Article 3
This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption. Done at Brussels, 18 July 2011. For the Council The President M. Dowgielewicz [1] OJ L 229, 17.8.1998, p. 3. [2] OJ L 5, 9.1.1999, p. 74. [3] OJ L 194, 26.7.2011, p. 1. [4] The date of entry into force of the Agreement will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by the General Secretariat of the Council. -------------------------------------------------- Agreement between the European Union and Australia amending the Agreement on mutual recognition in relation to conformity assessment, certificates and markings between the European Community and Australia THE EUROPEAN UNION and AUSTRALIA, hereinafter "the Parties", HAVING concluded the Agreement on mutual recognition in relation to conformity assessment, certificates and markings [1] signed in Canberra on 24 June 1998 (hereinafter "the Agreement on Mutual Recognition"); NOTING the need to simplify the operation of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition; NOTING the need to clarify the status of the Sectoral Annexes of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition; WHEREAS Article 3 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition sets out the form of the Sectoral Annexes in detail; WHEREAS Article 4 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition restricts the application of the Agreement to industrial products that originate in the Parties according to non-preferential rules of origin; WHEREAS Article 12 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition establishes a Joint Committee that, inter alia, gives effect to decisions on the inclusion of conformity assessment bodies in, and their removal from, the Sectoral Annexes and sets out a procedure for such inclusion and removal; WHEREAS Articles 8 and 12 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition refer to the Chair of the Joint Committee; WHEREAS Article 12 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition does not explicitly empower the Joint Committee to amend the Sectoral Annexes, except to give effect to the decision by a designating authority to designate or to withdraw designation of a particular conformity assessment body; CONSIDERING that Article 3 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition should be amended, both to reflect the changes proposed to Article 12 thereof to limit the requirement for the Joint Committee to take action on the recognition or withdrawal of recognition of conformity assessment bodies to cases that have been contested by the other Party under Article 8 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition, and to allow greater flexibility in the structure of Sectoral Annexes to the Agreement; CONSIDERING that in order that trade between the Parties is not unnecessarily restricted, the origin restriction in Article 4 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition should be deleted; CONSIDERING that in order to reflect the fact that the Joint Committee is co-chaired by the Parties, the references to the Chair of the Joint Committee should be deleted from Articles 8 and 12 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition; CONSIDERING that enhanced exchange of information between the Parties regarding the operation of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition will facilitate its operation; CONSIDERING that in order to make timely adaptations to the Sectoral Annexes so as to take account of technical progress, and other factors such as enlargement of the European Union, the Joint Committee should be explicitly empowered in Article 12 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition to amend the Sectoral Annexes in areas other than to give effect to the decision by a designating authority to designate or to withdraw designation of a particular conformity assessment body, and also to adopt new Sectoral Annexes; RECOGNISING that the Parties may need to undertake certain domestic procedures before amendments to the Sectoral Annexes or the adoption of new Sectoral Annexes take effect; CONSIDERING that in order to simplify the operation of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition, the need for the Joint Committee to take action on the recognition or withdrawal of recognition of conformity assessment bodies should be limited to cases that have been contested by the other Party under Article 8 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition; CONSIDERING that in order to simplify the operation of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition, a simpler procedure for the recognition, withdrawal of recognition, and suspension of conformity assessment bodies should be set up in Article 12 thereof, and the position regarding conformity assessment carried out by bodies afterwards suspended or withdrawn should be clarified, HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: