Title
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CANADA AND THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS
Preamble
CANADA AND THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS (“Honduras”), hereinafter referred to as “the Parties”,
resolved to:
STRENGTHEN the special bonds of friendship and cooperation between their peoples;
CONTRIBUTE to the harmonious development and expansion of world and regional trade and provide a catalyst for broader international cooperation;
CREATE new employment opportunities, improve working conditions, and improve living standards in their respective territories;
RECOGNIZE the differences in the level of development and the size of their economies and create opportunities for economic development;
CREATE an expanded and secure market for the goods and services produced in their respective territories;
REDUCE distortions to trade;
ESTABLISH clear and mutually advantageous rules to govern their trade;
ENSURE a predictable commercial framework for business planning and investment;
BUILD on their respective rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement and other multilateral and bilateral instruments of cooperation;
ENHANCE the competitiveness of their respective firms in global markets;
ENSURE that the benefits of trade liberalization are not undermined by anticompetitive activities;
PROMOTE sustainable development;
UNDERTAKE each of the preceding in a manner consistent with environmental protection and conservation;
ENFORCE environmental law, while recognizing the importance of cooperation to protect the environment and the importance of each Party complying with its domestic and international environmental commitments;
PRESERVE their flexibility to safeguard the public welfare;
PROTECT, ENHANCE, AND ENFORCE basic workers’ rights;
and
RECOGNIZING the importance of trade facilitation in promoting efficient and transparent procedures to reduce costs and ensure predictability for their importers and exporters;
RECOGNIZING the importance of corporate social responsibility standards and principles and the pursuit of best voluntary practices with enterprises;
AFFIRMING their commitment to respect the values and principles of democracy and to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms identified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
AFFIRMING the right to fully avail themselves of the flexibilities established in the TRIPS Agreement, including those related to the protection of public health and in particular those to promote the access to medicines for all;
RECOGNIZING that States must maintain the ability to preserve, develop, and implement their cultural policies for the purpose of strengthening cultural diversity, given the essential role that cultural goods and services play in the identity and diversity of societies, and the lives of individuals; and
RECOGNIZING the importance of increased cooperation between them in the areas of labour and environment;
HAVE AGREED as follows:
Body
Chapter ONE. OBJECTIVES AND INITIAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.1. Establishment of the Free Trade Area
The Parties to this Agreement, consistent with Article XXIV of the GATT 1994and Article V of the GATS, hereby establish a free trade area.
Article 1.2. Objectives
1. The objectives of this Agreement are:
(a) to create opportunities for economic development;
(b) to eliminate barriers to trade in, and facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and services between the territories of the Parties;
(c) to increase substantially investment opportunities in the territories of the Parties;
(d) to promote conditions of fair competition in the free trade area;
(e) to establish a framework for further bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation to expand and enhance the benefits of this Agreement; and
(f) to establish effective procedures for the implementation and application of this Agreement, for its joint administration, and for the resolution of disputes.
Article 1.3. Relation to other Agreements
1. The Parties affirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other under the WTO Agreement and other agreements to which they are party.
2. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, this Agreement prevails, except as otherwise provided in this Agreement.
3. The WTO Agreement exclusively governs the rights and obligations of the Parties regarding subsidies and the application of anti-dumping and countervailing measures, including the settlement of any disputes about those matters.
Article 1.4. Relation to Multilateral Environmental Agreements
In the event of any inconsistency between an obligation in this Agreement and an
obligation of a Party under:
(a) the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, done at Washington on 3 March 1973, as amended 22 June 1979;
(b) the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, done at Montreal on 16 September 1987, as amended 29 June 1990, as amended 25 November 1992, as amended 17 September 1997, as amended 3 December 1999;
(c) the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, done at Basel on 22 March 1989;
(d) the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, done at Rotterdam on 10 September 1998; or
(e) the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, done at Stockholm on 22 May 2001,
the obligation in the agreements listed in sub-paragraphs (a) through (e) prevails. If, however, a Party has a choice among equally effective and reasonably available means of complying with that obligation, the Party shall choose the alternative that is the least inconsistent with the other provisions of this Agreement.
Article 1.5. Extent of Obligations
Each Party is fully responsible for the observance of all provisions of this Agreement and shall take reasonable measures available to it to ensure that the sub-national governments and authorities within its territoryobserve the provisions of this Agreement.
Article 1.6. Reference to other Agreements
When this Agreement refers to or incorporates by reference other agreements or legal instruments in whole or in part, those references include:
(a) related footnotes, interpretative notes, and explanatory notes; and
(b) successor agreements to which the Parties are party or amendments binding on the Parties, except when the reference affirms existing rights.
Chapter Two. GENERAL DEFINITIONS
Article 2.1. Definitions of General Application
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified:
Agreement on Safeguards means the Agreement on Safeguards, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
Commission means the Free Trade Commission established under Article 21.1 (Institutional Arrangements and Dispute Settlement Procedures - Free Trade Commission);
Coordinators means the Free Trade Coordinators established under Article 21.2(1) (Institutional Arrangements and Dispute Settlement Procedures - Free Trade Coordinators);
customs duty includes any customs or import duty and a charge of any kind imposed on or in connection with the importation of a good, including a form of surtax or surcharge in connection with that importation, but does not include any:
(a) charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed consistently with Article III:2 of the GATT 1994, in respect of:
i. like, directly competitive, or substitutable goods of a Party, or
ii. goods from which the imported good has been manufactured or produced in whole or in part,
(b) an anti-dumping or countervailing duty that is applied under a Party’s domestic law,
(c) a fee or other charge imposed in connection with importation commensurate with the cost of services rendered; and
(d) a premium offered or collected on an imported good arising out of a tendering system in respect of the administration of a quantitative import restriction, a tariff rate quota, or a tariff preference level;
Customs Valuation Agreement means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
days means calendar days, including weekends and holidays;
Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) means the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
enterprise means an entity constituted or organized under applicable law, whether or not for profit, and whether privately owned or governmentally owned, including a corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture, or other association;
existing means in effect on the date of entry into force of this Agreement;
GATS means the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
GATT 1994 means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
goods of a Party means domestic products as these are understood in the GATT 1994 or such goods as the Parties may decide, and includes originating goods of that Party;
Harmonized System (HS) means the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, including its General Rules of Interpretation, Section Notes, Chapter Notes, and
subheading notes;
heading means a 4-digit number, or the 4 first digits of a number, used in the nomenclature of the Harmonized System;
measure includes a law, regulation, procedure, requirement, or practice;
national means a natural person according to Article 2.2, or a permanent resident of a Party;
originating means qualifying under the rules of origin set out in Chapter Four (Rules of Origin);
person means a natural person or an enterprise;
person of a Party means a national, or an enterprise of a Party;
sanitary or phytosanitary measure means a measure referred to in Annex A, paragraph 1 of the SPS Agreement;
Secretariat means the Secretariat established under Article 21.3 (institutional Arrangements and Dispute Settlement Procedures - Secretariat);
SPS Agreement means the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
state enterprise means an enterprise that is owned, or controlled through ownership interests by a Party;
subheading means a 6-digit number, or the first 6 digits of a number, used in the nomenclature of the Harmonized System;
tariff classification means the classification of a good or material under a chapter, heading, subheading, or tariff subheading;
tariff elimination schedule means Annex 3.4.1 (National Treatment and Market Access for Goods - Tariff Elimination Schedule);
TRIPS Agreement means the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
Uniform Regulations means "Uniform Regulations" established under Article 5.12 (Customs Procedures - Uniform Regulations); and
WTO Agreement means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done on 15 April 1994.
2. For purposes of this Agreement, a word in the singular includes that word in the plural, except where otherwise indicated.
Article 2.2. Country-Specific Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement:
national government means:
(a) for Canada, the Government of Canada; and
(b) for Honduras, the Government of the Republic of Honduras;
sub-national government means:
(a) for Canada, provincial, territorial, or local governments; and
(b) for Honduras, local governments;
natural person means:
(a) for Canada, a natural person who is a citizen of Canada under the Citizenship Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-29, as amended from time to time or under any successor legislation; and
(b) for Honduras, a Honduran as defined in Articles 23 and 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of Honduras;
territory means:
(a) for Canada, (i) the land territory, internal waters and territorial sea, including the air space above these areas, of Canada; (ii) the exclusive economic zone of Canada, as determined by its domestic law, consistent with Part V of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, done at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982 (UNCLOS); and (iii) the continental shelf of Canada, as determined by its domestic law, consistent with Part VI of UNCLOS; and
(b) for Honduras, the land, maritime, and air space under its sovereignty; its exclusive economic zone; and the continental shelf within which it exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law.
Chapter Three. NATIONAL TREATMENT AND MARKET ACCESS FOR GOODS
Article 3.1. Scope of Coverage
This Chapter applies to trade in goods of a Party, including goods covered by Annex 3.1, except as otherwise provided in this Agreement.
Section A. Definitions
Article 3.2. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter: advertising films means a recorded visual media, with or without a soundtrack, consisting essentially of images showing the nature or operation of a good or service offered for sale or lease by a person established or resident in the territory of a Party,
provided that the film is:
(a) of a kind suitable for exhibition to prospective customers but not for broadcast to the general public, and
(b) imported in a packet that does not contain more than one copy of each film and that does not form part of a larger consignment;
Agreement on Agriculture means the Agreement on Agriculture, of the WTO Agreement;
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures means the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures, of the WTO Agreement;
agricultural good means a product listed in Annex 1 of the Agreement on Agriculture;
agricultural safeguard measure means an additional customs duty permitted under Article 3.15(1);
commercial sample of negligible value means a commercial sample having a value, individually or in the aggregate as shipped, of not more than 1 U.S. dollar, or the equivalent amount in the currency of a Party, or so marked, torn, perforated or otherwise treated so that it is unsuitable for sale or for use except as a commercial sample;
commercial sample means:
(a) a good that is:
(i) representative of a particular category of good produced outside the territory of a Party, and
(ii) imported only for the purpose of being exhibited or demonstrated to solicit orders for a similar good to be supplied from outside the territory of a Party; or
(b) a film, chart, projector, scale model or similar item, imported only for the purpose of illustrating a particular category of good produced outside the territory of a Party to solicit orders for a similar good to be supplied from outside the territory of a Party;
consumed means:
(a) actually consumed, or
(b) further processed or manufactured so as to result in a substantial change in value, form or use of the good or in the production of another good;
distilled spirits include distilled spirits and distilled spirit-containing beverages;
duty-free means free of customs duties;
export subsidies for agricultural goods means export subsidies as defined in Article 1(e) of the Agreement on Agriculture;
good imported for sports purposes means a sports good required for use in a sports contest, demonstration, or training in the territory of the Party into whose territory that good is imported;
good intended for display or demonstration includes its component parts, ancillary apparatus, and accessories;
printed advertising material means a good classified in Chapter 49 of the Harmonized System including a brochure, pamphlet, leaflet, trade catalogue, yearbook published by trade associations, tourist promotional material, and poster, that is:
(a) used to promote, publicize, or advertise a good or service,
(b) essentially intended to advertise a good or service, and
(c) supplied free of charge;
year 1 means the year this Agreement enters into force as provided in Article 23.4 (Final provisions - Entry into Force); and
TRQ means a tariff rate quota described in Annex 3.4.2.
Section B. National Treatment
Article 3.3. National Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord national treatment to the goods of the other Party in accordance with Article I of the GATT 1994, and to this end Article I of the GATT 1994 is incorporated into and made part of this Agreement.
2. The treatment to be accorded by a Party under paragraph 1 means, with respect to a sub-national government, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment accorded by that sub-national government to a like, directly competitive, or substitutable good of the Party of which it forms a part. For the purposes of this paragraph, "goods of a Party" includes goods produced in the territory of the sub-national government of that Party.