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AGREEMENT BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA AND
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS
ON EARLY NOTIFICATION OF NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS, EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND CO-OPERATION IN THE FIELD OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION

The Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter referred to as the "Contracting Parties"), referring to

the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident of 26 September 1986,

the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency of 26 September 1986,

the Convention on Nuclear Safety of 17 June 1994,

the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management of 5 September 1997,

the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism of 13 April 2005,

taking into consideration the provisions of Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe of 1 August 1975,

taking into consideration that the Republic of Latvia is a Member State of the European Union and member of the European Atomic Energy Community and it is bound by the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (hereinafter referred to as the "Euratom Treaty"), as well as the provisions of secondary law,

taking into consideration that the Republic of Belarus is a Member State of the Union State of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States and it is bound by the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State and the Program for its implementation, the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as the provisions of secondary law,

striving for further strengthening of international co-operation in the field of safe use of nuclear energy and radiation technologies,

convinced that comprehensive co-operation between both States will contribute to limiting the risk and consequences of possible nuclear accidents and improving their nuclear safety and radiation protection infrastructure,

have agreed as follows:

Article 1
Scope

1. This Agreement shall apply:

a) in case of any accidents involving facilities or activities of the Contracting Parties or of persons and legal entities under their jurisdiction or control, referred to paragraph 2 of this Article, from which a release of radioactive material occurs or is likely to occur and which has resulted or may result in a transboundary release (hereinafter referred to as "nuclear accident");

b) if the environmental monitoring system of one of the Contracting Parties registers the ionizing radiation in the levels that may be harmful for human health, where such occurrence is not caused by release from facilities or activities in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties.

2. Facilities or activities referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be the following (hereinafter referred to as "facilities or activities"):

a) any nuclear facility;

b) any nuclear fuel and/or radioactive waste management facility;

c) transporting or storage of nuclear fuels and radioactive waste;

d) the manufacture, use, storage, disposal and transport of radioisotopes for agricultural, industrial, medical, research and other purposes.

3. With a view to minimizing radiological consequences, the Contracting Parties shall give notification in the event of nuclear and radiological accidents other than those specified in this Article that might have radiological consequences in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

Article 2
Competent authorities

1. This Agreement shall be implemented by the following competent authorities of the Contracting Parties:

in the Republic of Latvia: the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia;

in the Republic of Belarus: the Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus.

2. Each Contracting Party shall promptly notify the other Contracting Party:

a) of official contact point and its contact information (postal address, phone, fax, e-mail);

b) of any changes concerning the competent authorities and official contact points.

3. With a view to successful implementation of this Agreement, the competent authorities of Contracting Parties may set up commissions, working groups, conduct exercises, arrange consultations and conclude additional protocols, which could specify the procedures for information exchange and its content.

Article 3
Early notification

1. In the case of a nuclear accident, the Contracting Party in the territory of which the accident occurs shall immediately notify the other Contracting Party and promptly provide relevant information in order to minimize radiological consequences. The information shall comprise the following data as then available:

a) the time, exact location and nature of the nuclear accident;

b) facilities or activities involved, referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 1 of this Agreement;

c) the assumed or established cause and the foreseeable development of the nuclear accident;

d) the off-site protective measures taken or planned;

e) the general characteristics of the radioactive release, including, as far as practicable and appropriate, the nature, probable physical and chemical form and the quantity, composition and effective altitude of the radioactive release;

f) information on current and forecast meteorological and hydrological conditions, necessary for forecasting the transboundary release of the radioactive materials;

g) the results of environmental monitoring relevant to the transboundary release of the radioactive materials;

h) the predicted behavior over time of the radioactive release.

2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be supplemented by any relevant information on the development of the emergency situation at appropriate intervals, including its foreseeable or actual termination.

3. The Contracting Party providing information under this Article shall as soon as possible respond to a request from the other Contracting Party for further information or consultations.

4. If the environmental monitoring system of one Contracting Party registers the ionizing radiation in the levels that may be harmful for human health and that are not caused by release from facilities or activities in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties, it shall promptly notify the other Contracting Party and shall continue to keep the other Contracting Party informed of further developments.

5. The information on a nuclear accident in accordance with this Article to be provided in English under the code name EMERCON will be received directly from the official contact points of each Contracting Party.

Article 4
Exchange of information

1. The Contracting Parties shall exchange information regarding:

a) nuclear facilities in operation as well as those planned or under construction, commissioned, under decommissioning or already decommissioned within their territory;

b) facilities or activities at the risk of release of radioactive materials in quantities, exceeding maximum permissible levels;

c) off-site emergency planning zones of nuclear facilities and calculated emergency planning distances, within which protective or other response actions of the other Contracting Party could be required to be taken.

2. The Contracting Parties shall notify as soon as possible of all significant changes in nuclear safety and radiation protection related to facilities or activities in their territories.

3. The Contracting Parties shall promptly notify each other of any cases identified in their territories of illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials, including radiation sources or radioactive wastes from the territory of the State of one Contracting Party to the territory of the State of the other Contracting Party.

4. The Contracting Party receiving information under this Article shall be entitled to request clarifications of such information.

5. If information referred to in this Article is marked in the Contracting Party as information with restricted access (in the Republic of Latvia - "ierobežotas pieejamības informācija", in the Republic of Belarus - information, distribution and (or) provision of which is limited) it may be refused to the other Contracting Party or be transmitted in the procedure set forth in Article 7 of this Agreement.

Article 5
Scientific and technical co-operation

The Contracting Parties shall promote and support scientific and technical cooperation between public authorities and other institutions of both Contracting Parties in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection, including monitoring of the environment and radioactive releases, nuclear fuel or radioactive waste management, mutual fellowships of specialists and exchange of experience in these fields.

Article 6
Reimbursements of costs

Neither Contracting Party shall claim reimbursement of costs related to the exchange of information under this Agreement from the other Contracting Party.

Article 7
Use of information with restricted access

1. Information exchanged by the Contracting Parties shall be:

a) unclassified information or

b) marked as information with restricted access as set out in paragraph 5 of Article 4 of this Agreement.

2. If the Contracting Party transmitting the information marks it as being of restricted access, it shall indicate clearly the restricted access nature of this information to the other Contracting Party.

3. The information with restricted access shall be used only by competent authorities and other bodies of the Contracting Parties only to the extent that this is related to them. Without a written consent of the Contracting Party that has transmitted information with restricted access, such information may not be communicated to any third parties.

4. The Contracting Parties shall ensure the protection of any information received under this Agreement in accordance with their national laws and regulations.

Article 8
Relation to other agreements

This Agreement shall not affect the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties arising from other international agreements previously concluded by the Contracting Parties as well as other international obligations of the Contracting Parties under international law, including:

obligations of the Republic of Latvia in accordance with the Treaty of the European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Euratom Treaty;

obligations of the Republic of Belarus in accordance with the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State, the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Article 9
Amendments and supplements

This Agreement may be amended and supplemented by mutual agreement between the Contracting Parties in the form of separate protocols that shall constitute an integral part of this Agreement. Such protocols shall enter into force in accordance with Article 11 of this Agreement.

Article 10
Settlement of disputes

Any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the provisions of this Agreement shall be settled by negotiations between the Contracting Parties.

Article 11
Entry into force and termination

1. This Agreement shall be concluded for an unlimited period and shall enter into force on the date of receipt of the last written notification through the diplomatic channels whereby the Contracting Parties notify each other of the completion of their internal legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement.

2. Each Contracting Party may terminate this Agreement by a written notification to the other Contracting Party through diplomatic channels. The Agreement shall remain in force six months following the receipt of such notification by the other Contracting Party.

Done at Minsk, on February 7, 2018 in duplicate copies in the Latvian, Russian and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence in interpretation, the English text shall prevail.

For the Government of the Republic of Latvia Māris Kučinskis Prime Minister

For the Government of the Republic of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov Prime Minister