By contrast, Article 31(3)(a) of the Vienna Convention is a rule of contract interpretation under which a contractual interpreter uses a subsequent agreement between the parties on the interpretation of a contractual provision as an instrument of interpretation to determine the meaning of that contractual provision. . Interpretations developed by the bodies and the Appellate Body in the course of dispute settlement proceedings are binding only on the parties to a particular dispute. Article IX(2) of the WTO Agreement does not prevent panels and the Appellate Body from resorting to a customary rule of interpretation of international law that they are required to apply under Article 3(2) of the DSU. (c) The PARTIES, in agreement with the International Monetary Fund, shall establish rules for the conversion of foreign currencies by Parties for which several exchange rates are maintained in accordance with the Articles of the Agreement on the International Monetary Fund. Any Party may apply these rules to such foreign currencies instead of using nominal values for the purposes of paragraph 2. Pending the adoption of such provisions by the Contracting Parties, each Contracting Party may apply conversion rules for such a foreign currency for the purposes of paragraph 2 which are intended to effectively reflect the value of that foreign currency in trade. (a) the exercise by a Party of exchange controls or exchange restrictions in accordance with the Articles of the Agreement on the International Monetary Fund or that Party`s Special Exchange Agreement with the CONTRACTING PARTIES or Article IX of W.4.1A — Decision-Making. See also Interpretation — Ex post agreement (I.3.9A); Waivers (W.1) back in the top 9. The Ministerial Conference may, at the request of Members that are Parties to a trade agreement, decide only by mutual agreement to include this Agreement in Annex 4. The Ministerial Conference may, at the request of Members that are Parties to a Plurilateral Trade Agreement, decide to delete this Agreement from Annex 4.
2. Decisions on accession shall be taken by the Ministerial Conference. The Ministerial Conference approves the Agreement on the Conditions of Accession by a Two-Thirds Majority of WTO Members. (b) The provisions of such an agreement shall not impose on the Party any exchange rate obligations that are generally more restrictive than those imposed on members of the Fund in the articles of the International Monetary Fund Convention. 5. There shall be a Council for Trade in Goods, a Council for Trade in Services and a Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter referred to as the TRIPS Council), which shall operate under the general guidance of the General Council. The Council for Trade in Goods oversees the operation of the multilateral trade agreements set out in Annex 1A. The Council for Trade in Services monitors the operation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (hereinafter referred to as “GATS”).
The TRIPS Council monitors the operation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter referred to as the “TRIPS Agreement”). These Councils shall carry out the tasks entrusted to them by their respective agreements and by the General Council. They shall adopt their rules of procedure, subject to the approval of the General Council. Membership in these councils is open to representatives of all members. These Councils shall meet to the extent necessary for the performance of their tasks. . We note that multilateral interpretations adopted under Article IX(2) of the WTO Agreement, on the one hand, and subsequent interpretative agreements within the meaning of Article 31(3)(a) of the Vienna Agreement, on the other, perform different functions and have different legal effects under WTO law. The multilateral interpretations referred to in paragraph 2 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement provide a means by which Members, acting through the supreme organs of the WTO, may adopt binding interpretations that clarify WTO law for all Members. Such interpretations shall be binding on all Members, including with respect to any dispute in which such interpretations are relevant. 3.
Paragraph 1 shall apply between a Member and another Member which has acceded in accordance with Article XII only if the Member which does not agree with the request has informed the Ministerial Conference thereof before the Ministerial Conference approves the Agreement on the Conditions of Accession. 7. (a) A special exchange agreement between a Party and the PARTIES operating under paragraph 6 shall demonstrate to the PARTIES that the objectives of this Agreement are not frustrated by the exchange action of the Party concerned. (b) Similar provisions shall apply to any Party that is not a member of the Fund from the date on which that Party becomes a member of the Fund or enters into a special exchange agreement in accordance with Article XV. In addition, Article XVI(4) of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation is of great importance as a general context for all covered agreements. . 6. Any Party that is not a member of the Fund shall become a member of the Fund within a period to be determined by the PARTIES after consultation with the Fund or, failing that, shall enter into a special exchange agreement with the PARTIES. A Party that is no longer a member of the Fund shall immediately enter into a special exchange agreement with the CONTRACTING PARTIES. Any specific exchange agreement entered into by a Party under this paragraph shall then form part of its obligations under that Agreement. (a) a charge equivalent to an internal tax levied in accordance with Article III(2)* on the like domestic product or on a product from which the imported product has been wholly or partly manufactured; .
This provision creates a clear obligation for all WTO Members to ensure that their existing laws, regulations, administrative and administrative provisions comply with the obligations set out in the covered agreements. 2. In all cases where the CONTRACTING PARTIES are invited to examine or deal with problems relating to foreign reserve assets, balances of payments or exchange rate agreements, they shall consult the International Monetary Fund in full. In such consultations, the CONTRACTING PARTIES shall accept all findings of statistical and other facts submitted by the Fund with respect to foreign currencies, foreign reserve assets and balances of payments and shall agree that the Fund shall determine whether a Party is in compliance with the articles of the International Monetary Fund Convention on Exchange; or under the terms of a special exchange agreement between that Party and the CONTRACTING PARTIES. In their final decision, the CONTRACTING PARTIES shall accept, in cases relating to the criteria laid down in Article XII (2) (a) or Article XVIII (9), the finding of the Fund which constitutes a serious deterioration in the foreign reserve assets of the Contracting Parties, a very low level of their foreign exchange reserves or an appropriate rate of increase in their foreign exchange reserves; and with respect to the financial aspects of other matters that are the subject of consultations in such cases. 2. The agreements and related legal instruments listed in Annexes 1, 2 and 3 (hereinafter referred to as “multilateral trade agreements”) shall form an integral part of this Agreement and shall be binding on all Members. 1. The WTO shall provide the common institutional framework for the conduct of trade relations between its Members with regard to the agreements and related legal instruments listed in the Annexes to this Agreement.
4. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, it is necessary, for the purposes of paragraph 2, for a Party to convert a price expressed in the currency of another country into its own currency, the conversion rate to be used for each participating currency shall be based on the nominal value determined in accordance with the Articles of the Agreement on the International Monetary Fund or on the exchange rate recognized by the Fund or on the nominal value; determined in accordance with a special exchange agreement concluded in accordance with Article XV. . Given the specific function of multilateral interpretations adopted under Article IX(2) and the fact that such interpretations are adopted by Members in the form of the wto`s supreme organs, these interpretations are very similar, but not exhaustive, to subsequent agreements on interpretation within the meaning of Article 31(3)(a) of the Vienna Convention. .