Norwegian crowns will be adjusted by the Norges Bank, on behalf of the Government of Norway, in the proportion of the variation that occurred.
The readjustment will be made through a global seat in the credit or debit, as appropriate, of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic account in the Norges Bank. In addition, the maximum limit in Norwegian crowns to which the total balance of the accounts may be reached shall be amended as provided by art. 20, so that the new limit, at the new price of gold, is equivalent to a quantity of that metal equal to that of the previous one to the devaluation or valorization that occurred.
Art. 26.- For the readjustment of the Argentine position in Norwegian crowns, provided for in the previous article, the following procedure shall apply: 1.- The readjustment will be made on the position counted and on term telegraphically notified by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic to the Norges Bank at the closing of the operations of the day prior to the modification of the price of the gold established according to Art. 27. 2.- Position counted: The Norges Bank, on behalf of the Government of Norway, shall immediately credit or debit, in the account of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, the necessary amount of Norwegian crowns so that the new balance of the Argentinean counted position, at the modified price of gold, equals an amount of that metal equal to that which represented the balance prior to the devaluation or valuation incurred. 3.- Position to term: (a) The term operations that are concluded from the date of a modification of the gold price, shall be recorded in a new future position (b) The readjustment of the balance of the position at the end of Argentina prior to the date of a change in the value of the gold shall be effected as the respective operations are liquidated and the foreign exchange in the Argentinean counted position is entered or dropped. The Norges Bank, on behalf of the Government of Norway, will increase or decrease the number of Norwegian crowns entering the account of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, in proportion to the devaluation or valorization that occurred.
Art. 27.- For the application of arts. 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 of this Convention, the price of gold to be taken into consideration will be determined by the parity of the Norwegian crown with respect to the United States dollar communicated by the Norwegian Government to the International Monetary Fund (now the Norwegian crown equals 0 17,9067 grams of fine gold and a US dollar equal to KK 4,96278). Gold deliveries, which must be piled or in a good delivery bar, provided for in the arts. 22, 23 and 24 shall be made free of charge at the central house of the Institute of Creditor Emission.
In the event that gold deliveries take place, in common agreement, in another place, the Institute of Creditor Emission shall not be able to claim differences by economy in transfer costs.
Art. 28.- For the implementation of this Convention, the rate of exchange between the Argentine peso and the Norwegian crown will be the one that results from the type of US dollar respectively in Buenos Aires and Oslo, The type of US dollar in Buenos Aires that will be taken into consideration will be: a) With respect to the operations that in Argentina should be carried out by the market called "Official Market of Changes", the type that governs in that market for the operation referred to (b) Regarding the operations that in Argentina should be carried out by the market called "Free Market of Changes", the type of the day in that market. The U.S. dollar tip in Oslo that will be taken into consideration will be the parity of the Norwegian crown with respect to the U.S. dollar communicated by the Norwegian Government to the International Monetary Fund (currently 1 Norwegian crown equal to 0 179067 grams of fine gold and 1 US dollar equal to DK 4,96278).
Art. 29.- When payments are to be made between Norway and the Argentine Republic and vice versa, pursuant to contracts stipulated in a third currency, the conversion to Norwegian crowns shall be made: 1.- With respect to the operations in the Argentine Republic to be carried out by the market called "Official Market of Changes", on the basis of the type in force in Buenos Aires (a) With respect to exports to Norway on the day of payment, and (b) With regard to imports from Norway on the day of the request for customs clearance in the Argentine Republic. 2.- With regard to the operations that in the Argentine Republic should be carried out by the market called "Free Market of Changes", according to the parity of the Norwegian crown with respect to the US dollar, communicated by the Norwegian Government to the International Monetary Fund (currently 1 Norwegian crown equal to 0, 179067 grams of fine gold and 1 United States dollar equal to 4,96278). Conversion to Norwegian kroner shall also apply to operations concluded prior to the entry into force of this Convention, not yet paid for that date.
Art. 30.- The High Contracting Parties agree: (a) To ensure that transfers of funds between Norway and the Argentine Republic made pursuant to this Convention are solely related to direct operations between the two Territories (b) Authorize current payments between Norway and the Argentine Republic in accordance with the provisions in force in each country regarding changes, at the time of the respective transfers (c) To consult with the aim of controlling transfers of capital in accordance with the principles of their respective policies, especially in order to prevent transfers that do not have a useful economic purpose (d) To exchange any useful information in order to ensure better control of the implementation of the regulation of changes in force in each of the two countries (e) To promote the conduct of negotiations in order to meet in common agreement with the other party, the difficulties of any nature that may arise in the implementation of the present provisions.
Art. 31.- Current payments provided for in subparagraph (b) of the previous article include: Official payments Commercial payments, including accessory expenses Wages, services, subsidies and maintenance expenses Pensions, rents, interests and benefits Exploitation and contractual amortization costs for travel and tickets Rights and expenses for patents and licenses, copyrights Taxes and fines Ship and Repair expenses Insurance and reinsurance payments (prim or compensation) and any other current payments that jointly establish the Norges Bank and the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic.
Art. 32.- The Government of the Argentine Republic authorizes its Central Bank and the Government of Norway empowers the Norges Bank to allow the above institutions to agree (a) Modifications deemed appropriate to the mechanism established by this Convention for the transfer of funds between the two contracting countries (b) The technical and complementary provisions necessary for the realization of such transfers (c) The choice of the free availability currency referred to in arts. 22, 23 and 24 for the cancellation of interest and balances of accounts specified in art. 19 to which those articles refer.
Art. 33.- The freights corresponding to the transport of Argentine and Norwegian products that are exchanged in both countries can be paid in Norwegian crowns, only when such transport is carried out on Norwegian or Argentine flagships.
Art. 34.- Goods originating from third countries that one of the High Contracting Parties acquires in the other may not be paid through the special accounts created by this Convention, unless otherwise agreed by the Norges Bank and the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic.
Art. 35.- Both Emission Institutes shall, as appropriate, consult to consider authorizing, in accordance with the other concerned monetary authorities, if any: (a) The use of existing assets in the credit of the accounts referred to in art. 19 to make payments to residents outside Argentina or Norway (b) The acquisition of such persons in Norwegian kroner for registration in the credit of such accounts.
Art. 36.- The High Contracting Parties shall revisit the provisions of this Convention to make amendments to the case, if necessary, as a result of their accession to general monetary conventions.
Art. 37.- In order to facilitate the financing of imports in the Argentine Republic of Norwegian products, the Norges Bank will empower the Norwegian Banks to open documentary and reciprocal credits, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic will allow the Argentine authorized institutions to open documentary credits to finance Argentine exports to Norway. These operations will be carried out as far as possible, according to banking practices, although their reimbursement must be made through the accounts referred to in the article. 19.
IV. General provisions.
Art. 38.- Ships of each High Contracting Party shall enjoy the most favourable treatment in respect of the port regime and the operations to be verified in the same.
Art. 39.- The Argentine Government reserves the right to ensure in Argentine companies the Argentine goods that are exported to Norway and the Norwegian products that are imported in Argentina, when the risks of transport are taken into account by the seller or the buyer, respectively. The Government of Norway reserves the right to ensure in Norwegian companies the Norwegian goods that are exported to Argentina and the Argentine products that are imported in Norway, when the risks of transport are taken into account by the seller, or the buyer, respectively.
Art. 40.- The Contracting Governments shall be based in Buenos Aires, a Joint Advisory Committee which shall be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the provisions contained in this Convention in order to ensure that the purposes provided for in the Convention are met regularly. It will be able to propose to both Governments the measures that tend to enhance the exchange between the two countries.
Art. 41.- The provisions contained in the treaties signed prior to the date between the Argentine Republic and the Kingdom of Norway are repealed, as they are contrary to the provisions of this Convention.
Art. 42.- The present Convention 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 Oslo as soon as possible. Without prejudice to its ratification, this Convention shall begin to govern provisionally at 15 days from the date of signature and shall have a minimum validity of one year. After the first year of validity it will be renewable from year to year by tacit reconduction until 25 August 1954, unless one of the High Contracting Parties reports it three months in advance of the expiry of any year of its validity. In any case, they shall remain in force until the cancellation of the balance of the account referred to in the article. 19, the provisions of arts. 21, 25, 26 and 27. In faith of which two copies of the same tenor are signed, in the Spanish and Norwegian languages, in Buenos Aires, on the nine days of the month of August of the year thousand nine hundred forty and nine.
Juan Atilio Bramuglia,- Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship.
Ramón A. Cereijo Minister of Finance.- Alfredo Gómez Morales, Minister of Finance.- José C. Barro, Minister of Industry and Trade Reidar Solum
PLANILLA A
(In millions of Norwegian krs) Iron in lngotes (Electrovantit)..........0,8 Ferrosilicio................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.....................53... Prepared vitamines (cod liver oil pills and vitamin A pills).0.2 Cod liver oil in general (granel) ................
............................1.5 Calcium carbide.....................3... Cod, stick fish, smoked and salty herrings.3,8 Fish preserves...........................0,5 Claws for horseshoes, for boats, for dikes and for bridges and hooks.................0,5 Isolating tables (Wallboard).................................3. Lightning drunk...................................................... Cemento portland...................3.- Machinery and tools.....................1.2 Autoclaves for conserves........................0,1 Wooden tables for drawers...........................................................................0,5 Products made from algae................0,1 Blue and platinated foxes (without working)...............
.........................1... ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Annex 1
(In millions of Norwegian krs.) Sulfite paste, bleached, for scratch...1,1 Sulfite paste, bleached, for paper manufacture.........
......................4... Daily paper with water lines.........24,85. Paperwork 2 with water lines...........4.- Paperwork 1 with water lines...........7,5 Paperwork 1 without water lines.............0,5 Paper Kraft............................................. Paper butter and other impermeabilized...1.6 Paper sulfite........................5. Silk paper, maximum 25 grams per m2 (Papel for copiers and paper "Body" for charcoal).............................................. 35 Carton ordinary wood............................... Carton lined Duplex and fine cardboard.......1,6 Cartels...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
PLANILLA B
Argentine products. (In millions of Norwegian krs.) Maize, suffocation, harinilla, oleaginous flours.33,5 Leathers........................................................................................................................................................................................... Rubber extract......................5,6 meats and bacons, salty and frozen........3. Caseine... Lana washed..............................4... I mean, I mean, I mean, oats.......................................................................................................................................................................................