Article 7 Operation of the arbitration panel

The Chairperson of the arbitration panel shall preside at all its meetings. The arbitration panel may delegate to the Chairperson the authority to make administrative and procedural decisions.

Unless otherwise provided in Part III of the Agreement or in these Rules of Procedure, the arbitration panel may conduct its activities by any means, including telephone, facsimile transmissions or computer links.

Only arbitrators may take part in the deliberations of the arbitration panel, but the arbitration panel may permit arbitrators' assistants to be present at its deliberations.

The drafting of any decision or report shall remain the exclusive responsibility of the arbitration panel and shall not be delegated.

Where a procedural question arises that is not covered by Part III of the Agreement and the Annexes thereto, the arbitration panel, after consulting the Parties, may adopt an appropriate procedure that is compatible with those provisions.

When the arbitration panel considers that there is a need to change any of the time periods for the proceedings other than the time periods set out in Part III of the Agreement or to make any other procedural or administrative adjustment, it shall inform the Parties, in writing and after consulting them, of the reasons for the change or adjustment and of the new time period or adjustment needed.