Νόμος 2995/2002

ΑΡΘΡΟ 22

Η Συμφωνία θα αρχίσει να ισχύει μετά από την ημερομηνία ανταλλαγής των επιστολών που πιστοποιούν την ολοκλήρωση των αντίστοιχων θεσμικών προϋποθέσεων των Συμβαλλόμενων Χωρών.

Θα παραμείνει σε ισχύ για ένα έτος. Έπειτα θα παρατείνεται σιωπηρά για χρονικές περιόδους τους ενός έτους εκτός εάν οι χώρες ειδοποιήσουν η μια την άλλη, έξι μήνες πριν από την ημερομηνία λήξης ισχύος, την πρόθε-σή τους να τερματίσουν την παρούσα Συμφωνία.

Έγινε στη Δαμασκό την 24η Μαρτίου 2001, σε δύο πρωτότυπα αντίγραφα στην ελληνική, συριακή και αγγλική γλώσσα, όπου κάθε κείμενο είναι ισοδύναμα αυθεντικό.

Σε περίπτωση οποιασδήποτε απόκλισης στην ερμηνεία, θα υπερισχύσει το αγγλικό κείμενο.

ΣΕ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΡΟΝΤΟΣ οι υπογεγραμμένοι, έχοντας τη δέουσα εξουσιοδότηση γι' αυτό, υπογράφουν την παρούσα Συμφωνία.

ΠΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ

(υπογραφή) ΧΡΗΣΤΟΣ ΒΕΡΕΛΗΣ

ΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΣ ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΩΝ

ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΡΑΒΙΚΗ

ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΣΥΡΙΑΣ

(υπογραφή) MAKRAM OBEID

ΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΣ ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡΩΝ

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC ON INTERNATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT OF PASSENGERS AND GOODS

The Government of the Hellenic Republic and the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, hereafter called the Contracting Parties,

• desirous of promoting international co-operation in the field of road transport between their two countries and in transit through their territories;

• inspired by the principle of unobstructive development of bilateral relations in road transport.

• based on the principle of reciprocity and mutual interest,

have agreed as follows:

Article 1 Field of application

The provisions of this Agreement apply to:

1. The road transport of passengers and goods between

the two Contracting Parties and in transit through their respective territories.

2. The journey of empty vehicles in connection with the above mentioned transport.

Article 2 Definitions

For the purposes of this Agreement

1. The term «carrier» means a natural or legal person established in either Contracting Party who has the right to cany out transport of passengers or goods by road, conforming to the laws and regulations in force in its country.

2. The term «vehicle» means:

a. for the transport of goods: a motor vehicle or a combination of vehicles of which at least the motor vehicle is registered in either Contracting Party and which is used and equipped exclusively for the carriage of goods.

b. for the transport of passengers: any power driven vehicle registered in the territory of the one of the Contracting Parties, which by virtue of its construction and its equipment, is suitable for carrying more than nine seated persons, including the driver.

3. The term «transit» means the transport of goods and passengers by a carrier registered in one Contracting Party through the territory of the other Contracting Party.

I. TRANSPORT OF PASSENGERS

A. Scope and Definitions Article 3

For the purposes of the transport of passengers, this Agreement shall apply:

1. To all passenger transport services for hire or reward or on own account by passenger motor vehicles, between the two Contracting Parties and in transit through their territories.

By the term «own account passenger transport oper-ations» is meant the operations those carried out by an undertaking for its own employees or by a non-profit-making body for the transport of its members in connection with its social odjective provided that

- the transport activity is only an ancillary activity for the undertaking or body,

- the vehicles used are the property of that undertaking or body or have been obtained on deferred terms by them or have been the subject of a long term leasing contract and are driven by a member of the staff of the undertaking or body.

2. To the journeys of empty motor vehicles (as referred to in Art4).

Article 4

For the purpose of transport of passengers:

1. «Regular services» means services which provide for carriage of passengers according to a specific frequency and along specified routes, whereby passengers may be taken up or set down at predetermined stopping points. Regular services can be subject to the obligation of respecting previously established time tables and tariffs.

2. «Shuttle services» means services whereby, by means of repeated outward and return journeys, previously formed groups of passengers are carried from a single place of departure to a single destination, situated to the

two Contracting Parties respectively. Each group consisting of the passengers who made the outward journey, shall be carried back to the place of departure on a later journey.

a. In the course of shuttle services, no passenger may be taken up or set down during the journey.

b. The first return journey and the last outward journey in a series of shuttles shall be unloaded.

c. Regular and shuttle services and conditions regarding their operation are to be determined on the basis of a mutual agreement of the responsible authorities signers of this Agreement, either directly or on the basis of conclusions accepted by the Joint Committee which is established by the Article 14 of this Agreement

3. «Transit» means the transport of passengers starting from the territory of the Contracting Party, where the vehicle is registered crossing the territory of the other country and vice-versa provided that no passenger may be taken up or set down.

4. «Occasional services» are:

a. Closed door tours, that is to say services, whereby the same vehicle is used to carry the same group of passengers throughout the journey and to bring them back to the place of departure, which is the country where the vehicle is registered.

b. Services which make the outward journey loaded and the return journey unloaded.

c. Services which make the outward journey unloaded and the return journey loaded with passengers picked up at the same point of the country where the vehicle is not registered, provided that passengers:

(1) constitute a previously formed group under a contract of carriage concluded before their arrival in the territory of the Contracting Party where they are picked up, or

(2) have been previously brought by the same carrier under the terms of paragraph 2, case b, and provided that they are picked up again and carried back to the territory of the country of establishment of the transport operator.

(3) have been invited to travel into the territory of the country of establishment of the transport operator, the cost of transport being borne by the person issuing the invitation.

B. Access to the market Article 5

1. The occasional services referred to in Article 4, paragraphs 4 a, shall be exempted from the need for any transport authorisation on the territory of the Contracting Party, where the vehicle is not registered.

2. The occasional services shall be carried out under the cover of a control document.

3. The control document shall consist of a journey form.

4. The journey form shall contain at least the following information:

a) the type of service

b) the main itinerary

c) the carrier(s) involved

d) a complete list of passengers

5. The books of journey forms shall be supplied by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties, where the vehicle is registered or by bodies appointed by those authorities.

6. Occasional services referred to in Article 4, paragraph 4 shall be exempted from the need for any transport authorisation on the territory of the Contracting Party, where the vehicle is not registered.

For the case of paragraph 4c (1) of article 4, a copy of the transport contract shall also be required.

For the case of paragraph 4c (2) of article 4, the document that accompanied the vehicle during the loaded outward journey and the unloaded return journey shall be required.

7. Regular services in transit transport are performed with authorisations issued by the country in transit after an application in written form with all necessary attachments is submitted by the country which has issued the authorisation for the regular service. Its validity shall be of 1 to 3 years to be detrmined by the joint committee and shall be granted free of any charge.

8. In transit transport, no passenger can be picked up or set down during the journey, unless the Contracting Parties decide otherwise through the Joint Committee of article 14.

9. No permit is required for the replacement of a breakdown bus as well as for journeys of unloaded vehicles which will carry out transport as referred to in article 3 hereof.

10. Passenger transport on one's own account is subject to permit issued by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties.

Article 6

1. Regular and shuttle services are subject to authorisation.

2. Authorisations shall be issued in the name of the transport undertaking. They can not be transferred by the latter to third parties.

3. The period of validity of an authorisation shall not exceed three years and shall not be less than one year, for regular services and it shall not exceed one year for shuttle services.

4. Authorisations shall specify the following:

a) the type of services

b) the route of the service, giving in particular the place of departure and the place of destination and the border-crossing points

c) the period of validity of the authorisation

d) Accompanying documents of the authorisation are:

- timetable of itineraries

- a drawing of the journey -Tariffs

The above documents shall be approved and validated by the issuing authority.

e) for regular services, the stops and the timetable.

5. Applications for authorisation shall be submitted to the competent authority of the Contracting Party, where the vehicle is registered, which can accept it or not In case the application is accepted, the above authority shall communicate the authorisation to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party.

6. The application in two copies should contain data requested by national regulations as well as a drawing of the line containing well marked bus-stops and kilometres. The responsible authorities are allowed to ask carriers to give any relevant data that they may be considered necessary.

7. During the journey a copy of the authorisation, authorised by the issuing authority or its original must be on the vehicle.

8. Authorisations shall conform to the model attached to this Agreement.

The Joint Committee, mentioned in the Article 14 of this Agreement, shall determine the model of authorisation.

Article7

Transit through the territory of the one Contracting Party of occasional services, performed by a vehicle registered to the other Party, is exempted from any authorisation.

Article 8

A regular service can be operated once the responsible authorities of both Contracting Parties have exchanged the particular documentation as described in Art 6 para 5.

Article 9

During the first three months of every calendar year, the carriers operating regular services should forward the responsible authorities in their country the following data of the previous year:

a) number of journeys and kilometres

b) number of passengers.

The above data must be exchanged between the Contracting Parties.

II. TRANSPORT OF GOODS Article 10

1. Carriers established in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties are allowed to carry out international road goods transport for hire or reward between the two Contracting Parties (bilateral transport), as well as through their territories to other countries (transit transport) using a permit issued by the competent authorities of the other Contracting Party.

2. There shall be no restrictions regarding the number of permilts provided for in Article 10, paragraph 1.

3. With regard to road goods transport carried out by carriers of one Contracting Party, departing from the territory of the other Contracting Party and bound for a third country (triangular transports), a special permit shall be issued by the Contracting Party from which or to which the transport is carried out These special permits can only be used by the carriers on whose name they were issued and they are not transmissible. The potentiality of issuing such kind of permits, as well as their number, shall be determined by the Joint Committee, mentioned in the Article 14 of the present Agreement.

Article 11

The type of the permits mentioned in Article 10, is to be determined by the Competent Authorities of the Contracting Parties directly on the basis of the conclusions adopted by the Joint Committee as per Article 14 of this Agreement.

Article 12

On the basis of Article 10, paragraph 1 of this Agreement, the competent authorities of the two Contracting Parties shall exchange each year the requested permits through diplomatic channels or through the procedure decided by the Joint Committee provided for in Article 14.

During the first period of implementation of this Agreement, namely, before the first meeting of the Joint Committee of Article 14, the two Contracting Parties agree to fulfil the needs concerning the bilateral and transit road goods' transport, as this would be notified to their respective competent authorities through diplomatic channels.

Article 13

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 10 of this Agreement, permits are not obligatory in the following cases:

1. Transport of objects from a public airport or to a public airport in case of casualty or any other accident of the plane, or if the plane must land due to a change of course or emergency and in case that flights are cancelled;

2. Transport of a damaged motor vehicle and its trailer;

3. Funeral transport;

4. Transport of personal belongings in the context of the household removal in special vehicles;

5. Transport of mail;

6. Transport of goods for fairs and exhibitions;

7. Transport of accessories and other goods for theatres, music and other cultural events, circus and film shows and radio or T.V. performances;

8. Transport of dead animals, unless industrial working up of raw material is the case;

9. Transport of bees or fish progeny;

10. Transport of flowers and other decorative plants;

11. Transport of pharmaceuticals or any other materials as aid in case of disasters caused by natural phenomena;

12. Transport of empty vehicles to be exchanged for damaged vehicles which are to take over the transport of goods that damaged ones can not performed;

13. Vehicles performing technical aid or repair of damaged vehicles (service and refit vehicles);

14. Transport of a vehicle which is to replace another damaged vehicle located in the other Contracting Party;

15. Transport of cargo to be used for education and advertising;

With regard to the transport operations referred to in this Article, the driver must keep all papers and documents that clearly indicate that one of the above kinds of transport is the case.

III. GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 14

In order to regulate all questions regarding the implementation and application of this Agreement a Joint Committee shall be established.

This Committee is to be composed of the representatives of the Governments of the two Contracting Parties who can invite representatives of the road transport industry at the meetings.

The first meeting of the Joint Committee shall take place within 3 months after the exchange of the instruments of ratification.Then the joint Committee shall meet once per year or at the request of either Contracting Party, alternately m either Contracting Party. The Agenda of the meeting shall be presented by the Contracting Party hosting, or requesting if this is the case, the meeting at least two weeks in advance. Each meeting shall be concluded with the adoption of a Protocol signed by the heads of delegations of the two Contracting Parties.

Article 15

The Contracting Parties notify each other that the competent authorities to settle the questions connected with the implementation of the provisions of this Agreement shall be:

- For the Hellenic Republic, the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

- For the Syrian Arab Republic, the Ministry of Transport.

Article 16

The joint committee stated m Art 14 of this agreement is hereby authorized to study the fees, taxes, and duties levied in both countries on the vehicles of the other contracting party for the pupose of exempting or reducing them in both countries, on reciprocity basis.

Article 17

Carriers of a Contracting Party and the crews of their vehicles shall, when on the territory of the other Contracting Party, comply with the laws and regulations m force in that country.

Article 18 Insurance

The vehicles of the Contracting Parties that carry out international transport should have insurance coverage both in the transit countries and the country of destination.

Article 19 Cabotage

The running of cabotage services in road transport of passengers and goods is prohibited.

Article 20 Customs and Health Control

The provisions of International Conventions adopted by the Contracting Parties are applied to customs and health control at the border transit points.

The said control is carried out, if possible, by priority in case of transport of patients, animals and perishable goods.

Article 21 Technical control of vehicles

Any vehicle of the Contracting Party carrying out bilateral or transit transport in the territory of the other Contracting Party must be granted by a state authority with a valid road safety certificate.

The Competent Authorities of the Contracting Party on whose territory the transport operation is carried out may request the performance of technical control on the vehicles of the other Contracting Party.

Any vehicle of the Contracting Party carrying out bilateral or transit transport in the territory of the other Contracting Party and carrying dangerous goods must keep all the documents forseen by the ADR Convention.

Article 22

The Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the exchange of letters certifying completion of the respective constitutional requirements of the Contracting Parties. It will remain in force for one year. It shall thereafter be tacitly prolonged for further one year periods unless one of the Parties notifies the other, six months before the expiration date, of its intention to terminate this Agreement.

Done at Damascus on 24^th of March 2001 in two original copies in Greek, Arabic and English languages, each text being equally authentic.

In case of any divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.

In WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Agreement.

For the Government of the Hellenic Republic

CHRISTOS VERELIS Minister of Tranport and Communications

For the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic

MAKRAM OBEID Minister of Tranport

Άρθρο δεύτερο

Τα Πρωτόκολλα - Πρακτικά, που καταρτίζονται από τη Μικτή Επιτροπή του άρθρου 14 της Συμφωνίας, εγκρίνονται με κοινή πράξη των αρμόδιων κατά περίπτωση Υπουργών. Η μείωση ή η εξάλειψη των φόρων και δασμών που αναφέρεται στο άρθρο 16 της Συμφωνίας πραγματοποιείται σύμφωνα με τις διατάξεις του Συντάγματος.

Άρθρο τρίτο

Η ισχύς του παρόντος νόμου αρχίζει από τη δημοσίευ-σή του στην Εφημερίδα της Κυβερνήσεως και της Συμφωνίας που κυρώνεται από την πλήρωση των προϋποθέσεων του άρθρου 22 αυτής.

Παραγγέλλομε τη δημοσίευση του παρόντος στην Εφημερίδα της Κυβερνήσεως και την εκτέλεση του ως νόμου του Κράτους.

Αθήνα, 22 Μαρτίου 2002

Ο ΠΡΟΕΔΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑΣ

ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΣ ΣΤΕΦΑΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ

ΟΙ ΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΙ

ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΚΩΝ ΕΞΩΤΕΡΙΚΩΝ

Ν. ΧΡΙΣΤΟΔΟΥΛΑΚΗΣ Γ. ΠΑΠΑΝΔΡΕΟΥ

ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΩΝ

Χ. ΒΕΡΕΛΗΣ

Θεωρήθηκε και τέθηκε η Μεγάλη Σφραγίδα του Κράτους Αθήνα, 27 Μαρτίου 2002

Ο ΕΠΙ ΤΗΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗΣ ΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΣ

Φ. ΠΕΤΣΑΛΝΙΚΟΣ

ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΕΘΝΙΚΟ ΤΥΠΟΓΡΑΦΕΙΟ