(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Convention, this Convention shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States.

(2) This Convention shall not restrict in any manner any exclusion, exemption, deduction, credit, or other allowance now or hereafter accorded:

• (a) by the laws of either Contracting State, or
• (b) by any other agreement between the Contracting States.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-paragraph (2)(b):

• (a) Notwithstanding any other agreement to which the Contracting States may be parties, a dispute concerning whether a measure is within the scope of this Convention shall be considered only by the competent authorities of the Contracting States, as defined in sub-paragraph (1)(e) of Article 3 (General Definitions) of this Convention, and the procedures under this Convention exclusively shall apply to the dispute.
• (b) Unless the competent authorities determine that a taxation measure is not within the scope of this Convention, the non-discrimination obligations of this Convention exclusively shall apply with respect to that measure, except for such national treatment or most-favoured-nation obligations as may apply to trade in goods under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. No national treatment or most-favoured-nation obligation under any other agreement shall apply with respect to that measure.
• (c) For the purpose of this paragraph, a "measure" is a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action, or any other form of measure.

(4) Notwithstanding any provision of this Convention except paragraph (5) of this Article, a Contracting State may tax its residents (as determined under Article 4 (Resident)), and by reason of citizenship may tax its citizens, as if this Convention had not come into effect. For this purpose the term "citizen" shall include a former citizen whose loss of citizenship had as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax, but only for a period of 10 years following such loss.

(5) The provisions of paragraph (4) shall not affect:

• (a) the benefits conferred by a Contracting State under paragraph (2) of Article 9 (Associated Enterprises), paragraph (4) of Article 13 (Capital Gains), sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) and paragraph (3) of Article 18 (Pensions), Articles 22 (Relief from Double Taxation), 23 (Non-Discrimination) and 24 (Mutual Agreement Procedure); and
• (b) the benefits conferred by a Contracting State under Articles 19 (Government Service), 20 (Students and Trainees) and 26 (Diplomatic Agents and Consular Officers), upon individuals who are not citizens of that State, and who, in the case of the United States, do not have immigrant status.