Article 20: Transparency

(1) Laws, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application which affect trade in Energy Materials and Products or Energy Related Equipment are, in accordance with Article 29(2)(a), among the measures subject to the transparency disciplines of the WTO Agreement.

(2) Laws, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application made effective by any Contracting Party, and agreements in force between Contracting Parties, which affect other matters covered by this Treaty shall also be published promptly in such a manner as to enable Contracting Parties and Investors to become acquainted with them. The provisions of this paragraph shall not require any Contracting Party to disclose confidential information which would impede law enforcement or otherwise be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of any Investor.

(3) Each Contracting Party shall designate one or more enquiry points to which requests for information about the above mentioned laws, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative rulings may be addressed and shall communicate promptly such designation to the Secretariat which shall make it available on request.

Evolution of Article 20:

 

Basic Protocol (20/08/91):
Article 20(1): Article 10.1 - Transparency
Article 20(2): Article 10.2 – Transparency and Article 25 - Investment Transparency
Article 20(3): Article 10.3 - Transparency
BP 2 (11/09/91):
Article 20(1): Article 8.1 -  Standards; Article 12.1 - Transparency
Article 20(2): Article 27  -  Investment Transparency and Article 12.2 - Transparency
Article 20(3): Article 12.3 - Transparency
BA 4 (31/10/91):
Article 20(1): Article 8.1 -  Standards; Article 12.1 - Transparency
Article 20(2): Article 27  -  Investment Transparency and Article 12.2 - Transparency
Article 20(3): Article 12.3 - Transparency
BA 6 (21/01/92) - BA-15 (12/08/92):
Article 20(1): Article 15.1 - Transparency
Article 20(2): Articles 15.2 – Transparency
Article 20(3): Article 15.3 - Transparency
BA 18 (18/09/92):
Article 20(2): Articles 15.2 – Transparency
Article 20(3): Article 15.3 - Transparency
BA-22 (21/10/92) - BA-37 (01/03/93):
Article 20(1): Article 15.1 - Transparency
Article 20(2): Article 15.2-3 Transparency
Article 20(3): Article 15.4 - Transparency
(Compromise text) ECT 1 [CONF 50] (15/03/93) - Interim Text (25/06/94):
Article 20(1): Article 23.1 - Transparency
Article 20(2): Article 23.2 Transparency
Article 20(3): Article 23.3 Transparency
CONF 104 (Text for adoption) (14/09/94) - Final Act and ECT as adopted (17/12/94):
Article 20(1): Article 20.1 - Transparency
Article 20(2): Article 20.2 – Transparency
Article 20(3): Article 20.3 - Transparency
CC 96 (17/10/97) - ECT as amended (24/04/98):
Article 20(1): Article 20.1 - Transparency