1. The Parties shall adopt or maintain procedures:
(a) providing for the release of goods within a period of time no greater than that required to ensure compliance with its customs laws;
(b) allowing, to the extent possible, goods to be released within forty-eight (48) hours of arrival; and
(c) allowing importers who have complied with the procedures that the relevant Party may have in place relating to the determination of value and payment of duty to obtain the release of goods from the customs authorities, but may require importers to provide security as a condition for the release of goods, when such security is required to ensure that obligations arising from the entry of the goods will be fulfilled.
2. The Parties shall:
(a) ensure that the amount of any security is no greater than that required to ensure that obligations arising from the importation of the goods will be fulfilled, and, where applicable, not in excess of the amount chargeable, based on tariff rates under domestic and international law, including this Agreement, and on valuation in accordance with the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994;
(b) ensure that any security shall be discharged as soon as possible after the relevant customs authorities are satisfied that the obligations arising from the importation of the goods have been fulfilled; and
(c) shall adopt procedures allowing:
(i) importers to provide security such as bank guarantees, bonds, or other non-cash financial instruments covering multiple entries; and
(ii) importers to provide security in any other forms specified by the relevant customs authorities.
Article 6.14. Electronic Payment
The Parties shall adopt or maintain procedures allowing the option of electronic payment for duties, taxes, fees, and charges collected by the relevant customs authorities incurred upon importation and exportation.
Article 6.15. Trade Facilitation Measures for Authorised Operators
1. The Parties shall provide additional trade facilitation measures related to import, export, or transit formalities and procedures, pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article, to operators who meet specified criteria, hereinafter called authorised operators. Alternatively, a Party may offer such trade facilitation measures through customs procedures generally available to all operators and is not required to establish a separate scheme.
2. The specified criteria to qualify as an authorised operator shall be related to compliance, or the risk of non-compliance, and specified in a Party's laws, regulations or procedures.
(a) Such criteria, which shall be published, may include:
(i) an appropriate record of compliance with customs and other related laws and regulations;
(ii) a system of managing records to allow for necessary internal controls;
(iii) financial solvency, including, where appropriate, provision of a sufficient security or gurantee; and
(iv) supply chain security.
(b) Such criteria shall not:
(i) be designed or applied so as to afford or create arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between operators where the same conditions prevail; and
(ii) to the extent possible, restrict the participation of small and medium- sized enterprises.
3. The trade facilitation measures provided pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article shall include at least three (3) of the following measures: (3)
(a) low documentary and data requirements, as appropriate;
(b) low rate of physical inspections and examinations, as appropriate;
(c) rapid release time, as appropriate;
(d) deferred payment of duties, taxes, fees, and charges;
(e) use of comprehensive guarantees or reduced guarantees;
(f) a single customs declaration for all imports or exports in a given period; and
(g) clearance of goods at the premises of the authorised operator or another place authorised by the relevant customs authorities.
4. The Parties shall endeavour to develop authorised operator schemes on the basis of international standards, where such standards exist, except when such standards would be an inappropriate or ineffective means for the fulfilment of the legitimate objectives pursued.
5. In order to enhance the trade facilitation measures provided to operators, a Party shall afford to the other Party the possibility of negotiating mutual recognition of authorised operator schemes.
6. The Parties shall exchange relevant information about authorised operator schemes in force.
Chapter 7. TRADE IN SERVICES
Article 7.1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
(a) “a service supplied in the exercise of governmental authority” means any service which is supplied neither on a commercial basis nor in competition with one or more service suppliers;
(b) “aircraft repair and maintenance services” means such activities when undertaken on an aircraft or a part thereof while it is withdrawn from service and do not include so-called line maintenance;
(c) “commercial presence” means any type of business or professional establishment, including through
(i) the constitution, acquisition or maintenance of a juridical person, or;
(ii) the creation or maintenance of a branch or a representative office within the territory of a Party for the purpose of supplying a service;
(d) “computer reservation system services” means services provided by computerised systems that contain information about air carriers’ schedules, availability, fares and fare rules, through which reservations can be made or tickets may be issued;
(e) “direct taxes” comprise all taxes on total income, on total capital or on elements of income or of capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of property, taxes on estates, inheritances and gifts, and taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises, as well as taxes on capital appreciation;
(f) “juridical person” means any legal entity duly constituted or otherwise organised under applicable law, whether for profit or otherwise, and whether privately-owned or governmentally-owned, including any corporation, trust, partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship, or association;
(g) “juridical person of a Party” means a juridical person which is either:
(i) constituted or otherwise organised under the law of that Party; or
(ii) in the case of the supply of a service through commercial presence, owned or controlled by:
(A) natural persons of that Party; or
(B) juridical persons of that Party identified under sub-paragraph g(i) of this Article;
(h) “measure” means any measure by a Party, whether in the form of a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action, or any other form;
(i) “measures by a Party” means measures taken by:
(i) central, regional or local governments and authorities; and
(ii) non-governmental bodies in the exercise of powers delegated by central, regional or local governments or authorities;
In fulfilling its obligations and commitments under this Chapter, each Party shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to it to ensure their observance by regional and local governments and authorities and non-governmental bodies within its territory;
(j) “measures by a Party affecting trade in services” includes measures in respect of:
(i) the production, distribution, marketing, sale and delivery of a service;
(ii) the purchase, payment or use of a service;
(iii) the access to and use of, in connection with the supply of a service, services which are required by the Parties to be offered to the public generally;
(iv) the presence, including commercial presence, of persons of that Party for the supply of a service in the territory of the other Party;
(k) “monopoly supplier of a service” means any person, public or private, which in the relevant market of the territory of a Party is authorised or established formally or in effect by that Party as the sole supplier of that service;
(l) “natural person of a Party” means a natural person who is a national of Sri Lanka or Singapore, according to their respective legislation;
(m) “person” means either a natural person or a juridical person;
(n) “sector” of a service means,
(i) with reference to a specific commitment, one or more, or all, subsectors of that service, as specified in a Party’s Schedule,
(ii) otherwise, the whole of that service sector, including all of its subsectors;
(o) “selling and marketing of air transport services” means opportunities for the air carrier concerned to sell and market freely its air transport services including all aspects of marketing such as market research, advertising and distribution. These activities do not include the pricing of air transport services nor the application conditions;
(p) “services” includes any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority;
(q) “service consumer” means any person that receives or uses a service;
(r) “service of a Party” means a service which is supplied:
(i) from or in the territory of that Party, or in the case of maritime transport, by a vessel registered under the laws of that Party, or by a person of that Party which supplies the service through the operation of a vessel and/or its use in whole or in part; or
(ii) in the case of the supply of a service through commercial presence or through the presence of natural persons, by a service supplier of that Party;
(s) “service supplier” means any person that supplies or seeks to supply a service; (1)
(t) “supply of a service” includes the production, distribution, marketing, sale and
delivery of a service;
(u) “trade in services” is defined as the supply of a service:
(i) from the territory of a Party into the territory of the other Party ("cross- border”);
(ii) in the territory of a Party to the service consumer of the other Party (“consumption abroad”)
(iii) by a service supplier of a Party, through commercial presence in the territory of the other Party (“commercial presence”);
(iv) by a service supplier of a Party, through presence of natural persons of a Party in the territory of the other Party (“presence of natural persons”);
(v) “traffic rights” means the right for scheduled and non-scheduled services to operate and/or to carry passengers, cargo and mail for remuneration or hire from, to, within, or over the territory of a Party, including points to be served, routes to be operated, types of traffic to be carried, capacity to be provided, tariffs to be charged and their conditions, and criteria for designation of airlines, including such criteria as number, ownership, and control.
Article 7.2. Scope and Coverage
1. This Chapter applies to measures by a Party affecting trade in services.
2. This Chapter shall not apply to:
(a) subsidies or grants provided by a Party or to any conditions attached to the receipt or continued receipt of such subsidies or grants, whether or not such subsidies are offered exclusively to domestic services, service consumers or service suppliers, including government-supported loans, guarantees and insurance;
(b) a service supplied in the exercise of governmental authority within the territory of each Party;
(c) government procurement; or
(d) measures affecting air traffic rights, however granted; or to measures affecting services directly related to the exercise of air traffic rights, other than measures affecting:
(i) aircraft repair and maintenance services;
(ii) the selling and marketing of air transport services;
(iii) computer reservation system services;
3. This Chapter shall not apply to measures affecting natural persons seeking access to the employment market of a Party, nor shall it apply to measures regarding citizenship, residence or employment on a permanent basis.
4. Nothing in this Chapter shall prevent a Party from applying measures to regulate the entry of natural persons of the other Party into, or their temporary stay in, its territory, including those measures necessary to protect the integrity of, and to ensure the orderly movement of natural persons across its borders, provided that such measures are not applied in such a manner as to nullify or impair the benefits (2) accruing to the other Party under the terms of this Chapter.
Article 7.3. Market Access
1. With respect to market access through the modes of supply defined in sub-paragraph (u) of Article 7.1 (Definitions), a Party shall accord services and service suppliers of the other Party treatment no less favourable than that provided for under the terms, limitations and conditions agreed and specified in its respective Schedule of Specific Commitments in Annexes 7-A (Sri Lanka) and 7-B (Singapore). (3)
2. In sectors where market access commitments are undertaken, the measures which a Party shall not maintain or adopt either on the basis of a regional subdivision or on the basis of its entire territory, unless otherwise specified in its respective Schedule of Specific Commitments in Annexes 7-A (Sri Lanka) and 7-B (Singapore), are:
(a) limitations on the number of service suppliers whether in the form of numerical quotas, monopolies, exclusive service suppliers or the requirements of an economic needs test;
(b) limitations on the total value of service transactions or assets in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(c) limitations on the total number of service operations or on the total quantity of service output expressed in terms of designated numerical units in the form of quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test; (4)
(d) limitations on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular service sector or that a service supplier may employ and who are necessary for, and directly related to, the supply of a specific service in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(e) measures which restrict or require specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which a service supplier may supply a service; and
(f) limitations on the participation of foreign capital in terms of maximum percentage limit on foreign shareholding or the total value of individual or aggregate foreign investment.
Article 7.4. National Treatment
1. In the sectors set out in its respective Schedule of Specific Commitments in Annexes 7-A (Sri Lanka) and 7-B (Singapore), and subject to any conditions and qualifications set out therein, a Party shall accord to services and service suppliers of the other Party, in respect of all measures affecting the supply of services, treatment no less favourable than that it accords to its own like services and service suppliers. (5)
2. A Party may meet the requirement of paragraph 1 of this Article by according to services and service suppliers of the other Party, either formally identical treatment or formally different treatment to that it accords to its own like services and service suppliers.
3. Formally identical or formally different treatment shall be considered to be less favourable if it modifies the conditions of competition in favour of services or service suppliers of a Party compared to like services or service suppliers of the other Party.
Article 7.5. Additional Commitments
The Parties may negotiate commitments with respect to measures affecting trade in services not subject to scheduling under Article 7.3 (Market Access) or Article 7.4 (National Treatment), including those regarding qualifications, standards or licensing matters. Such commitments shall be set out in a Party's Schedule of Specific Commitments in Annexes 7-A (Sri Lanka) and 7-B (Singapore).
Article 7.6. Schedule of Specific Commitments
1. Each Party shall set out in a Schedule the Specific Commitments it undertakes under Article 7.3 (Market Access), Article 7.4 (National Treatment) and Article 7.5 (Additional Commitments). With respect to sectors where such commitments are undertaken, each Schedule of Specific Commitments shall specify:
(a) terms, limitations and conditions on market access;
(b) conditions and qualifications on national treatment;
(c) undertakings relating to additional commitments;
(d) where appropriate, the time-frame for implementation of such commitments; and (e) the date of entry into force of such commitments.
2. Measures inconsistent with both Article 7.3 (Market Access) and Article 7.4 (National Treatment) shall be inscribed in the column relating to Article 7.3 (Market Access). In this case, the inscription will be considered to provide a condition or qualification to Article 7.4 (National Treatment) as well.
3. Each Party shall identify in its Schedule of Specific Commitments sectors or sub- sectors for future liberalisation with an ‘R’. In these sectors and subsectors, any applicable terms, conditions, limitations, qualifications and undertakings referred to in sub-paragraphs 1(a) through 1(c) of this Article shall be limited to measures that the Party maintains on the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
4. If a Party amends a measure referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article in a manner that reduces or eliminates the inconsistency of that measure with Article 7.3 (Market Access) or Article 7.4 (National Treatment), as it existed immediately before the amendment, or provides further liberalisation under Article 7.5 (Additional Commitments), that Party shall not subsequently amend that measure in a way that increases the measure’s inconsistency with Article 7.3 (Market Access) or Article 7.4 (National Treatment) or decreases liberalisation under Article 7.5 (Additional Commitments).
5. Each Party shall endeavour to inform the Joint Committee of its new level of commitment pursuant to such unilateral amendments. Such unilateral amendments shall, on the date that the unilateral amendment enters into force, form an integral part of that Party’s Schedule of Specific Commitments under this Chapter.
6. Paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article shall not apply to all Mode 4 commitments made by either Party in its Schedule of Specific Commitments. In respect of commitments made under Modes 1 to 3, paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article shall apply to all measures which fall under a sector or sub-sector that a Party identifies for future liberalisation with an “R” in its Schedule of Specific Commitments.
7. The Schedules of Specific Commitments shall be annexed to this Chapter as Annex 7- A for Sri Lanka and Annex 7-B for Singapore.
Article 7.7. Domestic Regulation
1. In sectors where specific commitments are undertaken, each Party shall ensure that all measures of general application affecting trade in services are administered in a reasonable, objective and impartial manner.
2. Each Party shall maintain or institute as soon as practicable judicial, arbitral or administrative tribunals or procedures which provide, at the request of an affected service supplier of the other Party, for the prompt review of, and where justified, appropriate remedies for, administrative decisions affecting trade in services. Where such procedures are not independent of the agency entrusted with the administrative decision concerned, the Party shall ensure that the procedures in fact provide for an objective and impartial review.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not be construed to require a Party to institute such tribunals or procedures where this would be inconsistent with its constitutional structure or the nature of its legal system.
4. Where authorisation is required for the supply of a service on which a specific commitment has been made, the competent authorities of a Party shall, within a reasonable period of time after the submission of an application considered complete under domestic laws and regulations, inform the applicant of the decision concerning the application. At the request of the applicant, the competent authorities of the Party shall provide, without undue delay, information concerning the status of the application.
5. With the objective of ensuring that domestic regulation, relating to qualification requirements and procedures, technical standards and licensing requirements, does not constitute an unnecessary barrier to trade in services, the Parties shall jointly review the results of the negotiations on disciplines on these measures, pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article VI of the GATS, with a view to their incorporation into this Chapter. The Parties note that such disciplines aim to ensure that such requirements are, inter alia:
(a) based on objective and transparent criteria, such as competence and the ability to supply the service;
(b) not more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of the service;
(c) in the case of licensing procedures, not in themselves a restriction on the supply of the service.
6. Pending the incorporation of disciplines pursuant to paragraph 5 of this Article, for sectors where a Party has undertaken specific commitments and subject to any terms, limitations, conditions or qualifications set out therein, a Party shall not apply licensing and qualification requirements and technical standards that nullify or impair such specific commitments in a manner which:
(a) does not comply with the criteria outlined in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) of paragraph 5 of this Article; and
(b) could not reasonably have been expected of that Party at the time the specific commitments in those sectors were made.
7. In determining whether a Party is in conformity with the obligation under paragraph 6 of this Article, account shall be taken of international standards of relevant international organisations (6) applied by that Party.
Article 7.8. Recognition
1. For the purposes of the fulfilment of its standards or criteria for the authorisation, licensing or certification of services suppliers, a Party may recognise the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in the other Party.
2. The Parties shall encourage their relevant competent bodies to enter into negotiations on recognition of professional qualifications, licenses, or registration procedures with a view to the achievement of early outcomes.
3. Any arrangement reached pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article shall be consistent with this Agreement.
Article 7.9. Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers
1. Each Party shall ensure that any monopoly supplier of a service in its territory does not, in the supply of the monopoly service in the relevant market, act in a manner inconsistent with that Party's Schedule of Specific Commitments.
2. Where a Party's monopoly supplier competes, either directly or through an affiliated company, in the supply of a service outside the scope of its monopoly rights and which is subject to that Party's Schedule of specific commitments, the Party shall ensure that such a supplier does not abuse its monopoly position to act in its territory in a manner inconsistent with such commitments.
3. If a Party has reason to believe that a monopoly supplier of a service of another Party is acting in a manner inconsistent with paragraphs 1 or 2 of this Article, it may request the Party establishing, maintaining or authorising such supplier to provide specific information concerning the relevant operations.
4. The provisions of this Article shall also apply to cases of exclusive service suppliers, where a Party, formally or in effect:
(a) authorises or establishes a small number of service suppliers; and