Article 24: Exceptions

Exceptions contained in the GATT and Related Instruments apply between particular Contracting Parties which are parties to the GATT, as recognised by Article 4. With respect to trade in Energy Materials and Products governed by Article 29, that Article specifies the provisions relevant to the subjects covered by Article 24.

(1) This Article shall not apply to Articles 12, 13 and 29.

(2) The provisions of this Treaty other than

  • (a) those referred to in paragraph (1); and
  • (b) with respect to subparagraph (i), Part III of the Treaty
  • shall not preclude any Contracting Party from adopting or enforcing any measure
    • (i) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
    • (ii) essential to the acquisition or distribution of Energy Materials and Products in conditions of short supply arising from causes outside the control of that Contracting Party, provided that any such measure shall be consistent with the principles that
      • (A) all other Contracting Parties are entitled to an equitable share of the international supply of such Energy Materials and Products; and
      • (B) any such measure that is inconsistent with this Treaty shall be discontinued as soon as the conditions giving rise to it have ceased to exist; or
    • (iii) designed to benefit Investors who are aboriginal people or socially or economically disadvantaged individuals or groups or their Investments and notified to the Secretariat as such, provided that such measure
      • (A) has no significant impact on that Contracting Party’s economy; and
      • (B) does not discriminate between Investors of any other Contracting Party and Investors of that Contracting Party not included among those for whom the measure is intended, 
  • provided that no such measure shall constitute a disguised restriction on Economic Activity in the Energy Sector, or arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between Contracting Parties or between Investors or other interested persons of Contracting Parties. Such measures shall be duly motivated and shall not nullify or impair any benefit one or more other Contracting Parties may reasonably expect under this Treaty to an extent greater than is strictly necessary to the stated end.

(3) The provisions of this Treaty other than those referred to in paragraph (1) shall not be construed to prevent any Contracting Party from taking any measure which it considers necessary:

  • (a) for the protection of its essential security interests including those
    • (i) relating to the supply of Energy Materials and Products to a military establishment; or
    • (ii) taken in time of war, armed conflict or other emergency in international relations;
  • (b) relating to the implementation of national policies respecting the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or needed to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Nuclear Suppliers Guidelines, and other international nuclear non-proliferation obligations or understandings; or
  • (c) for the maintenance of public order.

Such measure shall not constitute a disguised restriction on Transit.

(4) The provisions of this Treaty which accord most favoured nation treatment shall not oblige any Contracting Party to extend to the Investors of any other Contracting Party any preferential treatment:

  • (a) resulting from its membership of a free-trade area or customs union; or
  • (b) which is accorded by a bilateral or multilateral agreement concerning economic cooperation between states that were constituent parts of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics pending the establishment of their mutual economic relations on a definitive basis.

An Investment of an Investor referred to in Article 1(7)(a)(ii), of a Contracting Party which is not party to an EIA or a member of a free-trade area or a customs union, shall be entitled to treatment accorded under such EIA, free-trade area or customs union, provided that the Investment: 

(a) has its registered office, central administration or principal place of business in the Area of a party to that EIA or member of that free-trade area or customs union; or

(b) in case it only has its registered office in that Area, has an effective and Continuous link with the economy of one of the parties to that EIA or member of that free-trade area or customs union.