b) Transfer freely its funds, currency or movable valuables from one country to another or withinany country and convert any currency held by it into any other currency.

2 — The EPLO Regional Branch in Portugal shall be exempt from paying stamp duties on banking operations.

CHAPTER III

Immunities and privileges of representatives, officials and experts

Article 13

Representatives

1 — The representatives of the Member States attending the meetings of the EPLO Regional Branch in Portugal shall, while exercising their official functions and during their journey to and from the place of meeting, enjoy the following privileges and immunities:

a) Immunity against any legal proceedings, including both civil and criminal, even after thetermination of their mission, in respect of spoken or written statements, and from all acts performed by them in their official capacity as representatives to the EPLO Regional Branch in Portugal;

b) Inviolability of all official papers and documents, regardless of the form;c) When required by Portuguese or European Union legislation, issuance of passport visas for

the representatives and their spouses or partners free of any cost and as fast as possible.

2 — The provisions of the previous paragraph shall not affect any other immunity to which the representative may be entitled under international law.

3 — The privileges and immunities mentioned in paragraph 1 and 2 of this article may not be enjoyed by representatives of the Portuguese Republic or Portuguese nationals.

4 — The EPLO Regional Branch in Portugal shall inform the Portuguese Republic of the names of the representatives before they enter the Portuguese territory.

Article 14

Officials

1 — The officials of the EPLO Regional Branch in Portugal shall be registered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic.

2 — The officials shall be entitled to the following privileges and immunities:

a) Immunity against any legal proceedings in respect of acts performed in the course of theperformance of their functions for the EPLO Regional Branch in Portugal, including spoken or written statements;

b) Inviolability of papers and documents in whatever form and materials relating to their functionsfor the EPLO Regional Branch in Portugal, including but not limited to products stored in magnetic media, as well as regular and electronic mail and documents transmitted in electronic data;

c) When required by Portuguese or European Union legislation, issuance of passport visasfor the officials and their spouses, partners, as well as to other dependants such as ascendants or descendants in direct line and first degree, including adoptive children in the same circumstances, free of any cost and as fast as possible;

d) The same facilities in respect to currency exchange as the ones given to members of thediplomatic missions;

II SÉRIE-A — NÚMERO 158 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

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