Title
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS
Preamble
The Government of the People's Republic of China ("China") and the Government of the Republic of Mauritius ("Mauritius"), hereinafter collectively referred to as "the Parties":
Inspired by their longstanding friendship and growing bilateral economic relationship since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1972;
Desiring to strengthen their economic partnership and further liberalise bilateral trade and investment to bring economic and social benefits;
Resolved to establish transparent and predictable rules governing the trade and investment between the Parties;
Building on their rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (hereinafter referred to as "the WTO Agreement");
Upholding the rights of their governments to regulate in order to meet national policy objectives, and to preserve their flexibility to safeguard the public welfare;
Recognising that the strengthening of their economic partnership through a free trade agreement will produce mutual benefits for the Parties,
Have agreed as follows:
Body
Chapter 1. INITIAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS
Article 1.1. ESTABLISHMENT OF a FREE TRADE AREA
The Parties, consistent with Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 and Article V of the GATS, hereby establish a free trade area.
Article 1.2. RELATION TO OTHER AGREEMENTS
The Parties affirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other under the WTO Agreement and other existing agreements to which both Parties are party.
Article 1.3. GEOGRAPHICAL APPLICABILITY
1. For China, this Agreement shall apply to the entire customs territory of China, including land territory, territorial airspace, internal waters, territorial sea as well as their bed and subsoil, and any area beyond its territorial sea within which it may exercise sovereign rights and/or jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law.
2. For Mauritius, this Agreement shall apply to
(a) all the territories and islands which, in accordance with the laws of Mauritius, constitute the State of Mauritius;
(b) the territorial sea of Mauritius; and
(c) any area outside the territorial sea of Mauritius, which in accordance with international law, has been or may hereafter be designated, under the laws of Mauritius, as an area, including the Continental Shelf, within which the rights of Mauritius with respect to the sea, the sea-bed and sub-soil and their natural resources may be exercised.
3. Each Party is fully responsible for the observance of all provisions of this Agreement and shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to it to ensure its observance by local governments and authorities in its territory.
Article 1.4. GENERAL DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified:
customs duty means a customs or import duty and a charge of any kind, including any form of surtax or surcharge, imposed on or in connection with the importation of a good, but does not include any:
(a) charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed consistently with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article II of the GATT 1994, in respect of like goods, directly competitive goods, or substitutable goods of a Party, or in respect of goods from which the imported goods have been manufactured or produced in whole or in part;
(b) anti-dumping or countervailing duty applied in accordance with the domestic law of a Party, and applied consistently with the provisions of Article VI of the GATT 1994, the Agreement on the Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994, and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures;
(c) safeguard duty applied in accordance with the domestic law of a Party and applied consistently with the provisions of Article XIX of the GATT 1994, and the Agreement on Safeguards; or
(d) other fees or charges commensurate with the cost of services rendered. days means calendar days;
existing means in effect on the date of entry into force of this Agreement;
GATS means the General Agreement on Trade in Services, contained in Annex 1B to the WTO Agreement;
GATT 1994 means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
Harmonised System or HS means the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which is set out in the Annex to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, done at Brussels on 14 June 1983, and subsequent amendments thereto;
measure includes any law, regulation, procedure, requirement or practice; WTO means the World Trade Organization; and
WTO Agreement means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994.
Chapter 2. TRADE IN GOODS
Article 2.1. SCOPE
This Chapter applies to trade in goods between the Parties.
Article 2.2. DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Chapter:
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures means the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement.
Article 2.3. NATIONAL TREATMENT ON INTERNAL TAXATION AND REGULATION
Each Party shall accord national treatment to the goods of the other Party in accordance with Article III of the GATT 1994. To this end, Article III of the GATT 1994 is incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 2.4. ELIMINATION OF CUSTOMS DUTIES
1. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, each Party shall eliminate its customs duties on originating goods of the other Party, as from the date of entry into force of this Agreement in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in its Schedule to Annex I (Schedules in Relation to Article 2.4 (Elimination of Customs Duties)).
2. Neither Party shall increase any customs duty bound in its Schedule to Annex I (Schedules in Relation to Article 2.4 (Elimination of Customs Duties)) or introduce a new customs duty on imports of an originating good of the other Party other than in accordance with this Agreement.
3. For each product the base rate of customs duty, to which the successive reductions set out in its Schedule to Annex I (Schedules in Relation to Article 2.4 (Elimination of Customs Duties)) are to be applied, shall be the most-favoured-nation (hereinafter referred to as "MFN") customs duty rate applied on 1st January 2017. If at any moment a Party reduces its applied MFN customs duty rate after the entry into force of this Agreement, that duty rate shall apply as regards trade covered by this Agreement if and for as long as it is lower than the customs duty rate calculated in accordance with its Schedule to Annex I (Schedules in Relation to Article 2.4 (Elimination of Customs Duties)).
Article 2.5. CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS
The classification of goods traded between the Parties shall be in conformity with the Harmonized System, as adopted and implemented by the Parties in their respective tariff laws.
Article 2.6. NON-TARIFF MEASURES
1. Unless otherwise provided in this Agreement, neither Party shall adopt or maintain any prohibition, restriction, or measure having equivalent effect, including any quantitative restrictions, on the importation of a good originating in the territory of the other Party, or on the exportation or sale for export of a good destined for the territory of the other Party except in accordance with Article XI of the GATT 1994. To this end, Article XI of the GATT 1994 is incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
2. Each Party shall not adopt or maintain any non-tariff measure on the importation of any good of the other Party or on the exportation of any good destined for the territory of the other Party, except in accordance with its rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement or this Agreement.
Article 2.7. IMPORT LICENSING
Each Party shall ensure that import licensing regimes applied to the goods originating in the territory of the other Party are applied in accordance with the WTO Agreement, and in particular, with the provisions of the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures.
Article 2.8. ADMINISTRATIVE FEES AND FORMALITIES
1. Each Party shall ensure that all fees and charges imposed on or in connection with importation or exportation shall be consistent with their obligations under Article VIII:1 of the GATT 1994 and its interpretative notes, which are hereby incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
2. Neither Party shall require consular transactions, including related fees and charges, in connection with the importation of any good of the other Party.
Article 2.9. ADMINISTRATION OF TRADE REGULATIONS
1. In accordance with Article X of the GATT 1994, each Party shall administer in a uniform, impartial and reasonable manner all its laws, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative rulings pertaining to the classification or the valuation of products for customs purposes, or to rates of duty, taxes or other charges, or to requirements, restrictions or prohibitions on imports or exports or on the transfer of payments therefor, or affecting their sale, distribution, transportation, insurance, warehousing, inspection, exhibition, processing, mixing or other use.
2. In accordance with Article VIII of the GATT 1994, neither Party shall impose substantial penalties for minor breaches of customs regulations or procedural requirements. In particular, no penalty in respect of any omission or mistake in customs documentation which is easily rectified and obviously made without fraudulent intent or gross negligence, shall be greater than necessary to serve merely as a warning.
Article 2.10. STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES
Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Party from maintaining or establishing a state trading enterprise as provided in Article XVII of the GATT 1994 and the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XVI of the GATT 1994.
Article 2.11. TRADE FACILITATION
1. To facilitate trade between China and Mauritius, the Parties shall:
(a) simplify, to the greatest extent possible, procedures for trade in goods;
(b) promote multilateral cooperation in order to enhance their participation in the development and implementation of international conventions and recommendations on trade facilitation; and
(c) cooperate on trade facilitation within the framework of the China- Mauritius Free Trade Area Joint Commission (hereinafter referred to as "the FTA Joint Commission") as referred to in Article 14.1(Establishment of the China-Mauritius Free Trade Area Joint Commission), including on the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.
Article 2.12. CUSTOMS COOPERATION AND MUTUAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE
The Parties will seek to make arrangements regarding customs cooperation and mutual administrative assistance within their respective domestic laws and regulations.
Article 2.13. COUNTRY SPECIFIC TARIFF QUOTA
1. For products in respect of which China establishes a Country Specific Tariff Quota (hereinafter referred to as "CSTQ") in its Schedule to Annex I (Schedules in Relation to Article 2.4 (Elimination of Customs Duties)), China shall apply in-quota tariff rates at a level equal to that of its global tariff rate quotas (hereinafter referred to as "TRQ") to imports of such products of Mauritius origin up to the quantity for each year as specified in Chapter 2-Annex (Country Specific Tariff Quota) after the entry into force of this Agreement or starting from 1 January 2021, whichever is the later.
2. Imports of such products of Mauritius origin in excess of the specified quantity in Chapter 2-Annex (Country Specific Tariff Quota) in any given calendar year shall be subject to the MFN applied rate.
3. The quantities of the CSTQ beyond the last year specified in Chapter 2-Annex (Country Specific Tariff Quota) shall remain at the same level as the last year.
Chapter 3. RULES OF ORIGIN AND IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES
Section A. Rules of Origin
Article 3.1. DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Chapter:
aquaculture means the farming of aquatic organisms, including fish, mollusks, crustaceans, other aquatic invertebrates and aquatic plants, from seed stock such as eggs, fry, fingerlings, and larvae, by intervention in the rearing or growth processes to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, or protection from predators;
authorized body means any government authority or other entity authorized under the laws or regulations of a Party or recognized by a Party as competent to issue a Certificate of Origin;
Customs Valuation Agreement means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
CIF means the value of the imported good inclusive of the cost of insurance and freight up to the port or place of entry in the country of importation;
FOB means the value of the exported good free on board inclusive of the cost of transport to the port or site of final shipment abroad;
fungible materials mean materials which are interchangeable for commercial purposes, whose properties are essentially identical, and between which it is impractical to differentiate by a mere visual examination;
generally accepted accounting principles mean the recognized accounting standards of a Party with respect to the recording of revenues, expenses, costs, assets and liabilities, the disclosure of information and the preparation of financial statements. Those standards may encompass broad guidelines of general applications as well as detailed standards, practices and procedures;
good means product or material; materials mean ingredients, parts, components, subassemblies and/or goods
that were physically incorporated into another product or were subject to a process in the production of another product;
originating materials mean materials which qualify as originating in accordance with this Chapter;
product means a product being produced, even if it is intended for later use in another production operation; and
production means any method of obtaining goods including, but not limited to, growing, raising, mining, harvesting, fishing, aquaculture, farming, trapping,
hunting, capturing, gathering, collecting, breeding, extracting, manufacturing, processing or assembling a good.
Article 3.2. ORIGINATING GOODS
1. Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the following goods shall be considered as originating in a Party:
(a) goods wholly obtained or produced in a Party as defined in Article 3.3 (Goods Wholly Obtained);
(b) goods produced in a Party exclusively from originating materials; or
(c) goods produced from non-originating materials in a Party, provided that the goods conform to a regional value content of no less than 40%, except for the goods listed in the Annex II (Product Specific Rules of Origin) which must comply with the requirements specified therein.
Article 3.3. GOODS WHOLLY OBTAINED
1. For the purposes of Article 3.2(1)(a), the following goods shall be considered as wholly obtained or produced in a Party:
(a) live animals born and raised in a Party; (b) goods obtained from live animals referred to in subparagraph (a);
(c) plant and plant products grown, and harvested, picked or gathered in a Party;
(d) goods obtained from hunting, trapping, fishing, aquaculture, gathering or capturing conducted in a Party;
(e) minerals and other naturally occurring substances not included in subparagraphs (a) through (d), extracted or taken from its soil, waters, seabed or subsoil beneath the seabed;
(f) goods extracted from the waters, seabed or subsoil beneath the seabed outside the territorial waters of a Party, provided that the Party has the right to exploit such waters, seabed or subsoil beneath the seabed in accordance with international law and its domestic law;
(g) goods of sea fishing and other marine products taken from the sea outside the territorial waters of a Party by a vessel registered in a Party and flying the flag of that Party;
(h) goods processed or made on board factory ships registered in a Party and flying the flag of that Party, exclusively from goods referred to in subparagraph (g);
(i) scrap and waste derived from processing operations in a Party, which fit only for the recovery of raw materials;
(j) used goods consumed and collected in a Party which fit only for the recovery of raw materials; or
(k) goods produced entirely in a Party exclusively from the goods referred to in subparagraphs (a) to (j).
Article 3.4. REGIONAL VALUE CONTENT
1. The Regional Value Content (RVC) criterion shall be calculated as follows:
RVC = V-VNM/V x 100%
where:
RVC is the regional value content, expressed as a percentage;
V is the value of the product, as defined in the Customs Valuation Agreement, adjusted on an FOB basis; and
VNM is the value of the non-originating materials, including materials of undetermined origin, as provided in paragraph 2.
2. The value of the non-originating materials shall be:
(a) the value of the materials, as defined in the Customs Valuation Agreement, adjusted on a CIF basis; or
(b) the earliest ascertained price paid or payable for the non-originating materials in a Party where the working or processing takes place. When the producer of a product acquires non-originating materials within that Party, the value of such materials shall not include freight, insurance, packing costs, and any other costs incurred in transporting the material from the supplier's warehouse to the producer's location.
3. The value of the non-originating materials used by the producer in the production of a product shall not include, for the purposes of calculating the regional value content of the product, pursuant to paragraph 1, the value of non- originating materials used to produce originating materials that are subsequently used in the production of the product.
Article 3.5. DE MINIMIS
1. A product that does not meet tariff classification change requirements, pursuant to Annex II (Product Specific Rules of Origin), shall nonetheless be considered to be an originating product, provided that:
(a) the value of all non-originating materials, determined pursuant to Article 3.4 (Regional Value Content), including materials of undetermined origin, that do not meet the tariff classification change requirement does not exceed 10% of the FOB value of the given product; and
(b) the product meets all the other applicable criteria of this Chapter.
Article 3.6. ACCUMULATION
Originating materials of a Party, used in the production of a good in the other Party, shall be considered to be originating in the latter Party.
Article 3.7. MINIMAL OPERATIONS OR PROCESSES
1. Notwithstanding Article 3.2(1)(c), a good shall not be considered as originating, if it has only undergone one or more of the following operations or processes:
(a) preservation operations to ensure the goods remain in good condition during transport and storage;
(b) simple assembly of parts of articles to constitute a complete article, or disassembly of products into parts;
(c) packing, unpacking or repacking operations for the purposes of sale or presentation;
(d) slaughtering of animals;
(e) washing, cleaning, removal of dust, oxide, oil, paint or other coverings;
(f) ironing or pressing of textiles;
(g) simple painting and polishing operations;
(h) busking, partial or total bleaching, polishing, and glazing of cereals and tice;
(i) operations to colour sugar or form sugar lumps;
(j) peeling, stoning, and shelling of fruits, nuts and vegetables;
(k) sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting;
(l) sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading, matching (including the making-up of sets of articles), cutting, slitting, bending, coiling, or uncoiling;
(m) simple placing in bottles, cans, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards and other similar packaging operations;
(n) affixing or printing marks, labels, logos or other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;
(0) simple mixing of goods, whether or not of different kinds;
(p) mere dilution with water or another substance that does not materially alter the characteristics of the goods; or
(q) operations whose sole purpose is to ease port handling.
All operations in the production of a given good carried out in a Party shall be taken into account when determining whether the working or process undergone by that good is considered as minimal operations or processes referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 3.8. FUNGIBLE MATERIALS
1. Where originating and non-originating fungible materials are used in the production of a good, the following methods shall be adopted in determining whether the materials used are originating:
(a) physical separation of the materials; or
(b) an inventory management method recognized in the generally accepted accounting principles of the exporting Party, provided that the inventory management method selected is used for at least 12 continuous months.