The Government of the State of Qatar (hereinafter referred to as ‘the State of Qatar’) and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’), based on the spirit of brotherhood and good neighbourly ties and in support of the brotherly and sincere relations existing between them, and desiring to establish fruitful and lasting cooperation in the field of civil defence in order to ward off dangers and to protect persons, wealth and the environment when confronting natural disasters or disasters resulting from human activities (including technological development), and in realization of the common rules that result from cooperation in this field, and in recognition of the importance of realizing the objectives and implementing the principles, resolutions and provisions included in the regional and international agreements and protocols the two countries have signed or ratified in the field of civil defence, and based on the Minutes of the First Session of the Saudi-Qatari Coordination Council held in Riyadh during the period 16 to 19/12/1429 AH

Hereby agreed as follows:

Article 1:

The parties hereto shall cooperate in the fields of civil defence to confront dangers and threats that occur due to natural or industrial disasters in either the State of Qatar or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and shall promote the development of this cooperation by means agreed between the parties hereto within the limits of the available resources within each country in accordance with the appropriate legislation of each country.

Article 2:

The cooperation referred to in Article 1 hereto shall include the following:

a)      Cooperation in the event of the occurrence of a disaster in either of the two countries;

b)      The exchange of information regarding the organization of technical and administrative aspects of civil defence bodies in both countries and the development of such;

c)      The conducting of field and scientific joint and continuous studies in order to determine the direct and indirect dangers that threaten the State of Qatar or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to specify the best means of protection from such dangers and the best means with which to address them;

d)     Advance notification by either party to the other of conferences and scientific symposia organized in the field of civil defence prior to their due date to enable the other party to participate in the same;

e)      Facilitation of the exchange of experts between the parties hereto in the various fields of civil defence;

f)       Fostering the preparation of joint protective media programmes in the field of civil defence;

g)      Seeking coordination of the positions of the parties hereto regarding participation in regional and international conferences and forums related to civil defence.

Article 3:

In the event of a disaster striking either of the parties hereto the party requiring support and assistance (‘the relieved party’) shall undertake to facilitate the entry and exit procedures of personnel of the party offering support and assistance (‘the relief party’), as well as facilitating the entry and exit of such equipment and materials as is provided by the relief party in accordance with details provided to the relieved party prior to entry by the relief party into the territory of the relieved party, and such relieved party shall also undertake the provision of protection for and assistance to the units of the relief party.

Article 4:

The relief party shall undertake to respect the relevant regulations and instruction in the territory of the relieved party during the presence of the relief party in such territory.

Article 5:

Expenses resulting from cooperation between the parties shall be calculated as follows:

(a)                In the event of a disaster:

-       The relief party shall bear the expenses of transporting its personnel and equipment to the territory of the relieved party, as well as the costs of their return on expiry of the mission;

-       The relieved party shall bear the expenses of accommodation, living and necessary health care expenses of the personnel of the relief party, in addition to operations costs throughout the period of the mission;

(b)               In the event of exchange visits:

-     When civil defence official or experts from one party visit the territory of the other party the visiting party shall bear the expenses of movement to and from the territory of the host party, and the host party shall bear the expenses of full accommodation and internal transport;

(c)                In the event of training:

-     Any party sending students or trainees to the territory of the other party shall bear all expenses incurred.

Article 6:

The relieved party shall not bear any burden or financial obligation for provision by the relief party of material or in-kind aid; neither shall the relieved party bear any expenses incurred in the consumption of equipment or materials by the relief party during the performance of its mission or with regard to damage of the same unless such damage is intentional.

Article 7:

The relieved party shall have the right to supervise intervention, rescue and treatment operations in addition to determining work priorities and locations. Personnel and units of the relief party should not be assigned tasks that by their nature exceed the level of risk of tasks usually carried out by personnel and units of the relieved party.

Article 8:

The relieved party shall bear the responsibility for unintentional damage caused to others by personnel of the relief party during the performance of their tasks.

Article 9:

The relieved party shall bear responsibility for damage caused to personnel of the relief party during the performance of their tasks.

Article 10:

Information obtained by either party from the other within the framework of this agreement may not be transmitted to a third party without the prior written approval of the party providing such information.

Article 11:

This agreement shall be executed on behalf of the State of Qatar by the General Directorate of Civil Defence and on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the General Directorate of Civil Defence.

Article 12:

Provisions of this agreement may be amended by agreement between the parties hereto in accordance with the regulations and legal procedures followed in both countries.

Article 13:

A committee comprising specialists related to the field of civil defence from both parties hereto shall be formed in order to discuss issues of cooperation in this field, and to make recommendations for the development of this agreement, and to submit such recommendations to the competent authorities of each party. The committee shall convene alternately in both countries party to this agreement annually and as necessity requires.

Article 14:

Any dispute arising between the two parties regarding interpretation or implementation of this agreement shall be settled amicably through the committee referred to in Article 13 and in the event that the committee fails to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution, the parties hereto shall resort to diplomatic means to reach settlement.

Article 15:

This agreement shall enter into force after thirty days from the date of the last notification by either party to the other, through diplomatic channels, of completion of the internal procedures related to ratifying this agreement.

Article 16:

This agreement shall be valid for five years commencing from its entering into force and shall be automatically renewed for a similar term or terms until such time as one party expresses its desire in writing to terminate or not to renew the this agreement. Written notice of termination of this agreement must be given at least three months prior to its termination, and the provisions of this agreement shall remain valid regarding claims made prior to its expiry.

DONE in the city of Riyadh on 03/26/1432 H, corresponding to 1/3/2011, in two original copies in the Arabic language, both texts being equally authentic.

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