3. The Members shall publish regularly and as promptly as possible the statistics referred to in paragraph 1. 4. The Members shall give careful consideration to any recommendations which the Organization may make to them with a view to improving the statistical information furnished under paragraph 1. 5. The Members shall make available to the Organization, at its request and in so far as is reasonably practicable, such other statistical information as the Organization may deem necessary to enable it to fulfil its functions, provided that such information is not being furnished to other inter-governmental organizations from which the Organization can obtain it. 6. The Organization shall act as a centre for the collection, exchange and publication of statistical information of the kind referred to in paragraph 1. The Organization, in collaboration with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and with any other organization deemed appropriate, may engage in studies with a view to improving the methods of collecting, analyzing and publishing economic statistics and may promote the international comparability of such statistics, including the possible international adoption of standard tariff and commodity classifications. 7. The Organization, in co-operation with the other organizations referred to in paragraph 6, may also study the question of adopting standards, nomenclatures, terms and forms to be used in international trade and in the official documents and statistics of Members relating thereto, and may recommend the general acceptance by Members of such standards, nomenclatures, terms and forms. SECTION F-SPECIAL PROVISIONS Article 40 Emergency Action on Imports of Particular Products 1. (a) If, as a result of unforeseen developments and of the effect of the obligations incurred by a Member under or pursuant to this Chapter, including tariff concessions, any product is being imported into the territory of that Member in such relatively increased quantities and under such conditions as to cause or threaten serious injury to domestic producers in that territory of like or directly competitive products, the Member shall be free, in respect of such product, and to the extent and for such time as may be necessary to prevent or remedy such injury, to suspend the obligation in whole or in part or to withdraw or modify the concession. (b) If any product which is the subject of a concession with respect to a preference is being imported into the territory of a Member in the circumstances set forth in sub-paragraph (a), so as to cause or threaten serious injury to domestic producers of like or directly competitive products in the territory of a Member which receives or received such preference, the importing Member shall be free, if that other Member so requests, to suspend the relevant obligation in whole or in part or to withdraw or modify the concession in respect of the product, to the extent and for such time as may be necessary to prevent or remedy such injury. 2. Before any Member shall take action pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 1, it shall give notice in writing to the Organization as far in advance as may be practicable and shall afford the Organization and those Members having a substantial interest as exporters of the product concerned an opportunity to consult with it in respect of the proposed action. When such notice is given in regard to a concession relating to a preference, the notice shall name the Member which has requested the action. In circumstances of special urgency, where delay would cause damage which it would be difficult to repair, action under paragraph 1 may be taken provisionally without prior consultation, on the condition that consultation shall be effected immediately after taking such action. 3. (a) If agreement among the interested Members with respect to the action is not reached, the Member which proposes to take or continue the action shall, nevertheless, be free to do so, and if such action is taken or continued, the affected Members shall then be free, not later than ninety days after such action is taken, to suspend, upon the expiration of thirty days from the day on which written notice of such suspension is received by the Organization, the application to the trade of the Member taking such action, or, in the case envisaged in paragraph 1 (b), to the trade of the Member requesting such action, of such substantially equivalent obligations or concessions under or pursuant to this Chapter the suspension of which the Organization does not disapprove. (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-paragraph (a), where action is taken without prior consultation under paragraph 2 and causes or threatens serious injury in the territory of a Member to the domestic producers of products affected by the action, that Member shall, where delay would cause damage difficult to repair, be free to suspend, upon the taking of the action and throughout the period of consultation, such obligations or concessions as may be necessary to prevent or remedy the injury. 4. Nothing in this Article shall be construed (a) to require any Member, in connection with the withdrawal or modification by such Member of any concession negotiated pursuant to Article 17, to consult with or obtain the agreement of Members others than those Members which are contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or (b) to authorize any Member which is not a contracting party to that Agreement, to withdraw from or suspend obligations under this Charter by reason of the withdrawal or modification of such concession. Article 41 Each Member shall accord sympathetic consideration to, and shall afford adequate opportunity for consultation regarding, such representations as may be made by any other Member with respect to the operation of customs regulations and formalities, anti-dumping and countervailing duties, quantitative and exchange regulations, internal price regulations, subsidies, transit regulations and practices, state trading, sanitary laws and regulations for the protection of human, animal or plant life or health, and generally with respect to all matters affecting the operation of this Chapter. Article 42 Territorial Application of Chapter IV 1. The provisions of Chapter IV shall apply to the metropolitan customs territories of the Members and to any other customs territories in respect of which this Charter has been accepted in accordance with the provisions of Article 104. Each such customs territory shall, exclusively for the purposes of the territorial application of Chapter IV, be treated as though it were a Member; Provided that the provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed to create any rights or obligations as between two or more customs territories in respect of which this Charter has been accepted by a single Member. 2. For the purposes of this Chapter a customs territory shall be understood to mean any territory with respect to which separate tariffs or other regulations of commerce are maintained for a substantial part of the trade of such territory with other territories. Article 43 Frontier Traffic The provisions of this Chapter shall not be construed to prevent: (a) advantages accorded by any Member to adjacent countries in order to facilitate frontier traffic; (b) advantages accorded to the trade with the Free Territory of Trieste by countries contiguous to that territory, provided that such advantages are not in conflict with the Treaties of Peace arising out of the Second World War. Article 44 Customs Unions and Free-Trade Areas 1. Members recognize the desirability of increasing freedom of trade by the development, through voluntary agreements, of closer integration between the economies of the countries parties to such agreements. They also recognize that the purpose of a customs union or free-trade area should be to facilitate trade between the parties and not to raise barriers to the trade of other Member countries with such parties. 2. Accordingly, the provisions of this Chapter shall not prevent, as between the territories of Members, the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area or the adoption of an interim agreement necessary for the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area; Provided that: (a) with respect to a customs union, or an interim agreement leading to the formation of a customs union, the duties and other regulations of commerce imposed at the institution of any such union or interim agreement in respect of trade with Member countries not parties to such union or agreement shall not on the whole be higher or more restrictive than the general incidence of the duties and regulations of commerce applicable in the constituent territories prior to the formation of such union or the adoption of such interim agreement, as the case may be; (b) with respect to a free-trade area, or an interim agreement leading to the formation of a free-trade area, the duties and other regulations of commerce maintained in each of the constituent territories and applicable at the formation of such freetrade area or the adoption of such interim agreement to the trade of Member countries not included in such area or not parties to such agreement shall not be higher or more restrictive than the corresponding duties and other regulations of commerce existing in the same constituent territories prior to the formation of the free-trade area, or interim agreement, as the case may be; and (c) any interim agreement referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) or (b) shall include a plan and schedule for the formation of such a customs union or of such a free-trade area within a reasonable length of time. 3. (a) Any Member deciding to enter into a customs union or freetrade area, or an interim agreement leading to the formation of such a union or area, shall promptly notify the Organization and shall make available to it such information regarding the proposed union or area as will enable the Organization to make such reports and recommendations to Members as it may deem appropriate. (b) If, after having studied the plan and schedule provided for in an interim agreement referred to in paragraph 2 in consultation with the parties to that agreement and taking due account of the information made available in accordance with the provisions of sub-paragraph (a), the Organization finds that such agreement is not likely to result in the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area within the period contemplated by the parties to the agreement or that such period is not a reasonable one, the Organization shall make recommendations to the parties to the agreement. The parties shall not maintain or put into force, as the case may be, such agreement if they are not prepared to modify it in accordance with these recommendations. (c) Any substantial change in the plan or schedule referred to in paragraph 2 (c) shall be communicated to the Organization, which may request the Members concerned to consult with it if the change seems likely to jeopardize or delay unduly the formation of the customs union or of the free-trade area. 4. For the purposes of this Charter: (a) a customs union shall be understood to mean the substitution of a single customs territory for two or more customs territories, so that (i) duties and other restrictive regulations of commerce (except, where necessary, those permitted under Section B of Chapter IV and under Article 45) are eliminated with respect to substantially all the trade between the constituent territories of the union or at least with respect to substantially all the trade in products originating in such territories, and, (ii) subject to the provisions of paragraph 5, substantially the same duties and other regulations of commerce are applied by each of the members of the union to the trade of territories not included in the union; (b) a free-trade area shall be understood to mean a group of two or more customs territories in which the duties and other restrictive regulations of commerce (except, where necessary, those permitted under Section B of Chapter IV and under Article 45) are eliminated on substantially all the trade between the constituent territories in products originating in such territories. 5. The preferences referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 16 shall not be affected by the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area |