6. If the competent authority rejects an application, it shall inform the applicant, to the extent practicable in writing, without undue delay. It shall inform the applicant, upon request, of the reasons for the rejection of the application and identify any deficiencies and ways in which those deficiencies can be addressed. It shall inform the applicant of the timeframe for an appeal against the decision, if available. It shall permit an applicant to resubmit an application within a reasonable time limit.
7. Each Party shall ensure that the processing of an application, including the verification and assessment of a qualification, is completed within a reasonable timeframe from the date of the submission of a complete application. Each Party shall endeavour to establish a normal timeframe for the processing of an application.
8. Each Party shall ensure that any fees relating to qualification procedures are commensurate with the costs incurred by the competent authorities and do not in themselves restrict the supply of the service.
Article 10.19. Review of Administrative Decisions
Each Party shall maintain or institute judicial, arbitral or administrative tribunals or procedures which provide, on request of an affected investor or service supplier of the other Party, for the prompt review of, and if justified, appropriate remedies for, administrative decisions affecting establishment, cross border supply of services or the temporary stay of natural persons supplying services. If such procedures are not independent of the agency entrusted with the administrative decision concerned, each Party shall ensure that the procedures in fact provide for an objective and impartial review.
Subsection 3. POSTAL SERVICES
Article 10.20. Scope
1. This Sub-Section sets out the principles of the regulatory framework for postal services regarding which each Party has undertaken specific commitments, as listed in Annexes 10-A and 10-E, in accordance with this Sub-Section.
2. This Sub-Section does not require a Party to liberalise services reserved to 1 (one) or more designated operators as listed in Annexes 10-A and 10-E.
Article 10.21. Definitions
For the purposes of this Sub-Section:
(a) "essential requirements" means general non-economic reasons for imposing conditions on the supply of postal services and may include the confidentiality of correspondence, the security of the network as regards the transport of dangerous goods, data protection, environmental protection and regional planning;
(b) "licence" means any form of authorisation or permission (1) setting out rights and obligations specific to the postal sector, granted to an individual supplier by a regulatory authority, or any other competent body, and which is required before supplying a given service;
(c) "postal item" means an item addressed in the final form in which it is to be carried by a postal service provider, whether public or private, and may include items such as a letter, parcel, newspaper, catalogue and others;
(d) "postal service" (2) means services involving the collection, sorting, transport and delivery of postal items, irrespective of the destination (domestic or foreign), the speed of the service, (priority, non-priority, urgent, express or others), or the operator (public or private);
(e) "regulatory authority" means the independent body or bodies charged with the regulation of postal services mentioned in this Sub-Section; and
(f) "universal service" means the permanent provision of a postal service of specified quality at all points in the territory of a Party at affordable prices for all users.
Article 10.22. Prevention of Anti-competitive Practices In the Postal Sector
Each Party shall ensure that a supplier of postal services subject to a universal service obligation or a postal monopoly does not engage in anti-competitive practices such as:
(a) using revenues derived from the supply of such service to cross-subsidise the supply of an express postal service or any non-universal postal service, and
(b) differentiating among customers such as businesses, large volume mailers or consolidators with respect to tariffs or other terms and conditions for the supply of a service subject to a universal service obligation or a postal monopoly, if such differentiation is not based on objective or impartial criteria.
Article 10.23. Universal Services
Each Party has the right to define the kind of universal service obligation it wishes to maintain and to decide on its scope and implementation. Each Party may adopt the necessary measures in order to safeguard the implementation, development and maintenance of the universal postal service. Such measures and obligations shall not be regarded as anti-competitive per se if they are applied in a transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate way.
Article 10.24. Licences to Provide Postal Services
1. Each Party may require licences for the supply of postal services. A licence should be granted wherever possible, by means of a simplified authorisation procedure in accordance with national laws and regulations.
2. A licence may require compliance with essential requirements, including quality standards and respect for the exclusive and special rights of designated operators of reserved services or of universal postal services.
3. If a Party requires a licence:
(a) it shall make publicly available in an easily accessible form:
(i) the rights and obligations resulting from such a licence;
(ii) the criteria, terms and conditions for licensing; and
(iii) to the extent possible, the period of time normally required to reach a decision concerning an application for a licence.
(b) the procedures for granting a licence shall be transparent, non-discriminatory, proportionate and based on objective criteria; and
(c) any licensing fees (1) which the applicants may incur from their application shall be reasonable and shall not in themselves restrict the supply of the service.
4. The status of an application for a licence and the reasons for the refusal to grant a licence shall be made known to the applicant upon request. Each Party shall, in accordance with its laws and regulations, maintain or establish a procedure for applicants to appeal against the refusal to grant a licence to a domestic independent body. Such a procedure shall be transparent, non-discriminatory and based on objective criteria.
Article 10.25. Independence of the Regulatory Body
Each Party may designate a regulatory body, whether specific to the postal service sector or not. The regulatory body shall be legally separate from, and not accountable to, any supplier of postal services. The decisions of, and the procedures used by, the regulatory bodies shall be impartial with respect to all market participants.
Subsection 4. TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
Article 10.26. Scope
1. This Sub-Section sets out principles of the regulatory framework for telecommunications services, other than broadcasting (1), regarding which each Party has undertaken specific commitments in accordance with this Chapter.
2. Nothing in this Sub-Section shall be construed:
(a) as requiring a Party to authorise a supplier of telecommunications services of the other Party to establish, construct, acquire, lease, operate, or supply telecommunications transport networks or services, other than as provided for in Annexes 10-A, 10-B, 10-C and 10-E; or
(b) as requiring a Party to oblige service suppliers under its jurisdiction, to establish, construct, acquire, lease, operate or supply telecommunications transport networks or services not offered to the public generally.
Article 10.27. Definitions
For the purposes of this Sub-Section:
(a) "essential telecommunications facilities" (1) means facilities of a public telecommunications transport network and public telecommunications transport service that:
(i) are exclusively or predominantly provided by a single or limited number of suppliers; and
(ii) cannot feasibly be economically or technically substituted in order to provide a service;
(b) "interconnection" means linking with suppliers of telecommunications transport networks or telecommunications transport services in order to allow the users of one supplier of telecommunications services to communicate with users of another supplier of telecommunications services and to access telecommunications services provided by another supplier of telecommunications services;
(c) "licence" means any form of authorisation, including registration, declaration or notification procedures or others as defined in the laws and regulations of a Party, setting out rights and obligations specific to the telecommunications sector granted to an individual service supplier of telecommunications services by a regulatory authority which is required for the provision of a telecommunications service;
(d) "major supplier" in the telecommunications sector is a supplier of telecommunications transport networks or services which has the ability to materially affect the terms of participation, having regard to price and supply, in a relevant market for telecommunications services as a result of control over essential facilities or the use of its position in that market;
(e) "public telecommunications transport network" means the public telecommunications infrastructure which permits telecommunications between and among defined network termination points;
(f) "public telecommunications transport service" means any telecommunications transport service required, explicitly or in effect, by a Party to be offered to the public generally;
(g) "regulatory authority" means the body or bodies charged with the regulation of telecommunications mentioned in this Sub-Section;
(h) "service supplier" means a person that has been granted a licence to supply telecommunications services;
(i) "telecommunications services" means all services which consist in the transmission and reception of electro-magnetic signals and excludes services providing, or exercising editorial control over, the content transmitted; and
(j) "universal service" means the set of services of specified quality that must be made available to all users in the territory of a Party regardless of their geographical location and at an affordable price.
Article 10.28. Regulatory Authority
1. Each Party shall ensure that its regulatory authority for telecommunications services is legally distinct and functionally independent from any supplier of telecommunications services.
2. The regulatory authority shall be sufficiently empowered and resourced to regulate the sector. The competences of regulatory authority shall be made public in an easily accessible and clear form, in particular if those tasks are assigned to more than one body.
3. The decisions of, and the procedures used by, the regulatory authority shall be impartial with respect to all market participants.
4. A supplier of telecommunications services affected by a decision of a regulatory authority shall have the right to appeal against that decision to a domestic appeal body that is independent of the parties involved and of the regulatory authority. If the appeal body is not judicial in character, written reasons for its decision shall be given and its decisions shall also be subject to review by an impartial and independent domestic judicial or administrative authority.
Article 10.29. Licences to Provide Telecommunication Services
1. Each Party shall ensure that a licence is granted, by means of a simplified procedure wherever possible.
2. Each Party shall ensure that the terms and conditions for the granting of rights of use of numbers and frequencies are made publicly available.
3. If a licence is required by a Party:
(a) all the licensing criteria shall be made publicly available;
(b) the reasonable period of time normally required to reach the decision on whether to grant a licence, after the submission of the complete application, shall be public;
(c) if the grant of a licence is refused, the reasons for such a refusal shall be made known in writing to the applicant on request; and
(d) the applicant for a licence shall be able to seek recourse to a domestic appeal body to establish whether a licence has been unduly refused.
Article 10.30. Anti-competitive Practices
Each Party shall adopt or maintain appropriate measures for the purpose of preventing all suppliers of telecommunications services who, alone or together, are a major (1) supplier, from engaging in or continuing anti-competitive practices. These anti-competitive practices may include an abuse of a dominant position, and all individual or concerted practices, conduct or recommendations which have the effect of restricting, limiting, hindering, distorting or preventing current or future competition in the relevant market.
Article 10.31. Access to Essential Telecommunications Facilities
Each Party shall ensure that a major supplier (2) in its territory grants access to its essential telecommunications facilities to suppliers on reasonable and non-discriminatory (3) terms and conditions, including in relation to rates, technical standards, specifications, quality and maintenance.
Article 10.32. Interconnection
1. Each Party shall ensure that any supplier authorised to provide telecommunications services in its territory shall have the right to negotiate interconnection with other suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks and public telecommunications transport services. Interconnection should in principle be agreed on the basis of commercial negotiation between the suppliers concerned.
2. Each Party shall ensure that suppliers of telecommunications services that acquire information from another supplier of telecommunications services during the process of negotiating interconnection arrangements use that information solely for the purpose for which it was supplied and respect, at all times, the confidentiality of information transmitted or stored.
3. Interconnection with a major supplier (1) shall be ensured at any technically feasible point in the network. Such interconnection shall be provided:
(a) under non-discriminatory terms, conditions, including technical standards and specifications, and rates, and of a quality no less favourable than that provided for their own like services of such a major supplier, or for like services of non-affiliated service suppliers, or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates;
(b) in a timely fashion, on terms and conditions, including technical standards and specifications, that are transparent, reasonable having regard to economic feasibility and sufficiently detailed, so that the supplier need not pay for network components or facilities that it does not require for the service to be provided; and
(c) on request by another supplier of telecommunication services, and subject to an assessment by the regulatory authority if appropriate, at any technically feasible points in addition to the network termination points offered to the majority of users, subject to reasonable charges.
4. The rules applicable for interconnection to a major supplier shall be made publicly available.
5. Major suppliers shall make publicly available either their interconnection agreements or their reference interconnection offers, as appropriate.
6. Each Party shall ensure that a supplier of telecommunications services requesting interconnection with a major supplier has a right of recourse, either at any time or after a reasonable period of time which has been made publicly known, to an independent domestic body to resolve disputes regarding appropriate terms, conditions and rates for interconnection. Such an independent domestic body may be the regulatory authority referred to in Article 10.28.
Article 10.33. Scarce Resources
Each Party shall conduct its procedures for granting rights of use of scarce resources including frequencies, numbers and rights of way, in an objective, timely, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. To the extent possible, each Party shall make publicly available the current state of allocated frequency bands, but detailed identification of frequencies for specific government uses is not required.
Article 10.34. Universal Service
1. Each Party has the right to define the kind of universal service obligations it wishes to maintain and to decide on their scope and implementation. Each Party shall administer the universal service obligations in a transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate manner.
2. If the designation of a universal service provider is open to multiple service suppliers of telecommunications networks or services, such procedures shall be open to all service suppliers. The designation shall be made through an efficient, transparent and non-discriminatory mechanism.
Article 10.35. Confidentiality of Information
Each Party shall ensure the confidentiality of telecommunications and related traffic data transmitted by means of public telecommunications transport networks and public telecommunications transport services, subject to the requirement that measures applied to that end do not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade in services.
Article 10.36. Disputes between Suppliers
Each Party shall ensure that, in the event of a dispute arising between suppliers, the regulatory authority (1) concerned issues, on request of either party to the dispute, a binding decision to resolve the dispute in the shortest possible timeframe.
Article 10.37. International Mobile Roaming Services
1. Each Party shall endeavour to cooperate on promoting transparent and reasonable rates for international roaming services with a view to promoting the growth of trade between the Parties and enhancing consumer welfare.
2. Each Party shall ensure that suppliers of telecommunications services providing international mobile roaming services for voice, text messaging and data provide those services:
(a) with a similar quality to that provided to their own retail customers in their country of establishment; and
(b) with clear and readily available information in respect of access to the services and the prices thereof.
3. The Parties shall cooperate on monitoring the achievement of paragraphs 1 and 2 as well as on other issues related to international mobile roaming services that may be identified.
4. This Article does not oblige a Party to regulate rates or conditions for international mobile roaming services.
Subsection 5. FINANCIAL SERVICES
Article 10.38. Scope
This Sub-Section applies to measures by a Party affecting the supply of financial services.
Article 10.39. Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Sub-Section, the following definitions apply:
(a) "financial service" means any service of a financial nature offered by a financial service supplier of a Party; financial services comprise the following activities:
(i) insurance and insurance-related services;
(A) direct insurance (including co-insurance):
(1) life; and
(2) non-life;
(B) reinsurance and retrocession;
(C) insurance inter-mediation, such as brokerage and agency; and
(D) services auxiliary to insurance, such as consultancy, actuarial, risk assessment and claim settlement services; and
(ii) banking and other financial services (excluding insurance):
(A) acceptance of deposits and other repayable funds from the public;
(B) lending of all types, including consumer credit, mortgage credit, factoring and financing of commercial transaction;
(C) financial leasing;
(D) all payment and money transmission services, including credit, charge and debit cards, travellers cheques and bankers drafts;
(E) guarantees and commitments;
(F) trading for own account or for account of customers, whether on an exchange, in an over-the-counter market or otherwise, the following:
(1) money market instruments (including cheques, bills, certificates of deposits);
(2) foreign exchange;
(3) derivative products including, but not limited to, futures and options;
(4) exchange rate and interest rate instruments, including products such as swaps, forward rate agreements;
(5) transferable securities; and
(6) other negotiable instruments and financial assets, including bullion;
(G) participation in issues of all kinds of securities, including underwriting and placement as agent (whether publicly or privately) and the provision of services related to such issues;
(H) money broking;
(I) asset management, such as cash or portfolio management, all forms of collective investment management, pension fund management, custodial, depository and trust services;
(J) settlement and clearing services for financial assets, including securities, derivative products, and other negotiable instruments;
(K) provision and transfer of financial information, and financial data processing and related software by suppliers of other financial services; and
(L) advisory, intermediation and other auxiliary financial services on all the activities listed in points (A) to (K), including credit reference and analysis, investment and portfolio research and advice, advice on acquisitions and on corporate restructuring and strategy;
(b) "financial service supplier" means any natural or juridical person of a Party, except public entities, wishing to supply or supplying financial services;
(c) "new financial service" means a service of a financial nature, including services related to existing and new products or the manner in which a product is delivered, that is not supplied by any financial service supplier in the territory of a Party but which is supplied in the territory of the other Party;
(d) "self-regulatory organisation" means a non-governmental body, including any organisation or association, that exercises regulatory or supervisory authority over financial service suppliers by delegation from a Party;
(e) "public entity" means:
(i) a government, a central bank or a monetary authority of a Party, or an entity owned or controlled by a Party, that is principally engaged in carrying out governmental functions or activities for governmental purposes, not including an entity principally engaged in supplying financial services on commercial terms; or
(ii) a private entity, performing functions normally performed by a central bank or monetary authority, when exercising those functions.
2. For the purposes of this Sub-Section and only in relation to services covered by this Sub‑Section "services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority" means:
(a) activities conducted by a central bank or monetary authority or by any other public entity in pursuit of monetary or exchange rate policies;
(b) activities forming part of a statutory system of social security or public retirement plans; and