1. No Party shall impose customs duties on digital or electronic transmissions, including content transmitted electronically, between a person of one Party and a person of another Party.
2. For greater certainty, paragraph 1 shall not preclude a Party from imposing internal taxes, fees or other charges on content transmitted digitally or electronically, provided that such taxes, fees or charges are imposed in a manner consistent with this Agreement.
Article 11.5. Domestic Electronic Transactions Framework
Each Party shall endeavour to maintain a legal framework governing electronic transactions consistent with the principles of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996) or the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts, done at New York on 23 November 2005.
Article 11.6. Authentication
1. Except in the circumstances provided for in its legislation, a Party shall not deny the legal validity of a digital or electronic signature generated with digital certificates mutually recognized by certification authorities registered in the territories of the Parties.
2. Neither Party shall adopt or maintain measures regarding authentication that would:
(a) prohibit parties to an electronic transaction from mutually determining the appropriate authentication methods for that transaction; or
(b) prevent parties to an electronic transaction from having the opportunity to establish before judicial or administrative authorities that their transaction complies with any legal requirements with respect to authentication.
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, a Party may require that, for a particular category of transactions, the method of authentication meets certain performance standards or is certified by an authority accredited in accordance with its law.
4. The Parties shall encourage the use of interoperable means of authentication.
Article 11.7. Paperless Trading
Each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) make trade administration documents available to the public in digital or electronic form; and
(b) Recognise electronically submitted trade administration documents as having the same legal standing as paper versions of those documents, provided that the operators accepted by the Parties have properly authenticated the documents.
Article 11.8. Online Consumer Protection
1. The Parties recognise the importance of the reinforcement of consumer protection and of cooperation between national consumer protection authorities in activities relating to digital trade.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain transparent, effective measures and consumer protection laws to proscribe misleading, deceptive, and fraudulent commercial activities that cause harm or potential harm to consumers engaged in digital trade.
Article 11.9. Personal Data Protection
1. The Parties recognise the economic and social benefits of protecting the personal data of persons who conduct or engage in electronic transactions and the contribution that this makes to enhancing consumer confidence in digital trade.
2. To this end, each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain a legal framework that provides for the protection of the personal data of the users of digital trade. (1)
In the development of any legal framework for the protection of personal data, each Party should endeavour to take into account principles and guidelines of relevant international organisations.
3. Nothing in this Annex restricts the right of a Party to protect personal data, personal privacy and the confidentiality of individual records and accounts, and other information protected under the laws, and regulations of that Party.
Article 11.10. Principles on Access to and Use of the Internet for Digital Trade
To support the development and growth of digital trade, each Party recognises that consumers in its territory should be able to:
(a) Access and use services and applications of their choice, unless prohibited by the Party?s laws or regulations;
(b) Run services and applications of their choice, subject to the Party's laws or regulations, including the needs of legal and regulatory enforcement activities; and
(c) Connect their choice of devices to the Internet, provided that such devices do not harm the network and are not otherwise prohibited by the Party's laws or regulations.
Article 11.11. Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Messages
1. Each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain measures regarding unsolicited commercial electronic messages sent to an electronic mail address that:
(a) require a supplier of unsolicited commercial electronic messages to facilitate the ability of a recipient to prevent ongoing reception of those messages;
(b) require the consent, as specified in the laws and regulations of each Party, of recipients to receive commercial electronic messages; or
(c) otherwise provide for the minimisation of unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to provide recourse against a supplier of unsolicited commercial electronic messages that does not comply with a measure adopted or maintained in accordance with paragraph 1.
3. The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate in appropriate cases of mutual concern regarding the regulation of unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
Article 11.12. Cross-Border Flow of Information
1. The Parties recognise that each Party may have its own regulatory requirements concerning the transfer of information by electronic means.
2. Recognising the importance of the free flow of information in facilitating trade, and acknowledging the importance of protecting personal data, the Parties shall endeavour to refrain from imposing or maintaining unnecessary barriers to electronic information flows across borders.
Article 11.13. Open Government Data
1. The Parties recognise that facilitating public access to and use of open government data contributes to stimulating economic and social benefit, competitiveness, productivity improvements, and innovation. To the extent that a Party chooses to make available open government data, it shall endeavour to ensure:
(a) that the information is appropriately anonymised, contains descriptive metadata and is in a machine readable and open format that allows it to be searched, retrieved, used, reused and redistributed freely by the public; and
(b) to the extent practicable, that the information is made available in a spatially enabled format with reliable, easy to use and freely available APIs and is regularly updated.
2. The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate to identify ways in which each Party can expand access to and use of open government data, with a view to enhancing and generating business and research opportunities.
Article 11.14. Digital Government
1. The Parties recognise that technology can enable more efficient and agile government operations, improve the quality and reliability of government services, and enable governments to better serve the needs of their citizens and other stakeholders.
2. To this end, the Parties shall endeavour to develop and implement strategies to digitally transform their respective government operations and services, which may include:
(a) adopting open and inclusive government processes focusing on accessibility, transparency, and accountability in a manner that overcomes digital divides;
(b) promoting cross-sectoral and cross-governmental coordination and collaboration on digital agenda issues;
(c) shaping government processes, services, and policies with digital inclusivity in mind;
(d) providing a unified digital platform and common digital enables for government service delivery;
(e) leveraging emerging technologies to build capabilities in anticipation of disasters and crises and facilitating proactive responses;
(f) generating public value from government data by applying it in the planning, delivering, and monitoring of public policies, and adopting rules and ethical principles for the trustworthy and safe use of data;
(g) making government data and policy-making processes (including algorithms) available for the public to engage with; and
(h) promoting initiatives to raise the level of digital capabilities and skills of both the populace and the government workforce.
3. Recognising that the Parties can benefit by sharing their experiences with digital government initiatives, the Parties shall endeavour to cooperate on activities relating to the digital transformation of government and government services, which may include:
(a) exchanging information and experiences on digital government strategies and policies;
(b) sharing best practices on digital government and the digital delivery of government services; and
(c) providing advice or training, including through exchange of officials, to assist the other Party in building digital government capacity.
Article 11.15. Digital and Electronic Invoicing
1. The Parties recognise the importance of digital and electronic invoicing to increase the efficiency, accuracy and reliability of commercial transactions. Each Party also recognises the benefits of ensuring that the systems used for digital and electronic invoicing within its territory are interoperable with the systems used in the other Party's territory.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to ensure that the implementation of measures related to digital and electronic invoicing in its territory supports cross-border interoperability between the Parties? digital and electronic invoicing frameworks. To this end, each Party shall endeavour to base its measures relating to digital and electronic invoicing on international frameworks.
3. The Parties recognise the economic importance of promoting the global adoption of digital and electronic invoicing systems, including interoperable international frameworks.
To this end, the Parties shall endeavour to:
(a) promote, encourage, support, or facilitate the adoption of digital and electronic invoicing by enterprises;
(b) promote the existence of policies, infrastructure, and processes that support digital and electronic invoicing;
(c) generate awareness of, and build capacity for, digital and electronic invoicing; and
(d) share best practices and promote the adoption of interoperable international digital and electronic invoicing systems.
Article 11.16. Digital and Electronic Payments
1. Recognising the rapid growth of digital and electronic payments, in particular those provided by regulated non-banks, non-financial and fintech entities, the Parties shall endeavour to support the development of efficient, safe, and secure cross-border digital and electronic payments by:
(a) fostering the adoption and use of internationally accepted standards for digital and electronic payments;
(b) promoting interoperability and the interlinking of digital electronic payment infrastructures; and
(c) encouraging innovation and competition in digital and electronic payments services.
2. To this end, each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) Make publicly available its laws and regulations of general applicability relating to digital and electronic payments, including in relation to regulatory approval, licensing requirements, procedures, and technical standards;
(b) finalise decisions on regulatory or licensing approvals relating to digital and electronic payments in a timely manner;
(c) facilitate the use of open platforms and architectures such as tools and protocols provided for through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and encourage payment service providers to safely and securely make APIs for their products and services available to third parties, where possible, to facilitate greater interoperability, innovation and competition in electronic payments;
(d) facilitate innovation and competition and the introduction of new financial and electronic payment products and services in a timely manner, such as through adopting regulatory and industry sandboxes; and
(e) provide effective and secure methods to facilitate the interoperability in electronic invoicing between the parties.
Article 11.17. Digital Identities
Recognising that cooperation between the Parties on digital identities for natural persons and enterprises will promote connectivity and further growth of digital trade, and recognising that each Party may take different legal and technical approaches to digital identities, the Parties shall endeavour to pursue mechanisms to promote compatibility between their respective digital identity regimes. This may include:
(a) developing appropriate frameworks and common standards to foster technical interoperability between each Party's implementation of digital identities within the Party's legal framework;
(b) developing comparable protection of digital identities under each Party's respective legal frameworks, or the recognition of their legal effects, whether accorded autonomously or by agreement;
(c) supporting the development of international frameworks on digital identity regimes;
(d) exchanging knowledge and expertise on best practices relating to digital identity policies and regulations, technical implementation and security standards, and the promotion of the use of digital identities.
Article 11.18. Artificial Intelligence
1. The Parties recognise that the use and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are becoming increasingly important to digital trade, offering significant social and economic benefits to natural persons and enterprises. In view of this, the Parties shall endeavour to cooperate, in accordance with their respective laws and policies, through:
(a) sharing research and industry practices related to AI technologies and their governance;
(b) promoting and sustaining the responsible use and adoption of AI technologies by businesses and across the community;
(c) encouraging commercialisation opportunities and collaboration between researchers, academics, and industry; and
(d) collaborating with the other Party to identify AI technologies within a framework that meets their cultural and commercial needs.
2. The Parties also recognise the importance of developing ethical governance frameworks for the trusted, safe, sustainable, and responsible use of AI technologies that will help realise the benefits of AI. In view of the cross-border nature of digital trade, the Parties further acknowledge the benefits of ensuring that such frameworks are internationally aligned as far as possible. To this end, the Parties shall endeavour to:
(a) collaborate on and promote the development and adoption of ethical governance frameworks that support the trusted, safe, and responsible use of AI technologies, including through relevant international fora; and
(b) take into consideration internationally recognised principles or guidelines when developing such frameworks.
Article 11.19. Cooperation
1. Recognising the importance of digital trade to their collective economies, the Parties shall endeavour to maintain a dialogue on regulatory matters relating to digital trade with a view to sharing information and experiences, as appropriate, including on related laws, regulations, and their implementation, and best practices with respect to digital trade, including in relation to:
(a) online consumer protection;
(b) personal data protection;
(c) anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance for digital trade;
(d) unsolicited commercial electronic messages;
(e) authentication;
(f) intellectual property concerns with respect to digital trade;
(g) challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises in digital trade; and
(h) digital government.
2. The Parties have a shared vision to promote secure digital trade and recognise that threats to cybersecurity undermine confidence in digital trade.
Accordingly, the Parties recognise the importance of:
(a) Building the capabilities of their government agencies responsible for computer security incident response;
(b) Using existing collaboration mechanisms to cooperate to identify and mitigate malicious intrusions or dissemination of malicious code that affect the electronic networks of the Parties; and
(c) Promoting the development of a strong public and private workforce in the area of cybersecurity, including possible initiatives relating to mutual recognition of qualifications.
Chapter 12. SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES
Article 12.1. General Principles
1. The Parties, recognising the fundamental role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in maintaining dynamism and enhancing competitiveness of their respective economies, shall foster close cooperation between SMEs of the Parties and cooperate in promoting jobs and growth in SMEs.
2. The Parties recognise the integral role of the private sector in the SME cooperation to be implemented under this Chapter.
3. The Parties agree to strengthen cooperation that will contribute to the implementation of this Agreement with the aim of optimising its results, expanding opportunities, and obtaining the greatest benefits for the Parties.
Article 12.2. Cooperation to Increase Trade and Investment Opportunities for SMEs
With a view to more robust cooperation between the Parties to enhance commercial opportunities for SMEs, each Party shall seek to increase trade and investment opportunities, and in particular shall:
(a) Promote cooperation between the Parties' small business support infrastructure, including dedicated SME centres, incubators and accelerators, export assistance centres, and other centres as appropriate, to create an international network for sharing best practices, exchanging market research, and promoting SME participation in international trade, as well as business growth in local markets;
(b) Strengthen its collaboration with the other Parties on activities to promote SMEs owned by women and youth, as well as start-ups, and promote partnership among these SMEs and their participation in international trade;
(c) Enhance its cooperation with the other Parties to exchange information and best practices in areas including improving SME access to capital and credit, SME participation in covered government procurement opportunities, and helping SMEs adapt to changing market conditions;
(d) Encourage participation in purpose-built mobile or web-based platforms, for business entrepreneurs and counsellors to share information and best practices to help SMEs link with international suppliers, buyers, and other potential business partners;
(e) Promote the development of SMEs;
(f) Support the role of the private sector, with special emphasis on SMEs, in promoting and building strategic alliances to encourage mutual economic growth and development;
(g) Design and develop mechanisms in order to foster partnerships and strengthen the development of productive linkages, by supporting SMEs to overcome barriers and gaps that impede their insertion to the value chains and to fulfil the requirements for the access to the external and internal markets;
(h) Design and develop mechanisms in order to foster partnerships to improve quality standards in SMEs;
(i) Design and develop mechanisms in order to foster partnerships for enhancing commercial relations between SMEs interested in exporting to each country. These mechanisms may include, but are not limited to, logistics, digital transformation, product adjustment, and commercial strategies in the market;
(j) Design initiatives to foster low carbon technologies and sustainable chemistry that enables industrial conversion plans to face the climate change and biodiversity protection challenges; and
(k) Promote the exchange of information on good practices in the free trade zones.
Article 12.3. Information Sharing
1. Each Party shall establish or maintain its own free, publicly accessible website containing information regarding this Agreement, including:
(a) the text of this Agreement;
(b) a summary of this Agreement; and
(c) information designed for SMEs that contains:
(i) a description of the provisions in this Agreement that the Party considers to be relevant to SMEs; and
(ii) any additional information that would be useful for SMEs interested in benefitting from the opportunities provided by this Agreement.
2. Each Party shall include in its website links or information through automated electronic transfer to:
(a) the equivalent websites of the other Parties; and
(b) the websites of its own government agencies and other appropriate entities that provide information the Party considers useful to any person interested in trading, investing, or doing business in that Party's territory.
3. Subject to each Party's laws and regulations, the information described in paragraph 2(b) may include:
(a) customs regulations, procedures, or enquiry points;
(b) regulations or procedures concerning intellectual property, trade secrets, and patent protection rights;
(c) technical regulations, standards, quality, or conformity assessment procedures;
(d) sanitary or phytosanitary measures relating to importation or exportation;
(e) foreign investment regulations;
(f) business registration;
(g) trade promotion programs;
(h) competitiveness programs;
(i) SME investment and financing programs;
(j) taxation, accounting;
(k) government procurement opportunities; and
(l) other information which the Party considers to be useful for SMEs.