Treaty of Brandenburg
The Treaty of Brandenburg (officially: Central Benacian Free Trade Agreement) was an agreement between the Kingdom of Amokolia, Elwynnese Republic and the Imperial Republic of Shireroth that established freedom of commerce and navigation between the nations, in effect from 1673 until de facto 1678, and de jure until 1680.
Text
CENTRAL BENACIAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT The Kingdom of Amokolia, the Elwynnese Republic and the Imperial Republic of Shireroth, hereinafter called the Parties,
Considering that no provision of this Agreement may be interpreted as exempting the Parties from their obligations in other international agreements,
Have decided as follows:
Article I – ObjectivesThe objectives of the present Agreement are:
a. to promote through the expansion of trade the harmonious development of the economic relations between the Parties and thus to foster in the Parties the advance of economic activity, the improvement of living and employment conditions, and increased productivity and financial stability.
b. to provide fair conditions of competition for trade between the Parties,
c. to contribute in this way, by the removal of barriers to trade, to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade.
Article II – Customs duties
1. No new customs duty shall be introduced in trade between the Parties.
2. The Parties shall progressively abolish among them at the latest two Norton Years after the entry into force of this agreement any customs duties and charges having equivalent effect.
Article III – Territorial application
This Agreement shall apply to the territories of the States Parties to the Agreement.
Article IV – Internal taxation
1. The Parties shall refrain from any measure or practice of an internal fiscal nature establishing, whether directly or indirectly, discrimination between the products originating in the Parties
2. Products exported to the territory of one of the Parties may not benefit from repayment of internal taxation in excess of the amount of direct or indirect taxation imposed on them.
Article V – General exceptions
This Agreement shall not preclude the 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, animal or plants; the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value; protection of intellectual property or rules relating to gold or silver or the conservation of exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made effective in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption. Such prohibitions or restrictions shall not, however, constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between the Parties.
Article VI – Security exceptions
Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Party from taking any measure which it considers necessary:
a. to prevent the disclosure of information contrary to its essential security interests;
b. for the protection of its essential security interests or for the implementation of international obligations or national policies; i. relating to the traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war, provided that such measures do not impair the conditions of competition in respect of products not intended for specifically military purposes, and to such traffic in other goods, materials and services as is carried on directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying a military establishment; or ii. relating to the non-proliferation of biological and chemical weapons, nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; or iii. taken in time of war or other serious international tension.
Article VII – State monopolies
The Parties shall adjust progressively any State monopoly of a commercial character so as to ensure that by the end of the twelfth Norton year after the entry into force of the Agreement, no discrimination regarding the conditions under which goods are procured and marketed exists between nationals of the Parties.
The provisions of this Article shall apply to any body through which the competent authorities of the Parties, in law or in fact, either directly or indirectly supervise, determine or appreciably influence imports or exports between the Parties. These provisions shall likewise apply to monopolies delegated by the State to others.
Article VIII – State aid
Any aid granted by a State being a Party to this Agreement or through State resources in any form whatsoever which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain goods shall, in so far as it may affect trade between this Party and other Parties to this Agreement, be incompatible with the proper functioning of this Agreement.
The Parties shall ensure transparency in the area of state aid, by providing to the other Parties, upon request, information on aid schemes and on particular individual cases of state aid.
Article IX – Rules of competition
1. The following are incompatible with the proper functioning of this Agreement in so far asthey may affect trade between the Parties:
a. all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerned practices between undertakings which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition;
b. abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position in the territories of the Parties as a whole or in a substantial part thereof.
2. These provisions shall apply to the activities of all undertakings including public undertakings and undertakings to which the Parties grant special or exclusive rights.
3. Undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest or having the character of a revenue-producing monopoly, shall be subject to these provisions insofar as the application of these provisions does not obstruct the performance, in law or fact, of the particular public tasks assigned to them.
Article X – Payments
Payments in freely convertible currencies relating to trade in goods between the Parties and the transfer of such payments to the territory of the State, Party to this Agreement, where the creditor resides shall be free from any restrictions.
The parties shall refrain from any exchange or administrative restrictions on the grant, repayment or acceptance of short and medium term credits to trade in goods in which a resident participates.
Article XI - Protection of Intellectual Property
The Parties shall grant and ensure protection of intellectual property rights on a non-discriminatory basis, including measures for the grant and enforcement of such rights.
Article XII – Import Safeguards
1. Where any product is being imported in such increased quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause:
a. serious injury to domestic producers of like or directly competitive products in the territory of the importing Party, or
b. serious disturbances in any related sector of the economy or difficulties, which couldbring about serious deterioration in the economic situation of a region, the Party concerned maytake appropriate measures such as limiting or refusing further imports and setting a correction rate up to the maximum of the own market value.
The measures are held for a limited time and are withdrawn when the conditions are over.
2. The Party concerned shall inform the others party or parties of any exceptional measures it intends to take.
Article XIII – Export Safeguards
1. Where compliance with the provisions of Article II leads to:
a. re-export towards a third country against which the exporting Party maintains for the product concerned quantitative export restrictions, export duties or measures or charges having equivalent effect, or b. a serious shortage, or threat thereof, of a product essential to the exporting Party, and where the situations referred to above give rise or are likely to give rise to major difficulties for the exporting Party, that Party may take appropriate measures such as limiting or limiting exports and exempting from taxation.
The measures are held for a limited time and are withdrawn when the conditions are over.
2. The Party concerned shall inform the others party or parties of any exceptional measures it intends to take.
Article XIV - Fulfilment of obligations
1. The Parties shall take any general or specific measures required to fulfil their obligations under the Agreement. They shall see to it that the objectives set out in the Agreement are attained.
2. If a Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil an obligation under this Agreement, the Party concerned may take appropriate measures under the conditions as mentioned in Articles XII and XIII.
Article XV – Balance of payments difficulties
1. The Parties shall endeavour to avoid the imposition of restrictive measures including measures relating to imports for balance of payments purposes.
2. Where one of the Parties in in serious balance of payments difficulties, or under imminent threat thereof, the Party concerned may adopt restrictive measures, including measures related to imports, which shall be of limited duration and may not go beyond what is necessary to remedy the balance of payments situation. The measures shall be progressively relaxed as balance of payments conditions improve and they shall be eliminated when conditions no longer justify their maintenance. The Party shall inform the other Party forthwith of their introduction and, whenever practicable, of a time schedule for their removal.
Article XVI – Trade relations governed by this and other Agreements
This Agreement shall not prevent the maintenance or establishment of customs unions, free trade areas or arrangements for frontier trade to the extent that these do not negatively affect the trade regime and in particular the provisions concerning rules of origin provided for by this Agreement.
Article XVII – Amendments
Amendments to this Agreement shall be submitted to the Parties to this Agreement for acceptance and shall enter into force if accepted by all the Parties.
Article XVIII - Entry into force
1. This Agreement shall enter into force when all Parties have accepted the Agreement according to their respective instruments of ratification.
2. New Parties may participate if they have accepted the Agreement in accordance with their respective instruments of ratification and upon acceptance by the already participating Parties.
Article XIX – Validity and withdrawal
Each Party to this Agreement may withdraw therefrom by means of a written notification to all the other Parties. The withdrawal shall take effect two Norton years after the date on which the notification was written. The Agreement remains in force for the other Parties.
Done at Brandenburg on 7 IV 1673 AN in the Common Language.
In witness whereof the Plenipotentiaries of the Parties have signed their names:
For the Kingdom of Amokolia: Arkadius Frederik Gustavus des Vinandy King of Amokolia, King of Batavia, Archduke of ‘s Koningenwaarde, Grand Duke of Helderbourgh, Prince of Natopia, Prince of Vinandy, Nawab of Tassity, Duke of Brandenburg, Duke of Gascony, Duke of Hazelwood, Duke of Levensburg, Count of Bourbon, Count of Dasburgh, Count of Girond, Count of Maconvale, Baron of Ammerswoude and by the Loet, Baron of Bergkirche, Baron of Heydelberg, Lord of Audinghen, Lord in Jorvik, Lord of Paravel.
For the Elwynnese Republic: Ander Avon-El Prince of Elwynn
For the Imperial Republic of Shireroth: Li Naomiai Avon-El Regent of the Imperial Republic
History
In operation until 1678 when it was interrupted by the onset of the Second Amokolian War and the closure of the "Inner Amokolian border" between Elwynn and what is now Francia. Shireroth's trade ban against Frankish products is an obstacle to the operation of this treaty.
On 7.XIII.1680 AN, the Frankish government declared the treaty no longer in force.
