(e) to search for a certain mechanism with the purpose of detecting and preventing the illicit shipment of goods arriving from one of the Parties or from a non-Party; and
(f) to jointly organise training programmes in customs related issues, which should include training for customs officials as well as users that directly participate in customs procedures.
Article 5.14. Review
In the second year from the date of entry into force of this Agreement, the Parties shall examine and revise, if deemed necessary by the Parties, the system regarding the Certificate or Declaration of Origin under this Chapter.
Chapter 6. SAFEGUARD MEASURES
Article 6.1. Safeguard Measures
1. Both Parties maintain their rights and obligations under Article XIX of GATT and the Agreement on Safeguards, which is part of the WTO.
2. Actions taken pursuant to Article XIX of GATT and Agreement on Safeguards shall not be subject to Chapter 19 of this Agreement.
Chapter 7. ANTI-DUMPING AND COUNTERVAILING DUTY MATTERS
Article 7.1. Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty Matters
1. The Parties maintain their rights and obligations under Article VI of GATT, the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT ("Agreement on Antidumping") and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, which are part of the WTO Agreement.
2. Antidumping actions taken pursuant to Article VI of GATT and the Agreement on Antidumping, or countervailing actions taken pursuant to Article VI of GATT and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures shall not be subject to Chapter 19 of this Agreement.
Chapter 8. SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
Article 8.1. Definitions
For purposes of this Chapter, the definitions and terms established under the following shall be applied:
(a) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which is part of the WTO Agreement (SPS Agreement);
(b) Office International des Epizooties (OIE);
(c) International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC); and
(d) Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX).
Article 8.2. General Provisions
1. This Chapter applies to all sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which may, directly or indirectly, affect trade between the Parties.
2. The Parties shall, through mutual cooperation, facilitate agricultural, fishing and forest trade without such trade posing a sanitary or phytosanitary risk, and agree to prevent the introduction or spread of pests or diseases, and to enhance plant and animal health and food safety.
3. The framework of rules and disciplines that guide the adoption and enforcement of the sanitary and phytosanitary measures included in this Chapter is deemed to be consistent with the SPS Agreement.
4. Any other sanitary or phytosanitary matter which is not described in this Chapter shall be dealt with in accordance with the SPS Agreement.
Article 8.3. Rights of the Parties
The Parties may, in accordance with the SPS Agreement:
(a) adopt, maintain or apply any sanitary or phytosanitary measure whenever it is necessary for the protection of human, animal or plant life or health in their territories in accordance with this Chapter; and
(b) apply their sanitary or phytosanitary measures to the extent necessary to achieve an appropriate level of protection.
Article 8.4. Obligations of the Parties
Each Party shall ensure that any sanitary or phytosanitary measure that it adopts, maintains or applies:
(a) is neither applied in a mamner that constitutes a disguised restriction on trade, nor has the purpose or the effect of creating unnecessary obstacles to trade between the Parties;
(b) is based on scientific principles and is not maintained without sufficient scientific evidence, except as provided for in Article 5.7 of the SPS Agreement; and
(c) does not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between its goods and similar goods of the other Party, or between goods of the other Party and similar goods of any other country, where identical or similar conditions exist.
Article 8.5. International Standards and Harmonization
1. Without reducing the level of protection of human, animal or plant life or health, each Party shall base its sanitary and phytosanitary measures on relevant international standards, guidelines or recommendations, where they exist, with a view to seeking harmonization.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the Parties may adopt a sanitary or phytosanitary measure offering a level of protection other than the level that would be achieved through a measure based on an international standard, guideline or recommendation, including a more stringent measure than the foregoing, if there is a scientific justification, or as a consequence of the level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection the Party determines to be appropriate in accordance with the relevant provisions of Article 5 of the SPS Agreement.
3. For purposes of achieving a higher degree of harmonization, the Parties shall, to the greatest extent possible, cooperate in the development of international standards, guidelines and recommendations to all aspects of sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and follow the standards, guidelines and recommendations set by the following organizations:
(a) onplant health issues, the IPPC;
(b) on animal health issues, the OIE; and
(c) on food safety issues, the CODEX.
4. For matters not covered by the international organizations listed in paragraph 3, the Parties may consider, as agreed by the Parties, the standards, guidelines and recommendations of other relevant international organizations of which both Parties are members.
Article 8.6. Equivalence
1. Each Party shall accept the sanitary and phytosanitary measures of the other Party as equivalent, even if these measures differ from its own measures, if the exporting Party objectively demonstrates to the other Party that its measures achieve the other Party's appropriate level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection.
2. For purposes of ensuring that sanitary and phytosanitary measures of the exporting Party consistently meet the importing Party's requirements, the exporting Party shall, upon request, provide the importing Party with reasonable access to its territory for the verification of its systems or procedures of inspection, testing and other relevant procedures.
Article 8.7. Risk Assessment and Determination of Appropriate Sanitary and Phytosanitary Level of Protection
1. The Parties shall ensure that their sanitary and phytosanitary measures are, as appropriate to the circumstances, based on an assessment of the risks to human, animal or plant life or health, taking into account relevant risk assessment guidelines and techniques developed by the relevant international organizations.
2. The Parties shall, in assessing risks and determining a sanitary or phytosanitary measure, take into account available scientific evidence and other factors, such as:
(a) the prevalence of pests or diseases;
(b) the existence of pest- or disease-free areas;
(c) the relevant ecological and environmental conditions;
(d) the effectiveness of eradication or control programs;
(e) the structure and organization of sanitary and phytosanitary services; and
(f) the control, monitoring, diagnosis and other procedures ensuring the safety of the product.
3. In assessing risks to animal or plant life or health and determining the measure to be applied for achieving the appropriate level of protection from such risks, the Parties shall take into account the following relevant economic factors:
(a) the potential damage in terms of loss of production or sales in the event of the entry, establishment or spread of a pest or disease;
(b) the cost of control or eradication in the territory of the importing Party; and
(c) the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative approaches to limiting risks.
4. The Parties shall, in establishing their appropriate levels of protection, take into account the objective of minimizing negative trade effects and shall, with the purpose of achieving consistency in the application of such levels of protection, avoid arbitrary or unjustifiable distinctions that may result in discrimination or constitute a disguised restriction on the trade between the Parties.
5. Where a Party determines that available scientific information is insufficient, it may adopt a provisional sanitary or phytosanitary measure on the basis of available relevant information, including information from relevant international organizations and from sanitary or phytosanitary measures of the other Party and any other countries. The Party shall, once it has the information sufficient to complete the assessment, complete its assessment and, where appropriate, review the provisional sanitary or phytosanitary measure within a reasonable period of time.
Article 8.8. Adaptation to Regional Conditions, Including Pest- or Disease-Free Areas and Areas of Low Pest or Disease Prevalence
1. The Parties shall adapt its sanitary or phytosanitary measures relating to animal or plant pest or disease to the sanitary or phytosanitary characteristics of the area of origin and destination of the goods. When assessing the characteristics of an area, the Parties shall take into account, inter alia, the level of prevalence of specific diseases or pests, the existence of eradication or control programmes, and appropriate criteria or guidelines, which may be developed by the relevant international organizations.
2. The Parties shall recognize, in particular according to relevant international standards, the concepts of pest- or disease-free areas or areas of low pest or disease prevalence. When determining such areas, the Parties shall consider factors, such as geographical location, ecosystems, epidemiological surveillance, and the effectiveness of sanitary or phytosanitary controls in that area.
3. The Party declaring that an area in its territory is free from or low prevalence of a specific pest or disease shall provide the necessary evidence thereof in order to demonstrate such a condition objectively and to the satisfaction of the other Party, and give assurances that the area shall remain as such based on protection measures adopted by the authorities responsible for sanitary and phytosanitary services.
4. The Party interested in obtaining the recognition of a pest- or disease-free area or areas of low pest or disease prevalence shall make the request, and provide the relevant scientific and technical information to the other Party. For this purpose, the requesting Party shall provide reasonable access to its territory to the other Party for inspection, testing and other relevant procedures.
5. If the request for recognition is rejected, the rejecting Party shall provide the technical reasons for its decision in writing.
Article 8.9. Control, Inspection and Approval Procedures
1. The Parties shall, in accordance with this Chapter, apply the provisions in Annex C of the SPS Agreement in relation to control, inspection or approval procedures, including systems for approving the use of additives or for establishing levels of tolerance for contaminants in food, beverages or feedstuffs.
2. The importing Party may verify whether the imported animals, plants and other related products are consistently in compliance with its sanitary and phytosanitary requirements. The Parties shall facilitate proceedings for such verification.
Article 8.10. Transparency
1. Each Party shall notify through its competent authorities, modification of a sanitary or phytosanitary measure and provide the related information in accordance with the provisions in Annex B of the SPS Agreement.
2. In addition, to ensure the protection of human, animal or plant life or health in the other Party, each Party shall notify:
(a) changes or modifications to sanitary and phytosanitary measures having a significant effect on trade between the Parties, at least 60 days before the effective date of the new provision, to allow for observations from the other Party. The 60-day period shall not apply to emergency situations, as established in Annex B of the SPS Agreement;
(b) changes occurring in the animal health field, such as the appearance of exotic diseases and those in List A of the OIE, within 24 hours following their provisional diagnosis;
(c) changes occurring in the phytosanitary field, such as the appearance of a quarantine pest and spread of a pest under official control, within 24 hours following verification of the pest;
(d) food control emergency situations where there is a clearly identified risk of serious adverse health effects associated with the consumption of certain food, within 24 hours of the identification of the risk; and
(e) discoveries of epidemiological importance and significant changes related to diseases and pests not included in subparagraphs 2(b) and (c) that may affect trade between the Parties, within a maximum period of ten days following the verification of such diseases and pests.
Article 8.11. Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
1. The Parties hereby establish a Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures ("Committee"), comprising representatives of each Party, who are responsible for sanitary and phytosanitary issues in the fields of animal and plant health, food safety and trade.
2. The Committee shall be set up not later than 30 days after the entry into force of this Agreement.
3. The Committee shall carry out the functions necessary to implement the provisions of this Chapter, including, but not limited to:
(a) coordinating the application of the provisions of this Chapter;
(b) facilitating consultations on specific matters related to sanitary or phytosanitary measures;
(c) establishing and determining the scope and mandate of the sub-committees;
(d) promoting technical cooperation between the Parties, including cooperation in the development, adoption and enforcement of sanitary and phytosanitary measures; and
(e) monitoring the compliance with the provisions of this Chapter.
4. The Committee shall establish, if the need arises and the Parties so agree, the following sub-committees: Sub-Committees on Animal Health, Plant Protection and Food Safety. The members of these sub-committees shall be designated by the relevant authorities in their respective fields.
5. The sub-committees shall carry out the following functions, including, but not limited to:
(a) preparing terms of reference for their activities within the scope of their competence and informing results thereof to the Committee;
(b) concluding specific agreements on matters of interest, involving higher technical- operating details, to be submitted to the Committee; and
(c) establishing expeditious information exchange mechanisms to deal with consultations between the Parties.
6. The Committee shall meet once every two years, except as otherwise agreed. If an additional meeting is requested by a Party, it will be held in the territory of the other Party. The sub-committees shall meet, upon request of a Party. The meetings may also be held by telephone, video conference or other means, upon the agreement of both Parties.
7. The Committee shall report annually to the Commission on the implementation of this Chapter.
Article 8.12. Technical Consultations
1. A Party may initiate consultations with the other Party if uncertainty arises with regard to the application or interpretation of the content of a sanitary or phytosanitary measure under this Chapter.
2. Where a Party requests consultations and so notifies the Committee, the Committee shall facilitate consultations, and may refer the matter at issue to an ad hoc working group or another forum, for providing non-binding technical assistance or recommendations to the Parties.
3. A Party asserting that the interpretation or application of a sanitary or phytosanitary measure of the other Party is inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter shall bear the burden to prove such inconsistency.
4. Where the Parties, pursuant to this Article, have carried out consultations without reaching satisfactory results, such consultations, if so agreed by the Parties, shall constitute consultations under Article 19.4.
Chapter 9. STANDARDS-RELATED MEASURES
Article 9.1. Definitions
For purposes of this Chapter:
authorization procedure means any registration, notification or other mandatory administrative procedure granting authorization for a good to be produced, marketed or used for a stated purpose or under stated conditions;
conformity assessment procedure means any procedure used, directly or indirectly, to determine compliance with the provisions on technical regulations or standards. This includes, inter alia, sampling procedures, testing and inspection, evaluation, verification and assurance of conformity, registration, accreditation and approval either separately or in combination;
international standard means a standards-related measure, or any other guideline or recommendation, adopted by an international standardizing body and made available to the public;
international standardizing body means a standardizing body whose membership is open to the relevant bodies of at least all the parties to the WTO Agreement, including the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Telecommunication Union, and any other body that the Parties designate;
legitimate objective is to guarantee national security requirements, the prevention of deceptive practices, protection of human health or safety, animal or plant life or health, or the environment and any other objective that shall be determined by the Standards-Related Measures Committee;
make compatible means to bring different standards-related measures of the same scope approved by different standardizing bodies to a level such that they are either identical or modified to fulfill the same purpose, or have the effect of permitting that goods are used in place of one another or fulfill the same purpose;
standard means a document, approved by a recognized body, that provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for goods or related processes and production methods, with which compliance is not mandatory. It may also include or deal exclusively with terminology, symbols, packaging, marking and labelling requirements applicable to a good, process or production method;
standardizing body means a body having recognized activities in standardization;
standards-related measures means a standard, technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure; and
technical regulation means a document which lays down the product characteristics or their related processes and production methods, including the applicable administrative provisions, with which compliance is mandatory. It may also include or deal exclusively with terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling requirements applicable to a product, process, or production method.
Article 9.2. General Provision
The Parties shall apply the provisions set forth in this Chapter in addition to the provisions established by the WTO Agreement.
Article 9.3. Scope and Coverage
1. This Chapter applies to standards-related measures of the Parties that may, directly or indirectly, affect the trade of goods between the Parties and to measures of the Parties relating to such measures.
2. Provisions included in this Chapter shall not apply to sanitary and phytosanitary measures governed by Chapter 8. Technical specifications prepared by governmental bodies for production or consumption requirements of governmental bodies are not subject to the provisions of this Chapter but are addressed in Chapter 15.
Article 9.4. Basic Rights and Obligations
Right to Take Standards-Related Measures
1. Each Party may prepare, adopt, apply or maintain any standards-related measure to ensure that each Party is able to pursue its legitimate objectives, as well as measures ensuring enforcement and compliance with these standardizing measures, including approval procedures.
Extent of Obligation
2. Each Party shall comply with the applicable provisions of this Chapter and adopt the appropriate measures to ensure its observance, as well as those measures of non-governmental standardizing bodies duly accredited in its territory.
3. Each Party shall, in respect of its standards-related measures, accord to goods of the other Party:
(a) national treatment; and
(b) treatment no less favorable than the most favorable treatment that the Party accords to similar goods of any other non-Party.
Unnecessary Obstacles
4. No Party may prepare, adopt, maintain or apply any standards-related measure with a view to or with the effect of creating unnecessary obstacles to trade between the Parties. To that end, standards-related measures shall not be more trade restrictive than necessary to achieve a legitimate objective, taking account of the risks that non-fulfillment would create. An unnecessary obstacle to trade shall not be deemed to be created where:
(a) the demonstrable purpose of the measure is to achieve a legitimate objective;
(b) the measure complies with an international standard; and
(c) the measure does not operate to exclude goods of the other Party that meet that legitimate objective.
Use of International Standards
5. Each Party shall use, as a basis for its own standards-related measures, the relevant international standards in force or whose completion is imminent, except where such standards would be an ineffective or inappropriate means to fulfill its legitimate objectives.
Article 9.5. Compatibility
1. Recognizing the crucial role of standards-related measures in achieving legitimate objectives, the Parties shall, in accordance with this Chapter and the WTO Agreement, work jointly to enhance the level of safety and of protection of human, animal and plant life and health, the environment and consumers.
2. The Parties shall, to the greatest extent practicable, work to make compatible their respective standards-related measures, without reducing the level of safety or of protection of human, animal or plant life or health, the environment or consumers, without prejudice to the rights granted to either Party under this Chapter, and taking into account international standardization activities so as to facilitate the trade of a good between the Parties.
3. A Party shall, upon request of the other Party, seek, as far as possible and through appropriate measures, to promote the compatibility of a specific standard-related measure that is maintained in its territory with the standards-related measures maintained in the territory of the other Party.
4. A Party shall, upon request in writing from the other Party explicitly stating its reasons for the request, consider favorably the possibility of accepting standards-related measures of the other Party as equivalent to its own, even if they differ from its own, provided that, in cooperation with that Party, it is convinced that such measures comply adequately with the legitimate objectives of its own measures.
5. A Party shall provide to the other Party, upon request, its reasons in writing for not accepting standards-related measures as equivalent under paragraph 4.
Article 9.6. Conformity Assessment Procedures
1. Conformity assessment procedures of the Parties shall be prepared, adopted and applied in a manner that provides access to similar goods of the territory of the other Party on terms no less favorable than those granted to similar goods of the Party or any other country in a comparable position.
2. Each Party shall, with respect to its conformity assessment procedures, ensure that:
(a) such procedures are initiated and completed as expeditiously as possible and in a non-discriminatory order;
(b) the normal processing period for each one of such procedures is published or the estimated processing period is communicated to the applicant upon request;
(c) the competent body or authority:
(i) upon receipt of an application, promptly examines the completeness of the documentation and informs the applicant in a precise and complete manner of any deficiency;
(ii) transmits to the applicant as soon as possible the results of the assessment in a precise and complete manner, so that the applicant may take any necessary corrective action;
(iii) even if the application is deficient, proceeds as far as practicable with the conformity assessment if so requested by the applicant; and
(iv) informs the applicant, on request, of the status of the application and the reasons for any delay;
(d) it limits the information the applicant is required to supply to what is necessary to conduct the conformity assessment procedure and to determine appropriate fees;
(e) the confidential nature of information arising from, or supplied in connection with such procedures for a good of the other Party is respected in the same manner as the treatment accorded to a good of that Party, so as to protect legitimate commercial interests;
(f) any fee it imposes for conducting the conformity assessment procedure of a good of the other Party is no higher than is equitable in relation to any such fee imposed for like goods of that Party, taking into account communication, transportation and other related costs derived from the different locations of the facilities of the applicant and those of the conformity assessment body;
(g) the location of facilities at which conformity assessment procedures and sampling selection procedures are conducted does not cause unnecessary inconvenience to the applicant or its agents;