- 1
- Concerning the application for or the legitimacy of payment of benefits, the competent institution of a Contracting Party shall, at the request of the competent institution of the other Contracting Party, verify the information, referred to under paragraph 2, regarding a beneficiary or a member of his family. If necessary, this verification is to be carried out with the agencies. The competent institution shall forward a statement of the verification along with authenticated copies of the relevant documents to the competent institution of the other Contracting Party.
- 2
- The information referred to in the first paragraph includes information regarding identity, address, household, employment, education, income, medical condition, death and detention.
- 3
- The competent institutions of the Contracting Parties shall directly contact each other, as well as a beneficiary, a member of his family, or his authorized representatives.
- 4
- Without prejudice to the provision of paragraph 1, the diplomatic or consular representatives and the competent institutions of a Contracting Party are allowed to contact the agencies of the other Contracting Party directly in order to verify entitlement to benefits and legitimacy of payments to the beneficiaries.
- 5
- For the purposes of implementing this Agreement, the agencies shall lend their good offices and act as though implementing their own legislation. The administrative assistance extended by the said agencies shall, as a rule, be free of charge. However, competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may agree to certain expenses being reimbursed.
- 6
- Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the competent institutions of a Contracting Party shall, to the extent possible and without prior request, inform the competent institution of the other Contracting Party on changes in the information referred to in paragraph 2.
