DECREE NO. 4,458, OF November 5, 2002-PART 1

Disposes on the implementation of the Complementation Agreement Economic No. 55, between the Governments of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic, the Republic of Paraguay, the Eastern Republic of Uruguay and the United Mexican States, of September 27, 2002.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, in the use of the assignment that confers it on art. 84, inciso IV, of the Constitution,

Considering that the Treaty of Montevideo of 1980, which created the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), firmed by Brazil on August 12, 1980 and approved by the National Congress, through the Legislative Decree No. 66 of November 16, 1981, provides for the modality of Complementation Agreement Economic;

Considering that the Plenipotentiaries of the Federative Republic of Brazil, of the Argentine Republic, of the Republic of Paraguay, of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay and the United Mexican States, based on the Treaty of Montevideo of 1980, signed, on September 27, 2002, in Montevideo, the Economic Supplementation Agreement No. 55, Between the Governments of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic, the Republic of Paraguay, the Eastern Republic of Uruguay and the United Mexican States;

D E C R E T A:

Art. 1º The Economic Supplementation Agreement No. 55, among the Governments of the Federative Republic of Brazil, of the Argentine Republic, of the Republic of Paraguay, of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay and of the United Mexican States, apensed by copy to the present Decree, will be executed and fulfilled as entirely as it contains.

Art. 2º This Decree comes into effect on the date of its publication.

Brasilia, November 5, 2002; 181º of Independence and 114º of the Republic.

FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO

Celso Lafer

ECONOMIC COMPLEMENTATION AGREEMENT NO. 55

CELEBRATED BETWEEN MERCOSUR AND THE

UNITED STATES MEXICANS

The Plenipotentiaries of the Argentine Republic, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Paraguay, the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, States Parties to MERCOSUR, and of the United States Mexicans, accredited by their respective Governments, second powers bestowed in good and due form, timely deposited at the General Secretariat of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI),

XX_ENCODE_CASE_One CONSIDERING

The need to strengthen the process of integration of Latin America in order to achieve the objectives of the Treaty of Montevideo 1980;

The importance of relying on a legal scope that propitie the development of business relations between the Parties;

The convenience of offering economic agents clear rules that enable the development of trade and economic complementation; and

Decisions 32/00 and 37/00 of the Council of the Common Market, concerning the trade negotiations between MERCOSUR and the United Mexican States,

CONVESATE IN:

Celebrate the present Economic Supplementation Agreement, in accordance with that established in the Treaty of Montevideo 1980 and in Resolution 2 of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Latin American Free Trade Association (ALALC), in the following terms and conditions:

Objectives

Article 1º-The Governments of the Argentine Republic, of the Federative Republic of Brazil, of the Republic of Paraguay, of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay and the United Mexican States, (henceforth? the Signatary Parties?), sign the present Agreement with views to be based on the foundations for the establishment of free trade in the automotive sector and promote integration and productive complementation of their respective automotive sectors.

The States Parties to the MERCOSUR and the United Mexican States, (henceforth? the Contracting Parties?), shall be that the present Agreement shall be incorporated into the future Free Trade Agreement that will be expeditiously signed between MERCOSUR and the United Mexican States, constituting itself in the clauses regarding the automotive sector of that Agreement.

Definitions

Article 2º-For the purposes of this Agreement, it will be understood by:

tariff: any tax or gravame on import and any charge of any kind, applied in relation to the import of goods, included any form of surcharge on imports, except:

a) any charge equivalent to an internal tax established as per Article III.2 of the GATT 1994 on goods from which it has been drawn up or processed wholly or partially the imported good;

b) any anti-dumping duty or compensatory measure applied in accordance with the legislation of each Party Signatory;

c) any right or other charge related to the import, proportional at the cost of the services provided; and

d) any award offered or raised on goods imported, derived from any bidding system, concerning the administration of quantitative import restrictions or tariffs-quota or tariff preference shares.

days: days gone by;

NALADI/SH: identifies the Nomenclature of the Latin American Integration Association, based on the Harmonized System of Designation and Coding of Goods, in force, included your general rules and your legal notes of section, chapter, position and subheading, in the form that the Signatary Parties have adopted it in their respective legislation;

free trade: free movement with tariff preference margin of one hundred (100) per cent (zero (0) per cent tariff) of goods understood in Article 3, where if comply with the requirements of the Origin Regime and the Technical Regulations that will be established under the provisions of Articles 6º and 7º of this Agreement.

Coverage of the Accord

Article 3º-The provisions contained in this Agreement will be applied to the commercial exchange of the following goods (henceforth?), provided that it is new goods:

-Vehicles (understood in the NALADI/SH positions, with their respective descriptions, which are shown in Annex I):

a) automobiles;

b) vehicles of weight at maximum load not exceeding 8845 kg-eight thousand eight hundred and forty-five kilograms (light commercial, chassis with motor and cabin and bodywork for such vehicles, trucks and chassis with motor and cabin, of weight at maximum load not exceeding 8845 kg-eight thousand eight hundred and forty five kilograms);

c) weight vehicles at maximum load greater than 8845 kg-eight thousand eight hundred and forty-five kilograms (trucks, trucks-tractors and chassis with motor and cabin, of weight in maximum load exceeding 8845 kg-eight thousand eight hundred and forty-five kilograms);

d) buses (complete buses, chassis with engine and bodywork for buses);

e) carrots;

f) trailers and semi-rebounders;

g) agricultural tractors, ceifairs, agricultural machinery and self-propelled road machineries.

-Autopeeds:

h) auto parts (parts, assemblies and subassemblies, comprising pneumatics) needed for the production of the vehicles listed in the letters? a? a? g? of this article, as well as those necessary for the production of the goods indicated in this letter, included those intended for the repose market.

Trade provisions

Article 4º-The Signatary Parties will be able to apply to the imports that carry out the amparo of the present Agreement its commercial and legal provisions in automotive matter, which are compatible with the Marrakech Agreement, by which it creates World Trade Organization.

The Signatory Parties will be able to maintain prohibitions or restrictions on the import of used goods, from those understood in Article 3, observing the special conditions laid down in their prevailing legislations, in the Automotive Policy of MERCOSUR to their States Parts and the transitional provisions, set out in Appendices I (Argentina-Mexico), II (Brazil-Mexico), III (Paraguay-Mexico) and IV (Uruguay-Mexico) (henceforth?) of this Agreement, respectively.

Period of transition for free trade

Article 5º-The Contracting Parties shall establish the free trade of the automotive products understood in Article 3º in a gradual manner, after a period of transition since the entry into force of this Agreement, and until June 30, 2011. During the transitional period, the provisions set out in the Bilateral Appendices shall regulate the trade between the Signatary Parties mentioned in each of them in respect of access to markets, tariff preferences and technical regulations.

The Signatory Parties referred to in the Bilateral Appendices will be able to change, at any time, common agreement, the provisions laid down in them, as well as to incorporate their scope of application automotive products listed in Article 3º of this Agreement, by communicating these modifications to the remaining Signatary Parties.

Regime of origin

Article 6º-In-matter of origin govern the provisions of Annex II to this Agreement.

Technical regulations

Article 7º-The Contracting Parties will agree, prior to the establishment of the free trade of automotive products understood in Article 3, the Technical Regulations that are to comply with the goods interchangeable. These regulations will be defined as of the harmonisation of the provisions on the matter, contained in the bilateral Appendices.

Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, if no agreement is reached on the Technical Regulations, the Signatary Parties will continue to apply the established provisions on the matter in the bilateral Appendices.

Administration of the Agreement

Article 8º-The Contracting Parties agree to constitute an Automotive Committee to monitor the application of the provisions contained in this Agreement and in the Bilateral Appendices, comply with the established in Articles 5, 6º and 7, decide on additional provisions necessary for the incorporation of this Agreement to the Agreement on Free Trade between MERCOSUR and Mexico, as provided for in Article 1, and permanently seek to refine the functioning of this Agreement.

Peles characteristics of the present Agreement, the surveillance and possible adjustments in the Bilateral Appendices will be resolved between the Signatary Parties involved and communicated to the Automotive Committee for its formalization in the Agreement.

The Automotive Committee will approve your internal regulation.

Solution of controversies

Article 9º-The Contracting Parties are to initiate, as of the date of entry into force of this Agreement, the negotiations necessary to define and agree a procedure for the solution of controversies to address the controversies between the Signatary Parties regarding their interpretation, application or defulfillment of this Agreement.

Case presents itself with a controversy over the application, interpretation, or disfulfillment of the provisions of this Agreement, the Automotive Committee will convene in an extraordinary manner, at the request of any Signatary Party, to remedy the controversy, at a maximum period of thirty (30) days, counted from the date of the application.

Case is not obtained a satisfactory solution within the framework of the Automotive Committee, and while the Contracting Parties agree a common regime of solution of controversies, the Signatary Parties involved in the controversy will submit to the procedures for the solution of controversies indicated in the bilateral Appendices, second match.

Convergence

Article 10-On the occasion of the meetings of the Evaluation and Convergence Conference referred to in Article 33 of the Treaty of Montevideo 1980, the Contracting Parties shall examine the possibility of proceeding to the progressive multilateralization of the treatments included in this Agreement.

Accession

Article 11- This Agreement will be open to the accession, upon prior negotiation, of the remaining ALADI member states, and this will be formalized through the signing of a protocol of accession to this Agreement, which shall enter into force thirty (30) days after its deposit at the General Secretariat of the ALADI.

Vigence

Article 12-The present Agreement will enter into force between Mexico and each State Party of MERCOSUR, respectively, in a term not exceeding thirty (30) days, counted from the date of the corresponding notification to the General Secretariat of ALADI, Mexico and the State Party of MERCOSUR to which it is dealt with, regarding the completion of its legal formalities required for your application.

This agreement will vigorously force until it is replaced by a Free Agreement Trade between MERCOSUR and Mexico, as per Article 1.

Denpronunciation

Article 13-A Contracting Party that wishes to denounce this Agreement should communicate its decision to the other Part Contracting with sixty (60) days of anticipation to the deposit of the respective whistleblower instrument at the General Secretariat of ALADI.

From the formalization of the complaint, they shall cease to the Contracting Party denouncing the acquired rights and the obligations incurred in connection with this Agreement, remaining the referring to the Commercial Provisions and other aspects agreed upon by the Contracting Parties within sixty (60) days later to the formalization of the complaint.

These rights and obligations will remain in force for a period of one (1) year, starting from the date of deposit of the respective instrument of denunciation, save that the Parties Contractors speed up a different time frame.

General provisions

Article 14-Once the present Agreement enters into force, the Eighth Additional Protocol to the Agreement shall be without effect Partial Scope of Renegotiation No. 9 (AAP.R 9 Brazil-Mexico), the Twelfth Additional Protocol to the Economic Supplementation Agreement No. 6 (ACE 6 Argentina-Mexico), as far as the products classified in the item NALADI/SH 8407.34.00 are concerned, and the Fourteenth Additional Protocol to the Economic Supplementation Agreement No. 6 (ACE 6 Argentina-Mexico).

Article 15-The Annexes and Appendices Bilateral to the present Agreement are an integral part of it.

Emendas and accruals

Article 16-The Contracting Parties may at any time be able to revise and amend, by mutual agreement, the provisions contained in this Agreement, seeking to adjust it to the conditions that consider more suitable for the fulfillment of the goals set out in Article 1.

Transitional provisions

Article 17-Appendix III (Paraguay-Mexico) will be incorporated into this Agreement once the negotiations set out in point 1. (b) of the Agreement between the Registry of the Economy of Mexico and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay for the establishment of the Bilateral Trade and Investments Council, signed at the five (5) days of the July two thousand and two.

Depositary

Article 18-A General Secretariat of ALADI will be depositary of this Agreement, of which it will send duly authenticated copies to the Signatary Parties.

IN FÉ DO WHAT, THE RESPECTIVE PLENIPOTENTIARIES SIGN the present Protocol in the city of Montevideo, to the days of the month of September two thousand and two, in an original in the Portuguese and Spanish languages, being both texts being equally valid.

By the Government of the Argentine Republic:

Juan Carlos Olima

By the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil:

Bernardo Pericás Neto

By the Government of the Republic of Paraguay:

José María Casal

By the Government of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay:

Elbio Oscar Rosselli Frieri

By the Government of the United Mexican States:

Jesús Puente Leyva

appended