Article 29
1. The Parties undertake to apply effectively the principle of unrestricted access to international maritime market and traffic on a commercial basis: (a) The above provision does not prejudice the rights and obligations arising from the United Nations Convention on a Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences, as applicable to one or other Party to this Agreement. Non-conference lines will be free to operate in competition with a conference as long as they adhere to the principle of fair competition on a commercial basis. (b) The Parties affirm their commitment to a freely competitive environment as being an essential feature of the dry and liquid bulk trade. 2. In applying the principles of paragraph 1, the Parties shall: (a) not apply, as from the entry into force of this Agreement, any cargo-sharing provisions of bilateral agreements between Member States of the Community and the former Soviet Union; (b) not introduce cargo-sharing clauses into future bilateral agreements with third countries, other than in those exceptional circumstances where liner shipping companies from one or other Party to this Agreement would not otherwise have an effective opportunity to ply for trade to and from the third country concerned; (c) prohibit cargo-sharing arrangements in future bilateral agreements concerning dry and liquid bulk trade; (d) abolish, upon entry into force of this Agreement, all unilateral measures, administrative, technical and other obstacles which could have restrictive or discriminatory effects on the free supply of services in international maritime transport. 3. Each Party shall grant, inter alia, no less favourable treatment to ships operated by nationals or companies of the other Party than that accorded to a Party’s own ships with regard to access to ports open to international trade, the use of infrastructure and auxiliary maritime services of the ports, the related fees and charges, customs facilities and the assignment of berths and facilities for loading and unloading.