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II SÉRIE-A — NÚMERO 34

Article IX

Circulation of publications

The circulation of publications or of other information issued by the Group or sent to the Group, that are the result of official activities, shall not suffer any kind of restriction.

Article X

Direct tax exemption

The possessions and revenues resulting from official activities of the Group are exempt from all direct taxations, namely from corporate income tax, conveyance tax, and local tax on real estate relative to the Group's installations, with the exception of the payments made for special services rendered.

Article XI Indirect tax exemption

1) The goods and services resulting from official activities acquired by the Group are exempt from the following indirect taxes: value added tax (VAT), automobile tax, taxes concerning petroleum products and alcoholic beverages tax.

2) Relating to VAT, the Group, on acquiring new automobiles, goods and services from the national market for their official activities, may be reimbursed it the value of each acquisition exceeds 20 000$.

3) The acquisition of goods and services referred to in the previous paragraph, purchased in other Member States of the European Community, are not subject to the payment of VAT in Portugal.

4) On purchasing in the national market new automobiles for official use, the Group is exempt from paying the automobile tax.

Article XTJ Importation exemption

Whenever the Group needs to import or export acquires goods and services for official activities, they shall be exempt from importation and exportation duties, from VAT, from special taxes referred to in article xi or from any other duties, except those destined for payment or services, as foreseen in Community regulations.

Article XIJJ Alienation to third parties

The goods acquired in accordance with article x and xi, or imported in accordance wiht article xu of this Agreement, shall not be donated, sold, rented or transected before five years of the acquisition. If this period is not respected, the competent authorities will be notified and the respective taxes and import duties payed.

Article XIV Funds, foreign currency and assets

1) Without being restricted by controls, regulations or moratoria of any kind:

The Group may hold funds currency or movable valuables or any kind and operate accounts in any currency;

The Group may freely transfer its funds, currency or movable valuables from one country to another or within any country and convert any currency held by it into any other currency.

2) The Group shall be exempt from paying stamp duties on banking operations.

Immunities and privileges of representatives, employees and experts

Article XV

Representatives

1) The representatives of the Group shall enjoy the following privileges and immunities while travelling and during the meetings which they attend in an official capacity:

a) Judicial immunity for acts rendered while in an official capacity, including written documents and texts;

b) Inviolability of documents destined for official use by the Group;

c) Exemption, extended to spouses, from all restrictive measures for entry, including visa requirements and registration formalities, needed by immigration control;

d) The representatives of the Group shall enjoy the same treatment as is accorded to diplomatic representatives, unless they reside in Portugal;

e) They shall receive the same customs privileges accorded to diplomatic representatives.

2) Whatever the relations existing between the Governments of the representatives of the Group and the Government of the Portuguese Republic, the provision of the above paragraph shall be applied and shall not prejudice any special immunity to which the representatives might be entitled.

3) The privileges and immunities mentioned in the first paragraph of this article may not be used by representatives of the Government or by citizens of the Portuguese Republic.

4) The privileges and immunities are given to the representatives in order to guarantee their independence while serving the Group. Each Member State should renounce the immunity of its representative, when the course of justice is being obtruded and when such a renunciation does not prejudice the original purpose of the immunity.

5) The Group shall inform the Government of the names of the representatives of the various Member States, before their arrival in Portugal.

Article XVI Secretariat employees

1) The Secretary-General of the International Copper Study Group shall enjoy the same privileges and immunities normally granted to members of the diplomatic missions of comparable rank. The Secretary-General of the International Copper Study Group shall be included in the diplomatic list organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.