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5 MAI 2014. - An Act to approve the Agreement between Belgium and Gibraltar for the exchange of tax information, made in Paris on 16 December 2009 (1) (2) (3)

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Agreement between Belgium and Gibraltar with a view to the exchange of information in tax matters, made in Paris on 16 December 2009, will come out with its full effect.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 5 May 2014.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
D. REYNDERS
Minister of Finance,
K. GEENS
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Notes
(1) Senate (www.senate.be):
Documents: 5-2296
Annales du Sénat : 13/02/2014
House of Representatives (www.lachambre.be):
Documents: 53-3364
Full record: 13/03/2014
(2) See the Decree of the Flemish Community/Flemish Region of 7 June 2013 (Belgian Monitor of 27 June 2013), the Decree of the French Community of 27 February 2014 (Belgian Monitor of 25 April 2014), the Decree of the German-speaking Community of 24 June 2013 (Belgian Monitor of 25 July 2013), the Decree of the Walloon Region of 13 March 2014 (Belgian Museum of 28 March 2014) and the Order of the Belgian Region
(3) Entry into force: 17/06/2014

AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
BELGIUM
AND
GIBRALTAR
FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO TAX MATTERS
WHEREAS Belgium and Gibraltar ("the Parties") recognise that present legislation already provides for cooperation and the exchange of information in criminal tax matters;
WHEREAS the Parties have long been active in international efforts in the fight against financial and other crimes, including the targeting of terrorist financing;
WHEREAS it is acknowledged that Gibraltar under the terms of its Entrustment from the UK has the right to negotiate, conclude, perform and subject to the terms of this agreement terminate a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Belgium;
WHEREAS Gibraltar on 27 February 2002 entered into a political commitment to the OECD's principles of effective exchange of information;
WHEREAS the Parties wish to enhance and facilitate the terms and conditions governing the exchange of information relating to taxes;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties have agreed to conclude the following Agreement which contains obligations on the part of Belgium and Gibraltar only:
Article 1
Scope of the Agreement
The competent authorities of the Parties shall provide assistance through exchange of information that is foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic laws of the Parties concerning the taxes covered by this Agreement, including information that is foreseeably relevant to the determination, assessment, enforcement or collection of tax with respect to persons subject to such taxes, or to the investigation or prosecution of tax matters in relation to such persons. The rights and safeguards secured to persons by the laws or administrative practice of the requested Party remain applicable to the extent that they do not unduly prevent or delay effective exchange of information.
Article 2
Jurisdiction
A requested Party is not obliged to provide information which is neither held by its authorities nor in the possession of or obtainable by persons who are within its territorial jurisdiction.
Article 3
Tax Covered
1. This Agreement shall apply to the following taxes imposed by the Parties:
(a) in the case of Belgium:
(i) the individual income tax;
(ii) the corporate income tax;
(iii) the income tax on legal entities;
(iv) the income tax on non-residents; and
(v) the value added tax,
(b) in the case of Gibraltar: Gibraltar income taxes.
2. This Agreement shall apply also to any identical taxes imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to or in place of the existing taxes. This Agreement shall also apply to any substantially similar taxes imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to or in place of the existing taxes if the Parties so agree. The competent authority of each Party shall notify the other of substantial changes in laws which may affect the obligations of that Party pursuant to this Agreement. Furthermore, the taxes covered may be expanded or modified by mutual agreement of the competent authorities in the form of an exchange of letters.
Article 4
Definitions
1. In this Agreement:
(a) "Belgium" means the Kingdom of Belgium; used in a geographical sense, it means the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, including the territorial sea and any other area in the sea and in the air within which the Kingdom of Belgium, in accordance with international law, exercises sovereign rights or its jurisdiction;
(b) "Gibraltar" means the territory of Gibraltar;
(c) "collective investment scheme or fund" means any pooled investment vehicle, irrespective of legal form;
d) "company" means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
(e) "competent authority" means,
(i) in the case of Belgium: the Minister of Finance or his authorised representative;
(ii) in the case of Gibraltar: the Chief Secretary or such other person as the Minister of Finance may appoint;
(f) "criminal laws" means all criminal laws designated as such under domestic law, irrespective of whether such are contained in the tax laws, the criminal code or other statutes;
(g) "criminal tax matters" means tax matters involving intentional conduct, whether before or after the entry into force of this Agreement, which is liable to prosecution under the criminal laws of the requesting Party;
(h) "information gathering measures" means laws and administrative or judicial procedures enabling a requested Party to obtain and provide the information requested;
(i) "information" means any fact, statement, document or record in whatever form;
(j) "person" means an individual, a company or any other body or group of persons;
(k) "principal class of shares" means the class or classes of shares representing a majority of the voting power and value of the company;
l) "publicly traded company" means any company whose principal class of shares is listed on a recognised stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readily purchased or sold by the public. Shares can be purchased or sold "by the public" if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
(m) "public collective investment scheme or fund" means any scheme or fund, in which the purchase, sale or redemption of shares or other interests is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
(n) "recognised stock exchange" means any stock exchange agreed upon by the competent authorities of the Parties;
o) "requested Party" means the Party to this Agreement which is requested to provide or has provided information in response to a request;
(p) "requesting Party" means the Party to this Agreement submitting a request for or having received information from the requested Party;
q) "tax" means any tax covered by this Agreement.
2. As regards the application of this Agreement at any time by a Party, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the laws of that Party, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that Party prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that Party.
Article 5
Exchange of Information upon Request
1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide upon request by the requesting Party information for the purposes referred to in Article 1. Such information shall be exchanged without regard to whether the requested Party needs such information for its own tax purposes or the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime under the laws of the requested Party if it had occurred in the territory of the requested Party. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall only make a request for information pursuant to this Article when it is unable to obtain the requested information by other means, except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate difficulty.
2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority of the requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to comply with the request for information, the requested Party shall use all applicable information gathering measures necessary to provide the requesting Party with the information requested, notwithstanding that the requested Party may not, at that time, need such information for its own tax purposes.
3. If specifically requested by the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of the requested Party shall provide information under this Article, to the extent allowable under its domestic laws, in the form of depositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of original records.
4. Each Party shall ensure that it has the authority, subject to the terms of Article 1 and 2 of this Agreement, to obtain and provide, through its competent authority and upon request:
(a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any person, including nominees and trustees, acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity;
(b) information regarding the ownership of companies, partnerships, collective investment schemes, trusts, foundations and other persons, including information on all persons in an ownership chain, and
(i) in the case of collective investment schemes, information on shares, units and other interests;
(ii) in the case of trusts, information on settlors, trustees, protectors and beneficiaries;
(iii) in the case of foundations, information on founders, members of the foundation council and beneficiaries; and
(iv) in the case of persons that are neither collective investment schemes, trusts or foundations, equivalent information to the information in subparagraphs (i) to (iii).
Further, this Agreement does not create an obligation for a Party to obtain or provide ownership information with respect to publicly traded companies or public collective investment schemes, unless such information can be obtained without giving rise to disproportionate difficulties.
5. Any request for information shall be formulated with the greatest detail possible and shall specify in writing:
(a) the identity of the person under examination or investigation;
(b) the period for which the information is requested;
(c) the nature of the information requested and the form in which the requesting Party would prefer to receive it;
(d) the tax purpose for which the information is sought;
(e) the reasons for believing that the information requested is foreseeable relevant to the administration or enforcement of the taxes of the requesting Party covered under Article 3, with respect to the person identified in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph;
(f) grounds for believing that the information requested is held in the requested Party or is in the possession of or obtainable by a person within the jurisdiction of the requested Party;
(g) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to be in possession or control of the information requested;
(h) a statement that the request is in conformity with this Agreement;
(i) a statement that the requesting Party has pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information, except where that would give rise to disproportionate difficulty.
6. The competent authority of the requested Party shall acknowledge receipt of the request to the competent authority of the requesting Party and shall use its best endeavours to forward the requested information to the requesting Party as soon as possible.
Article 6
Tax Investigations Abroad
1. With reasonable notice, the competent authority of the requesting Party may request that the competent authority of the requested Party allows representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to enter the territory of the requested Party to interview individuals and examine records with the prior written consent of the individuals or other persons concerned. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall notify the competent authority of the requested Party of the time and place of the intended meeting with the individuals concerned.
2. At the request of the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of the requested Party may permit representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to attend a tax examination in the territory of the requested Party.
3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is granted, the competent authority of the requested Party conducting the examination shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the requesting Party of the time and place of the examination, the authority or person authorised to carry out the examination and the procedures and conditions required by the requested Party for the conduct of the examination. All decisions regarding the conduct of the examination shall be made by the requested Party conducting the examination.
Article 7
Possibility of Declining a Request
1. The competent authority of the requested Party may decline to assist:
(a) where the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement;
(b) where the requesting Party has not pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information, except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate difficulty; gold
(c) where the disclosure of the information requested would be contrary to public policy ("ordre public").
2. This Agreement shall not impose upon a requested Party any obligation to provide items subject to legal privilege, or information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process. Notwithstanding the foregoing, information of the type referred to in Article 5, paragraph 4, shall not be treated as such a secret or trade process merely because it meets the criteria in that paragraph.
3. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.
4. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the information is requested by the requesting Party to administer or enforce a provision of the tax law of the requesting Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against a national or citizen of the requested Party as compared with a national or citizen of the requesting Party in the same circumstances.
Article 8
Confidentiality
1. All information provided and received by the competent authorities of the Parties shall be kept confidential.
2. Such information shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the purposes specified in Article 1, and used by such persons or authorities only for such purposes, including the determination of any appeal. For these purposes, information may be disclosed in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.
3. Such information may not be used for any purpose other than for the purposes stated in Article 1 without the expressed written consent of the competent authority of the requested Party.
4. Information provided to a requesting Party under this Agreement may not be disclosed to any other jurisdiction without the expressed written consent of the competent authority of the requested Party.
Article 9
Costs
Unless the competent authorities of the Parties otherwise agree, indirect costs incurred in providing assistance shall be borne by the requested Party, and direct costs incurred in providing assistance (including costs of engaging external advisors in connection with litigation or otherwise necessary to comply with the request) shall be borne by the requesting Party. The respective competent authorities shall consult from time to time with regard to this Article, and in particular the competent authority of the requested Party shall consult with the competent authority of the requesting Party in advance if the costs of providing information with respect to a specific request are expected to be significant.
Article 10
Mutual Agreement Procedure
1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Parties regarding the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement, the respective competent authorities shall use their best efforts to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.
2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities of the Parties may mutually agree on the procedures to be used under this Agreement.
3. The competent authorities of the Parties may communicate with each other directly for purposes of reaching agreement under this Article.
4. The Parties may also agree on other forms of dispute resolution.
Article 11
Implementation of Legislation
The Parties shall enact any legislation necessary to comply with and give effect to the terms of this Agreement.
Article 12
Entry into Force
This Agreement shall enter into force when each Party has notified the other in writing of the completion of its necessary internal procedures for entry into force. Upon entry into force, it shall have effect:
(a) for criminal tax matters, on that date; and
(b) for all other matters covered in Article 1, in respect of taxable periods beginning on or after January 1 of the year next following the year in which the Agreement entered into force or, where there is no taxable period, in respect of taxes due in respect of taxable events taking place on or after January 1 of the year next following the year in which the Agreement entered into force.
Article 13
Termination
1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by either Party.
2. Either Party may terminate this Agreement by giving notice of termination in writing. Such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of notice of termination by the other Party.
3. If the Agreement is terminated the Parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information obtained under this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned being duly authorised in that behalf by the respective Parties, have signed the Agreement.
DONE in duplicate at Paris, this 16th day of December 2009, in the English language.

AGREEMENT
BELGIUM
AND
GIBRALTAR IN VUE DE L'ECHANGE DE RENSEIGNEMENTS
CONSIDERANT QUE la Belgique et Gibraltar ("les Parties") acknowledge that current legislation already provides for cooperation and exchange of information in criminal tax matters;
CONSIDERING that Parties have long played an active role in international efforts to combat financial and other offences, including combating the financing of terrorism;
CONSIDERING that Gibraltar, according to the terms of the Entrustment received from the United Kingdom, has the right to negotiate, conclude, execute and, subject to the terms of this Agreement, denounce a tax exchange agreement with Belgium;
CONSIDERING that Gibraltar took on 27 February 2002 the political commitment to comply with the OECD principles for the effective exchange of information;
CONSIDERING that Parties wish to improve and facilitate the terms and conditions governing the exchange of tax information,
IN CONSEQUENCE, the Parties agreed to conclude the following Agreement, which includes only obligations for Belgium and Gibraltar:
Article 1
Scope of the Agreement
The competent authorities of the Parties shall provide assistance by the exchange of information that is likely to be relevant to the administration and application of the domestic legislation of the Parties relating to the taxes covered by this Agreement, including information likely to be relevant to the determination, establishment, application or collection of tax with respect to persons subject to these taxes or for tax investigations or prosecutions relating to such persons. The rights and protections enjoyed by persons under the required legislative or regulatory provisions or administrative practices of the requested Party shall remain applicable to the extent that they incur or unduly delay an effective exchange of information.
Article 2
Jurisdiction
A requested Party does not have an obligation to provide information that is not held by its authorities or in the possession of persons under its territorial jurisdiction, or that cannot be obtained by persons under its territorial jurisdiction.
Article 3
Taxes targeted
1. This Agreement applies to the following taxes collected by the Parties:
(a) with regard to Belgium:
(i) the tax of natural persons;
(ii) corporate tax;
(iii) corporation tax;
(iv) non-resident tax; and
(v) value added tax;
(b) with regard to Gibraltar: taxes on Gibraltar income.
2. This Agreement also applies to identical taxes that would be established after the date of signing of the Agreement and that would be in addition to or replace existing taxes. This Agreement also applies to similar taxes that would be established after the date of signing of the Agreement and that would be in addition to or replace existing taxes, if appropriate by the Parties. The competent authority of each Party shall notify the other of any substantial amendment to its legislation that may affect the obligations of that Party arising from this Agreement. In addition, the taxes may be extended or amended by mutual agreement between the competent authorities in the form of an exchange of letters.
Article 4
Definitions
1. In this Agreement:
(a) "Belgium" means the Kingdom of Belgium; used in a geographical sense, this term refers to the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, including the territorial sea as well as the maritime areas and the airspace on which, in accordance with international law, the Kingdom of Belgium exercises sovereign rights or jurisdiction;
(b) "Gibraltar" means the territory of Gibraltar;
(c) "funds or arrangements for collective placement" means any instrument of group placement, irrespective of its legal form;
(d) "society" means any legal person or entity considered to be a legal entity;
(e) "competent authority" means,
(i) in respect of Belgium: the Minister of Finance or its authorized representative;
(ii) in respect of Gibraltar: the Chief Secretary or any other person designated by the Minister of Finance;
(f) "criminal law" means any criminal provision referred to as such in domestic law, which is contained in tax legislation, criminal legislation or other laws;
(g) "in criminal tax matters" means any tax case involving an intentional act, before or after the entry into force of this Agreement, which is liable to prosecution under the criminal law of the requesting Party;
(h) "information collection measures" means the legislative and regulatory provisions as well as administrative or judicial procedures that allow a requested Party to obtain and provide the requested information;
(i) "information" means any fact, statement or document, whatever its form;
(j) "person" means a natural person, society or any other group or group of persons;
(k) "main class of shares" means the class or classes of shares representing the majority of voting rights and the value of society;
(l) "listed company" means any corporation whose main class of shares is listed on a recognized stock exchange, the shares listed in the corporation to be purchased or sold easily by the public. Shares may be purchased or sold "by the public" if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
(m) "public collective investment funds or arrangements" means any fund or device in which the purchase, sale or redemption of shares or other investments is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
(n) "recognized scholarship" means any exchange agreed by the competent authorities of the Parties;
(o) "Required Party" means the Party to this Agreement to which information is requested or who has provided information in response to an application;
(p) "Applicant Party" means the Party to this Agreement that submits a request for information or has received information from the requested Party;
(q) "tax" means any tax referred to in this Agreement.
2. For the purposes of this Agreement at any time by a Party, any term or expression that is not defined therein, unless the context requires a different interpretation, the meaning assigned to it, at that time, the law of that Party, the meaning assigned to that term or expression by the applicable tax law of that Party over the meaning assigned to it by the other branches of the law of that Party.
Article 5
Exchange of information on request
1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall, upon request of the requesting Party, provide the information for the purposes referred to in Article 1^er. This information shall be exchanged, whether or not the requested Party needs it for its own tax purposes and whether the act under investigation constitutes a criminal offence under the law of the requested Party if it had occurred in the territory of that Party. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall submit an application for information under this article only where it is not in a position to obtain the information requested by other means, except where the use of such other means would result in disproportionate difficulties.
2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority of the requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to respond to the request for information, the requested Party shall take all applicable information collection measures necessary to provide the requesting Party with the requested information, even if, at that time, the requested Party does not require that information for its own tax purposes.
3. Upon specific request by the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of the requested Party shall provide the information referred to in this article, to the extent that its domestic law allows it, in the form of testimony of witnesses and certified copies in accordance with the original documents.
4. Each Party shall ensure that it has the right, subject to the terms of Articles 1^er and 2 of this Agreement, to obtain and provide, through its competent authorities and upon request:
(a) information held by banks, other financial institutions and any person acting as an agent or trustee;
(b) information relating to the ownership of companies, partnership, collective investment arrangements, trusts (trusts), foundations and other persons, including information on all such persons when they are part of a chain of ownership, and
(i) with respect to collective investment arrangements, information on shares, shares and other participations;
(ii) with respect to trusts, grantor information (settlors), trustees, protectors (protectors) and beneficiaries;
(iii) with respect to foundations, information on founders, board members of the foundation and beneficiaries; and
(iv) in respect of persons who are not collective investment schemes, trusts or foundations, information equivalent to the information referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iii).
In addition, this Agreement does not require a Party to obtain or provide property information relating to listed companies or public investment schemes, unless such information may be obtained without causing disproportionate difficulties.
5. Any request for information is made in as detailed as possible and in writing:
(a) the identity of the person under review or investigation;
(b) the period for which the information is requested;
(c) the nature of the information requested and the form in which the requesting Party would prefer to receive it;
(d) the tax purpose in which the information is requested;
(e) the reasons that suggest that the information requested is likely to be relevant to the administration or application of the taxes of the requesting Party referred to in Article 3 with respect to the person identified in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph;
(f) reasons that suggest that the information requested is held in the requested Party, or is in the possession of a person within the jurisdiction of that Party, or may be obtained by a person within the jurisdiction of that Party;
(g) to the extent that they are known, the name and address of any person to whom it is necessary to believe that the information requested is in his or her possession or control;
(h) a statement stating that the application complies with this Agreement;
(i) a statement stating that the requesting Party has used to obtain the information all available means in its own territory, except where this would cause disproportionate difficulties.
6. The competent authority of the requested Party shall acknowledge receipt of the application to the competent authority of the requesting Party and shall endeavour to transmit the requested information to the requesting Party as soon as possible.
Article 6
Foreign tax controls
1. With reasonable notice, the competent authority of the requesting Party may request that the competent authority of the requested Party authorize representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to enter the territory of the requested Party to interrogate physical persons and to examine documents, with the prior written consent of the natural persons or other persons concerned. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall notify the competent authority of the requested Party of the date and place of the meeting with the natural persons concerned.
2. At the request of the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of the requested Party may authorize representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to attend a tax check in the territory of the requested Party.
3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is accepted, the competent authority of the requested Party that conducts the control shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the requesting Party of the date and place of the control, the authority or person authorized to conduct the control and the procedures and conditions required by the requested Party for the conduct of the control. Any decision on the conduct of control shall be taken by the requested Party that conducts control.
Article 7
Possibility to decline a request
1. The competent authority of the requested Party may refuse assistance:
(a) where the application is not submitted in accordance with this Agreement;
(b) where the requesting Party has not used all available means in its own territory to obtain the information, except where the use of such means would result in disproportionate difficulties; or
(c) where the disclosure of the requested information would be contrary to public order.
2. This Agreement does not require a Party required to provide elements subject to confidentiality (legal privilege) or information that would disclose a commercial, industrial or professional secret or a business process. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the type information referred to in section 5, paragraph 4, will not be treated as such a secret or commercial process because it meets the criteria set out in that paragraph.
3. An application for information may not be rejected on the grounds that the tax claim under the application is contested.
4. The Requested Party may reject a request for information if the information is requested by the requesting Party to apply or enforce a provision of the tax legislation of the requesting Party - or any obligation related to it - that is discriminatory against a national or citizen of the requested Party in respect of a national or citizen of the requesting Party in the same circumstances.
Article 8
Confidentiality
1. All information provided and received by the competent authorities of the Parties shall be kept confidential.
2. This information may only be disclosed to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned for the purposes specified in Article 1, and such persons or authorities may only use this information for such purposes, including for appeal decisions. For these purposes, information may be disclosed at public court hearings or in court decisions.
3. This information may only be used for purposes other than those set out in section 1^er without the express written authorization of the competent authority of the requested Party.
4. The information provided to a requesting Party under this Agreement may not be disclosed to another foreign authority without the express written authorization of the competent authority of the requested Party.
Article 9
Fees
Unless otherwise agreed by the competent authorities of the Parties, the indirect costs incurred to provide assistance shall be borne by the requested Party, and the direct costs incurred to provide assistance (including costs resulting from the use of external advisers in the litigation or for other purposes where such assistance is necessary to comply with the request) shall be borne by the requesting Party. The competent authorities shall consult periodically on this article. In particular, the competent authority of the requested Party shall consult with the competent authority of the requesting Party in advance if it expects that the provision of information with respect to a specific request will result in substantial costs.
Article 10
Friendly procedure
1. In the event of difficulties or doubts between the Parties regarding the application or interpretation of this Agreement, the competent authorities shall endeavour to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.
2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1^erthe competent authorities of the Parties may jointly determine the procedures to be followed in accordance with this Agreement.
3. The competent authorities of the Parties may communicate with each other directly when seeking an agreement under this Article.
4. Parties may also agree on other forms of dispute resolution.
Article 11
Application provisions
The Parties shall adopt any legislation necessary to comply with this Agreement and give effect to it.
Article 12
Entry into force
This Agreement shall enter into force when each Party has notified the other, in writing, of the performance of its internal procedures necessary for the coming into force. As soon as it comes into force, it will take effect:
(a) in criminal tax matters at that date; and
(b) for all other matters referred to in Article 1^er, in respect of taxable periods starting from 1^er January of the year immediately following that of the entry into force of the Agreement or, if not taxable, with respect to taxes due for taxable events occurring from 1^er January of the year immediately following that of the entry into force of the Agreement.
Article 13
Denunciation
1. This Agreement shall remain in force until its denunciation by either Party.
2. Each Party may denounce this Agreement by notifying this denunciation in writing. This denunciation takes effect on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months from the date of receipt of the notification of denunciation by the other Party.
3. If the Agreement is denounced, the Parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 8 for any information obtained under this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, to this duly authorized by the respective Parties, have signed the Agreement.
DONE in Paris, December 16, 2009, in duplicate, in the English language.