Article 6.5. Standards
1. The Parties confirm their obligation, under Article 4.1 of the TBT Agreement, to ensure that their standardizing bodies accept and comply with the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards, established in Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement.
2. In determining whether an international standard, guide, or recommendation within the meaning of Articles 2, 5 and Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement exists, each Party shall apply the principles set out in Decisions and Recommendations adopted by the Committee since 1 January 1995, G/TBT/1/Rev. 9, 8 September 2008 (Decision of the Committee on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations with relation to Articles 2, 5 and Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement).
Article 6.6. Conformity Assessment Procedures
1. The Parties recognize that a broad range of mechanisms exists to facilitate the acceptance of conformity assessment results, including:
(a) the importing Party's reliance on a supplier's declaration of conformity;
(b) voluntary arrangements between conformity assessment bodies from each Party's territory;
(c) agreements on mutual acceptance of the results or certification of conformity assessment procedures with respect to specified regulations conducted by bodies located in the territory of the other Party;
(d) accreditation procedures for qualifying conformity assessment bodies;
(e) government designation of conformity assessment bodies; and
(f) recognition by one Party of the results of conformity assessment procedures performed in the other Party's territory on a unilateral basis for a sector nominated by that Party.
2. To this end, the Parties shall intensify their exchange of information on the variety of mechanisms to facilitate the acceptance of conformity assessment results or certification.
3. Each Party shall give positive consideration to accept the results of conformity assessment procedures carried out in the other Party. Where a Party does not accept the results of a conformity assessment procedure performed in the territory of the other Party, it shall, on request of the other Party, explain its reasons.
4. Each Party shall accredit, approve, license, or otherwise recognize conformity assessment bodies in the territory of the other Party on terms no less favourable than those it accords to conformity assessment bodies in its territory. If a Party accredits, approves, licenses, or otherwise recognizes a body assessing conformity with a particular technical regulation or standard in its territory and it refuses to accredit, approve, license, or otherwise recognize a body assessing conformity with that technical regulation or standard in the territory of the other Party, it shall, on request, explain the reasons for its refusal.
5. At the request of a Party, the other Party shall give favourable consideration to enter into negotiations to reach agreement on facilitating recognition in its territory of the results of conformity assessment procedures conducted by bodies in the other Party, including mutual recognition agreements, subject to the interests of both Parties. Where a Party declines a request from the other Party, it shall explain its reasons upon request.
Article 6.7. Transparency
Where a Party notifies a draft technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure, the Party shall:
(a) at the request of the other Party, provide information during the comments period, with a view to clarify the draft measure; and
(b) allow at least 60 days, or a period recommended by the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, for the other Party to provide comments in writing on the proposal, except where urgent problems arise. Where possible, the notifying Party should give appropriate consideration to reasonable requests for extending the comment period.
Article 6.8. Trade Facilitation
The Parties shall cooperate and jointly identify work in the field of standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures, with a view to facilitating market access. In particular, the Parties shall seek to identify initiatives that are appropriate for particular issues or sectors.
Article 6.9. Information Exchange
The Parties agree to exchange information with a view to facilitating trade between them. Each Party shall respond expeditiously to any enquiry from the other Party on standards, technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures relating to any good traded between the Parties. Any information or explanation that is provided shall be given in print or electronically.
Article 6.10. Confidentiality
1. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to require either Party to furnish or allow access to information the disclosure of which it considers would:
(a) be contrary to its essential security interests;
(b) be contrary to the public interest as determined by its domestic laws, regulations and administrative provisions;
(c) be contrary to any of its domestic laws, regulations and administrative provisions including but not limited to those protecting personal privacy or the financial affairs and accounts of individual customers of financial institutions;
(d) impede law enforcement; or
(e) prejudice legitimate commercial interests of particular public or private enterprises.
2. In pursuance of Articles 6.6 (Conformity Assessment Procedures), 6.9 (Information Exchange) and 6.11 (TBT Coordinators), a Party shall, in accordance with its applicable laws, protect the confidentiality of any proprietary information disclosed to it.
Article 6.11. TBT Coordinators
1. To facilitate trade and the implementation of this Chapter, as well as cooperation between the Parties, each Party shall designate a TBT Coordinator, who shall be responsible for coordinating and communicating with the other Party's TBT Coordinator on all matters pertaining to this Chapter. The TBT Coordinators' functions shall include, among others:
(a) monitoring the implementation and administration of this Chapter;
(b) promptly addressing any issue that a Party raises related to the development, adoption, application, or enforcement of standards, technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures;
(c) enhancing cooperation in the development and improvement of standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures;
(d) exchanging information on standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, in response to all reasonable requests for such information from a Party;
(e) considering and facilitating any sector-specific proposal a Party makes for further cooperation among conformity assessment bodies, whether governmental or non-governmental;
(f) facilitating the consideration of a request by a Party for the recognition of the results of conformity assessment procedures, including a request for the negotiation of an agreement, in a sector nominated by that Party;
(g) facilitating cooperation in the areas of specific technical regulations by referring enquiries from a Party to the appropriate regulatory authorities;
(h) promptly consulting on any matter arising under this Chapter upon request by a Party;
(i) reporting to the Commission on the implementation of the provisions of this Chapter, in particular the advances in the fulfillment of the goals established; and
(j) reviewing this Chapter in light of any developments under the TBT Agreement, and developing recommendations for amendments to this Chapter in light of those developments.
2. The TBT Coordinators shall normally carry out their functions through agreed communication channels such as telephone, facsimile, email, whichever is most expedient in the discharge of their functions. The TBT Coordinators will meet at the same time as the Commission meets or any other occasion mutually agreed between the Parties should the situation warrant.
Article 6.12. Final Provisions
1. Nothing in this Chapter shall limit the authority of a Party to determine the level of protection it considers necessary for the protection of, inter alia, human health or safety, animal or plant life or health or the environment. In pursuance of this, each Party retains all authority to interpret its laws, regulations and administrative provisions.
2. For purposes of Article 6.11 (TBT Coordinators), the TBT Coordinators shall be:
(a) in the case of Costa Rica:
Dirección de Aplicación de Acuerdos Comerciales Internacionales ("DAACI") Ministerio de Comercio Exterior (Directorate for the Application of International Trade Agreements, Ministry of Foreign Trade) Address: 1st and 3rd Avenue, 40th Street, Paseo Colón, San José. Tel: (506) 22 99 47 00 Fax: (506) 22 56 84 89 P.O. Box: 297-1007 Centro Colón E-mail: daaci@comex.go.cr Web: www.comex.go.cr
(b) in the case of Singapore:
Ministry of Trade and Industry Trade Division Address: 100 High Street # 09-01, The Treasury Singapore 179434, Republic of Singapore Tel: (65) 6225 9911 Fax: (65) 6332 7260 E-mail: mti_fta@mti.gov.sg Web: www.mti.gov.sg or their successors or designated contact points.
Chapter 7. Trade Remedies
Section A. Global Safeguard Measures
Article 7.1. Global Safeguard Measures
1. Each Party retains its rights and obligations under Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the Safeguards Agreement.
2. This Agreement does not confer any additional rights or obligations on the Parties with regard to actions taken pursuant to Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the Safeguards Agreement, except that a Party taking such an action shall exclude imports of an originating good from the other Party if such imports are not a substantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof.
3. No Party shall apply, with respect to the same good, at the same time:
(a) a bilateral safeguard measure; and
(b) a measure under Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the Safeguards Agreement.
Section B. Bilateral Safeguard Measures
Article 7.2. Definitions
For purposes of this Section:
domestic industry means, with respect to an imported good, the producers as a whole of the like or directly competitive good operating within the territory of a Party, or those producers whose collective production of the like or directly competitive good constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of such goods;
safeguard measure means a measure described in Article 7.3 (Imposition of a Safeguard Measure);
serious injury means a significant overall impairment in the position of a domestic industry;
substantial cause means a cause which is important and not less than any other cause;
threat of serious injury means serious injury that, on the basis of facts and not merely on allegation, conjecture, or remote possibility, is clearly imminent; and
transition period means the period during which a Party may adopt and maintain safeguard measures, and that shall include, for each good, the customs duties elimination period set out in Annex 2.1 (Elimination of Customs Duties) to that good plus an additional period of 2 years counted from the end of such customs duties elimination period; with the exception of the goods in staging categories C and D, for which the transition period will be limited to the customs duties elimination period.
Article 7.3. Imposition of a Safeguard Measure
1. A Party may apply a measure described in paragraph 2, during the transition period only, if as a result of the reduction or elimination of a customs duty pursuant to this Agreement, an originating good is being imported into the Party's territory in such increased quantities, in absolute terms or relative to domestic production, and under such conditions as to constitute a substantial cause of serious injury, or threat thereof, to a domestic industry producing a like or directly competitive good.
2. If the conditions in paragraph 1 are met, a Party may to the extent necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury, or threat thereof, and facilitate adjustment:
(a) suspend the further reduction of any rate of customs duty on the good provided for under this Agreement; or
(b) increase the rate of customs duty on the good to a level not to exceed the lesser of:
i. the most-favoured-nation (MFN) applied rate of duty on the good in effect at the time the action is taken; and
ii. the MFN applied rate of duty on the good in effect on the day immediately preceding the date of entry into force of this Agreement (7).
3. Neither Party may maintain a safeguard measure:
(a) for a period exceeding 2 years; except that the period may be extended by up to 1 year if the competent authorities determine that the safeguard measure continues to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate adjustment and that there is evidence that the industry is adjusting;
(b) beyond the expiration of the transition period, except with the consent of the other Party.
4. On the termination of a safeguard measure, the rate of duty shall be the customs duty set out in Annex 2.1 (Elimination of Customs Duties) as if the safeguard measure had never been applied.
Article 7.4. Investigation Procedures and Transparency Requirement
1. A Party shall apply a safeguard measure only following an investigation by the Party's competent investigating authority in accordance with Articles 3 and 4.2(c) of the Safeguards Agreement; and to this end, Articles 3 and 4.2(c) of the Safeguards Agreement are incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
2. In determining whether increased imports of an originating good of the other Party have caused serious injury or are threatening to cause serious injury to a domestic industry, the competent investigating authority of the importing Party shall follow the rules in Article 4.2(a) and (b) of the Safeguards Agreement; and to this end, Articles 4.2(a) and (b) of the Safeguards Agreement are incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 7.5. Provisional Safeguard Measures
1. In critical circumstances, where delay would cause damage which would be difficult to repair, a Party may apply a provisional safeguard measure pursuant to a preliminary determination that there is clear evidence that the increased imports have caused, or are threatening to cause, serious injury to a domestic industry.
2. The duration of the provisional safeguard measure shall not exceed 200 days, during which period the pertinent requirements of Article 7.3 (Imposition of a Safeguard Measure) and 7.4 (Investigation Procedures and Transparency Requirement) shall be met. The provisional safeguard measure shall adopt any of the forms set out in Article 7.3 (Imposition of a Safeguard Measure) of this Section. The guarantees or the received funds arising from the imposition of a provisional safeguard measure shall be promptly released or refunded as it corresponds, when the investigation does not determine that increased imports have caused, or threaten to cause, serious injury to a domestic industry. The duration of any such provisional safeguard measure shall be counted as a part of the initial period and any extension of a definitive safeguard measure.
Article 7.6. Notification and Consultations
1. A Party shall promptly notify the other Party, in writing, when:
(a) initiating an investigation under this Section;
(b) applying a provisional measure; and
(c) adopting the determination to apply or extend a safeguard measure. 2. On request of a Party whose good is subject to a safeguard investigation under this Chapter, the Party conducting that investigation shall enter into consultations with the other Party to review a notification under paragraph 1, or any public notice or report that the competent investigating authority has issued in connection with the investigation.
3. Consultations may be held in person or by any technological means available to the Parties. In the event that the Parties decide to hold consultations in person, these shall be held in the place agreed by the Parties, or if there is no agreement, in the capital of the requested Party.
Article 7.7. Compensation and Suspension of Concessions
1. A Party applying a safeguard measure shall, in consultation with the other Party, provide mutually-agreed trade liberalizing compensation in the form of concessions having substantially equivalent trade effects or equivalent to the value of the additional duties expected to result from the measure. The Party applying the safeguard measure shall provide opportunity for such consultations no later than 30 days after the application of the safeguard measure.
2. If the Parties are unable to reach agreement on compensation within 30 days of the commencement of consultations, the exporting Party may suspend the application of substantially equivalent concessions to the trade of the Party applying the safeguard measure.
3. The exporting Party shall notify the other Party in writing at least 30 days before suspending concessions under paragraph 2.
Section C. Antidumping, Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
Article 7.8. General Provision
Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the Parties retain their rights and obligations under Articles VI and XVI of GATT 1994, the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994, the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
Article 7.9. Agricultural Export Subsidies
Neither Party may introduce or maintain any export subsidy on any agricultural good destined for the territory of the other Party.
Article 7.10. Transparency and Legal Certainty
1. The Parties agree that investigations and impositions of antidumping and countervailing measures shall be based on a fair and transparent system.
2. The Parties agree to observe the following practices in antidumping and countervailing measures cases between them:
(a) immediately following the receipt of a properly documented application from an industry in one Party for the initiation of an antidumping or countervailing measure investigation in respect of goods from the other Party, the Party that has received the properly documented application shall immediately notify the other Party of the receipt of the application;
(b) when the authorities are satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to justify the initiation of an investigation, they shall notify it to the other Party and to other interested parties at least 7 working days in advance of the date of initiation of such investigation;
(c) a Party's investigating authority shall take due account of any difficulties experienced by exporters of the other Party in supplying information requested and provide any assistance practicable. On request of an exporter of the other Party, a Party's investigating authority shall make available the timeframes, procedures and any documents necessary for the offering of an undertaking.
Article 7.11. Lesser Duty Rule
Should a Party decide to impose an antidumping duty, the amount of such duty shall not exceed the margin of dumping, but it shall be less than the margin of dumping if such lesser duty would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry.
Article 7.12. Consideration of Public Interest
Antidumping or countervailing measures may not be applied by a Party where, on the basis of the information made available during the investigation, it can clearly be concluded that it is not in the public interest to apply such measures. Public interest shall take into account the situation of the domestic industry, importers and their representative associations, representative users and representative consumer organizations, to the extent they have provided relevant information to the investigating authorities.
Article 7.13. Prohibition of Zeroing (8)
When determining dumping margins, the Parties shall ensure that the practice of zeroing is not used in any of the stages included in an antidumping investigation, including the reviews listed in Articles 9 and 11 of the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994.
Chapter 8. Government Procurement
Article 8.1. Objective
1. The Parties recognize the importance of transparency and the need to maximize competitive opportunities for their suppliers and to reduce costs of doing business for both government and industry through reciprocal and gradual opening of their respective procurement market, taking into account the contribution of transparent and competitive tendering to sustainable economic development.
2. The Parties shall achieve this objective through:
(a) ensuring their suppliers the opportunity to compete on an equal and transparent basis for government procurements ;
(b) ensuring the non-application against their suppliers of preferential schemes and other forms of discrimination based on the place of origin of goods and services ; and
(c) promoting the use of electronic procurement.
Article 8.2. Definitions
For purposes of this Chapter:
build-operate-transfer contract and public works concession contract mean any contractual arrangement the primary purpose of which is to provide for the construction or rehabilitation of physical infrastructure, plant, buildings, facilities, or other government-owned works and under which, as consideration for a supplier's execution of a contractual arrangement, a procuring entity grants the supplier, for a specified period of time, temporary ownership, or a right to control and operate, and demand payment for the use of, such works for the duration of the contract;
conditions for participation means any registration, qualification or other prerequisites for participation in a procurement ;
government procurement means the process by which a procuring entity purchases goods and services;
in writing or written means any worded or numbered expression that can be read, reproduced, and later communicated, including electronically transmitted and stored information ;
limited tendering means a procurement method where the procuring entity contacts a supplier or suppliers of its choice;
measure means any law, regulation, procedure, requirement or practice;
notice of intended procurement means a notice to be published in advance by a procuring entity inviting interested suppliers to submit tenders for that procurement;
offsets means measures used to encourage local development or improve the balance-of-payments accounts by means of domestic content, licensing of technology, investment requirements, counter-trade or similar requirements;
open tendering means a procurement method where all interested suppliers may submit a tender;
procuring entity means an entity listed in Annex 8.1 (Government Procurement Schedules);
services includes construction services, unless otherwise specified;
standard means a document approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for goods or services or related processes and production methods, with which compliance is not mandatory. It may also include or deal exclusively with terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling requirements as they apply to a product, service, process or production method;
supplier means a person that provides or could provide goods or services to a procuring entity; and
technical specification means a tendering requirement that:
(a) lays down the characteristics of goods or services to be procured, including quality, performance, safety and dimensions, or the processes and methods for their production or provision; or
(b) addresses terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling requirements, as they apply to a good or service.
Article 8.3. Scope and Coverage
1. This Chapter applies to all measures regarding any covered procurement by entities covered by this Chapter as specified in Annex 8.1 (Government Procurement Schedules).
2. This Chapter applies to procurement of goods or services, or any combination of goods and services by any contractual means, including through such methods as purchase or as lease, rental or hire purchase, with or without an option to buy, build-operate-transfer contracts and public works concessions.
3. Where procuring entities, in the context of a procurement covered under this Chapter, require public entities not covered to award contracts in the name of the covered entity, Article 8.4 (National Treatment and Non-Discrimination) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to such requirements.
4. This Chapter applies to any procurement contract with a value of not less than the relevant threshold specified in Annex 8.1 (Government Procurement Schedules).
5. Except as otherwise specified in Annex 8.1 (Government Procurement Schedules), this Chapter does not cover:
(a) non-contractual agreements or any form of governmental assistance, including cooperative agreements, grants, loans, equity infusions, guarantees, fiscal incentives and governmental provision of goods and services to persons or governmental authorities;
(b) purchases funded by international grants, loans or other assistance, where the provision of such assistance is subject to conditions inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter ;
(c) acquisition of fiscal agency or depository services, liquidation and management services for regulated financial institutions, and services related to the sale, redemption and distribution of government debt (9) ;
(d) hiring of government employees and its related employment measures;
(e) the acquisition or rental of land, buildings or other immovable property or the rights thereon; and