Armenia signs five Council of Europe Conventions and Protocols

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan is paying an official visit to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Wednesday, January 24 where he attended the signing by foreign minister Edward Nalbandian of five Council of Europe Conventions and Protocols.

The Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, in particular, allows the Parties, the member States of the Council of Europe and the member countries of OECD, to develop, on common foundations and respecting the basic rights of tax-payers, extensive administrative co-operation covering all compulsory taxes, with the exception of customs duty. The types of assistance are varied, covering the exchange of information between Parties, simultaneous tax examinations and participation in tax examinations carried out in other countries, the recovery of taxes due in other Parties and notification of documents issued in other Parties.

The Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs calls on governments to establish as a criminal offence the illegal removal of human organs from living or deceased donors in certain conditions.

The Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism makes a number of acts, including taking part in an association or group for the purpose of terrorism, receiving terrorist training, traveling abroad for the purposes of terrorism and financing or organizing travel for this purpose, a criminal offence. The Protocol also provides for a network of 24-hour-a-day national contact points facilitating the rapid exchange of information.

The Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events aims to ensure that football and other sports events provide a safe, secure and welcoming environment for all individuals through the implementation of an integrated approach on safety, security and service at sports events by a plurality of actors working in a partnership amid an ethos of co-operation.

And last but not least, the Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production seeks to provide a legal and financial framework for the co-production of feature-length films involving production companies established in three or more states Parties.