(b) considers that it has complied with the terms and conditions of any compensation agreed pursuant to paragraph 2; or
(c) claims that the complaining Party has failed to follow the principles set out in paragraph 5,
it may request in writing, no later than 30 days after receipt of the notification referred to in paragraph 3, the panel to reconvene to make findings on the matter.
10. If a panel is requested to reconvene pursuant to paragraph 9, it shall reconvene within 15 days of receipt of the request. The panel shall present its decision to the Parties no later than 90 days after the receipt of the request. In exceptional cases, if the panel considers that it cannot present its decision within this time period it shall inform the Parties in writing of the reasons for the delay together with an estimate of when it will present its decision. The panel shall not exceed an additional period of 30 days and in cases of urgency shall make every effort to not exceed 15 days.
11. Concessions or other obligations shall not be suspended until the panel has presented its decision. Any suspension of concessions or other obligations shall be consistent with the panel's decision.
Article 30.17. Compliance Review after the Adoption of Temporary Remedies
1. Compensation and the suspension of concessions or other obligations shall be temporary and shall only be applied until such time as the responding Party has complied with the final panel report or the Parties have reached a mutually agreed solution.
2. If the right to suspend concessions or other obligations has been exercised pursuant to paragraph 7 of Article 30.16 (Temporary Remedies for Non- Compliance), or mutually acceptable compensation has been agreed pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 30.16 (Temporary Remedies for Non-Compliance), and the responding Party considers that it has complied with the final panel report, the responding Party shall notify the complaining Party of the steps it has taken to comply.
3. Subject to paragraph 4, the complaining Party shall terminate the suspension of concessions or other obligations within 30 days of receipt of the notification in paragraph 2. In cases where compensation has been applied, and subject to paragraph 4, the responding Party may terminate the application of such compensation within 30 days of the complaining Party's receipt of the notification in paragraph 2.
4. If the Parties disagree on the existence or consistency with this Agreement of any steps notified in accordance with paragraph 2, no later than 30 days after the date of the complaining Party's receipt of the notification, a Party may request in writing the panel to reconvene to examine the matter. (4)
5. Paragraphs 4 through 7 of Article 30.15 (Compliance Review) apply if the panel reconvenes pursuant to paragraph 4.
6. If the panel decides that the steps notified in accordance with paragraph 2 achieve compliance with the final panel report, the suspension of concessions or other obligations or the application of the compensation, shall be terminated no later than 30 days after the date of the decision.
7. If the panel decides that the steps notified in accordance with paragraph 2 do not achieve compliance with the final panel report, the suspension of concessions or other obligations, or the application of the compensation, may continue. Where relevant, the level of suspension of concessions or other obligations or of the compensation, shall be adapted in light of the decision of the panel.
Article 30.18. Suspension or Termination of Proceedings
1. On the request of the Parties, the panel shall suspend its work at any time for a period agreed by the Parties not to exceed 12 consecutive months.
2. The panel shall resume its work at any time on the request of the Parties or at the end of the agreed suspension period on the request of a Party. The request shall be made in writing and notified to the panel, as well as to the other Party, where applicable.
3. In the event of a suspension, the timeframes set out in this Chapter and in the Rules of Procedure shall be extended by the amount of time that the panel's work was suspended.
4. If the work of the panel is suspended for more than 12 consecutive months, the panel proceedings shall lapse, unless the Parties agree otherwise.
5. The panel shall terminate its proceedings if the Parties request it to do so.
Article 30.19. Time Periods and Cases of Urgency
1. Any time period referred to in this Chapter, the Rules of Procedure, or the Code of Conduct may be modified for a dispute by agreement of the Parties.
2. The panel may at any time propose to the Parties to modify any time period, stating the reasons for the proposal.
3. In cases of urgency, the applicable time periods in this Chapter shall not exceed half the time prescribed therein, except:
(a) for the time periods specified in Article 30.9 (Establishment and Reconvening of Panels), Article 30.17 (Compliance Review after the Adoption of Temporary Remedies), and Article 30.18 (Suspension or Termination of Proceedings);
(b) where expressed otherwise in this Chapter; or
(c) where the Parties agree otherwise.
4. On the request of a Party, the panel shall decide, within 15 days of the request, whether a dispute concerns a case of urgency.
Article 30.20. Mutually Agreed Solution
1. The Parties may reach a mutually agreed solution at any time with respect to any dispute referred to in Article 30.4 (Scope).
2. If a mutually agreed solution is reached during panel proceedings, the Parties shall jointly notify the agreed solution to the panel.
Article 30.21. Administration of the Dispute Settlement Procedure
1. The Parties may agree to jointly entrust an external body with providing support for certain administrative tasks for the dispute settlement procedure under this Chapter.
2. The expenses of the external body shall be borne by the Parties in equal share, unless the Parties agree otherwise.
Article 30.22. Contact Point
1. Each Party shall designate a contact point for this Chapter and shall notify the other Party of the contact details of that contact point within 30 days of entry into force of this Agreement. Each Party shall promptly notify the other Party of any change to those contact details.
2. Any request, notification, written submission, or other document made in accordance with this Chapter shall be delivered to the other Party through its designated contact point.
Chapter 31. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND EXCEPTIONS
Article 31.1. General Exceptions
1. For the purposes of Chapter 2 (Goods), Chapter 4 (Rules of Origin and Origin Procedures), Chapter 5 (Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation), Chapter 6 (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures), Chapter 7 (Technical Barriers to Trade), Chapter 13 (Investment), Chapter 14 (Digital Trade), and Chapter 18 (State-Owned Enterprises and Designated Monopolies), Article XX of GATT 1994 is incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis. (1)
2. The Parties understand that the measures referred to in paragraph (b) of Article XX of GATT 1994 include environmental measures necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health, and that paragraph (g) of Article XX of GATT 1994 applies to measures relating to the conservation of living and non-living exhaustible natural resources.
3. For the purposes of Chapter 8 (Cross-Border Trade in Services), Chapter 9 (Financial Services), Chapter 10 (Professional Services and Recognition of Professional Qualifications), Chapter 11 (Temporary Entry for Business Persons), Chapter 12 (Telecommunications), Chapter 13 (Investment), Chapter 14 (Digital Trade), and Chapter 18 (State-Owned Enterprises and Designated Monopolies), paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Article XIV of GATS are incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis. (2) The Parties understand that the measures referred to in paragraph (b) of Article XIV of GATS include environmental measures necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health.
4. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent a Party from implementing the suspension of obligations, including maintaining or increasing a customs duty, that is authorised by the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO or is taken as a result of a decision by a dispute settlement panel under a free trade agreement to which both Parties are party.
Article 31.2. Security Exceptions
Nothing In this Agreement shall be construed to:
(a) require a Party to furnish or allow access to any information the disclosure of which it determines to be contrary to its essential security interests; or
(b) preclude a Party from applying measures that it considers necessary for the fulfilment of its obligations with respect to the maintenance or restoration of international peace or security, or the protection of its own essential security interests.
Article 31.3. Temporary Safeguard Measures
1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining restrictive measures with regard to payments or transfers for current account transactions in the event of serious balance of payments and external financial difficulties or threats thereof.
2. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining restrictive measures with regard to payments or transfers relating to the movements of capital:
(a) in the event of serious balance of payments and external financial difficulties or threats thereof; or
(b) if, in exceptional circumstances, payments or transfers relating to capital movements cause or threaten to cause serious difficulties for macroeconomic management.
3. Any measure adopted or maintained under paragraph 1 or 2 shall:
(a) not be inconsistent with Article 8.3 (National Treatment - Cross- Border Trade in Services), Article 8.4 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment - Cross-Border Trade in Services), Article 9.5 (National Treatment - Financial Services), Article 9.8 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment - Financial Services), Article 13.5 (National Treatment â Investment), and Article 13.6 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment - Investment); (3)
(b) be consistent with the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund ("IMF");
(c) avoid unnecessary damage to the commercial, economic and financial interests of the other Party;
(d) not exceed those necessary to deal with the circumstances described in paragraph 1 or 2;
(e) be temporary and be phased out progressively as the situations specified in paragraph 1 or 2 improve;
(f) not be inconsistent with Article 13.9 (Expropriation and Compensation - Investment); (4) and
(g) not be used to avoid necessary macroeconomic adjustment.
4. A Party adopting or maintaining measures under paragraph 1 or 2 shall:
(a) promptly notify, in writing, the other Party of the measures, including any changes therein; and
(b) on request of the other Party, promptly commence consultations with the other Party to review the measures adopted or maintained under paragraph 1 or 2, provided that:
(i) in the case of capital movements, such consultations are not otherwise taking place outside of this Agreement; or
(ii) in the case of current account restrictions, such consultations are not otherwise taking place under the framework of the WTO Agreement.
5. Any consultations pursuant to paragraph 4 shall take into account all relevant findings of a statistical nature and other facts presented by the IMF relating to foreign exchange, monetary reserves, balance-of-payments, and their conclusions shall take into account the assessment by the IMF of the balance-of-payments and the external financial situation of the Party concerned.
Article 31.4. Taxation Measures
1. For the purposes of this Article: "competent Authority" Means:
(a) for Australia, the Secretary to the Treasury or a successor or an authorised representative; and
(b) for the United Kingdom, the Commissioners for Reveme and Customs or a successor or an authorised representative;
"listed taxes" means taxes on income, on capital gains, on the taxable capital of corporations, on the value of an investment or property (5) (other than the transfer of that investment or property), on estates, on inheritances, on gifts, or on generation-skipping transfers;
"tax convention" means a convention for the avoidance of double taxation, or any other international taxation agreement or arrangement; and
"taxes" and "taxation measures" include excise duties, but do not include:
(a) a "customs duty" as defined in Article 1.4 (General Definitions - Initial Provisions and General Definitions);
(b) a fee or other charge in comnection with the importation commensurate with the cost of services rendered; or
(c) an antidumping or countervailing duty.
2. Except as provided in this Article, nothing in this Agreement applies to taxation measures.
3. The following provisions apply to taxation measures:
(a) Article 2.3 (National Treatment -Trade in Goods), and such other provisions of this Agreement as are necessary to give effect to that Article, to the same extent as does Article III of GATT 1994;
(b) Article 2.12 (Export Duties, Taxes or other Charges - Trade in Goods);
(c) Article 13.9 (Expropriation and Compensation - Investment); and
(d) Article 13.11 (Performance Requirements - Investment).
4. The following provisions apply to taxation measures other than listed taxes:
(a) Article 8.3 (National Treatment - Cross-Border Trade in Services);
(b) Article 8.4 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment - Cross-Border Trade in Services);
(c) Article 9.5 (National Treatment - Financial Services);
(d) Article 9.8 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment - Financial Services);
(e) Article 13.5 (National Treatment - Investment); and
(f) Article 13.6 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment - Investment).
5. The following provisions also apply, in relation to the purchase or consumption of particular services, to taxation measures on income, on capital gains, on the taxable capital of corporations, or on the value of an investment or property (5) other than the transfer of that investment or property):
(a) Article 8.3 (National Treatment - Cross-Border Trade in Services; and
(b) Article 9.5 (National Treatment - Financial Services),
except that nothing in this paragraph prevents a Party from conditioning the receipt or continued receipt of an advantage that relates to the purchase or consumption of particular services on requirements to provide the service in its territory.
6. Nothing in the provisions referred to in paragraph 4 or 5 applies to:
(a) a non-conforming provision of any existing taxation measure;
(b) the continuation or prompt renewal of a non-conforming provision of any existing taxation measure;
(c) an amendment to a non-conforming provision of any existing taxation measure to the extent that the amendment does not decrease its conformity, at the time of the amendment, with any of those Articles;
(d) the adoption or enforcement of any new taxation measure aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective imposition or collection of taxes, including any taxation measure that differentiates between persons based on their place of residence for tax purposes, provided that the taxation measure does not arbitrarily discriminate between persons, goods or services of the Parties (6);
(e) a provision that conditions the receipt or continued receipt of an advantage relating to the contributions to, or income of, a pension trust, pension plan, superannuation fund or other arrangement to provide pension, superannuation or similar benefits, on a requirement that the Party maintain continuous jurisdiction, regulation or supervision over that trust, plan, fund or other arrangement; or
(f) any taxation measure of a Party with respect to the acquisition of an interest in residential property, where that measure is directed at facilitating home ownership for that Party's residents.
7. Nothing in this Agreement affects the rights and obligations of the Parties under any tax convention. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and any such tax convention, the tax convention prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.
8. In the case of a tax convention between the Parties, if an issue arises as to whether any inconsistency exists between this Agreement and the tax convention, the issue shall be referred by the Parties to the competent authorities. The competent authorities shall have 12 months beginning with the date of that referral to make a determination as to the existence and extent of any inconsistency. If the competent authorities agree, that period may be extended by no more than a further 12 months. No procedures concerning the measure giving rise to the issue may be initiated under this Agreement before the expiry of that 12 month period or any extension of that period of no more than a further 12 months as may have been agreed by the competent authorities. Any panel established under this Agreement to consider a dispute related to a taxation measure shall accept as binding a determination made by the competent authorities under this paragraph.
9. Nothing in this Agreement shall oblige a Party to apply any most-favoured-nation obligation in this Agreement with respect to an advantage accorded by a Party pursuant to a tax convention.
Article 31.5. Disclosure of Information
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to require a Party to furnish or allow access to information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to its law or would impede law enforcement, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or which would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or private.
Article 31.6. Confidentiality of Information
Each Party shall, subject to its laws and regulations, maintain the confidentiality of information provided in confidence by the other Party pursuant to this Agreement.
Article 31.7. The National Health Service and Australia's Health System
The Parties recall the exclusions and exceptions in this Agreement that are applicable to the National Health Service of the United Kingdom (7) and to Australia's health system, including as set out in the relevant provisions of this Chapter, of Chapter 8 (Cross-Border Trade in Services), Chapter 13 (Investment), Chapter 15 (Intellectual Property), Chapter 16 (Government Procurement), and of Annex I (Schedules of Non-Conforming Measures for Services and Investment) and Annex II (Schedules of Non- Conforming Measures for Services and Investment).
Chapter 32. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 32.1. Annexes, Appendices and Footnotes
The Annexes, Appendices, and footnotes to this Agreement shall constitute an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 32.2. Amendments
The Parties may agree, in writing, to amend this Agreement. Such amendments shall enter into force 30 days after the date on which the Parties exchange written notifications confirming that they have completed their respective domestic requirements necessary for the entry into force of the amendments, or on such other date as the Parties may agree.
Article 32.3. Amendment of International Agreements
If any international agreement, or a provision therein, that has been referred to in this Agreement or incorporated into this Agreement is amended, the Parties shall, at the request of either Party, consult each other on whether to amend this Agreement, unless this Agreement otherwise provides.
Article 32.4. Territorial Extension
1. This Agreement, or specified provisions of it, may be extended to any such territories for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible as may be agreed between Australia and the United Kingdom. Upon delivery of a written request by the United Kingdom, the Parties shall hold consultations promptly to consider and agree the extension. Any amendment to this Agreement required to accommodate an extension shall be made in accordance with Article 32.2 (Amendments).
2. For greater certainty, an extension in accordance with paragraph 1 may include extension of further provisions of this Agreement to the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey and the Isle of Man, as well as any extension to any other territories for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible, including, but not limited to, Gibraltar.
Article 32.5. Territorial Disapplication
The United Kingdom may at any time give notice in writing to Australia that this Agreement is, or specified provisions of it are, no longer to apply to a territory for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible. If the United Kingdom gives notice in writing pursuant to this Article, the Parties shall hold consultations promptly to agree a mutually satisfactory solution. Notwithstanding such consultations, if notice in writing is given that this Agreement as a whole is no longer to apply to a territory for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible, the notification shall take effect 12 months after the date on which the United Kingdom has provided written notice to Australia, or on such other date as the Parties may agree. Any amendment to this Agreement required as a result of the Agreement, or specified provisions of it, no longer applying to a territory for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible shall be made in accordance with Article 32.2 (Amendments).
Article 32.6. General Review
1. The Parties shall undertake a general review of this Agreement in the seventh year following the date of entry into force of this Agreement, or at such times as may be agreed by the Parties.
2. A review pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be undertaken with a view to updating and enhancing this Agreement, to ensure that the disciplines contained in this Agreement remain relevant to the trade and investment issues and challenges confronting the Parties.
3. A review pursuant to paragraph 1 shall take into account:
(a) developments in innovation;
(b) the work of all committees, working groups, dialogues and any other subsidiary bodies established under this Agreement; and
(c) relevant developments in international fora.
Article 32.7. Entry Into Force
This Agreement shall enter into force 30 days after the date on which the Parties exchange written notifications confirming that they have completed their respective domestic requirements necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement, or on such other date as the Parties may agree.
Article 32.8. Termination
1. A Party may terminate this Agreement by giving the other Party notice in writing. Such termination shall take effect six months after the date of the notification, or on such date as the Parties may agree.
2. Within 30 days of the date of a notification issued under paragraph 1, either Party may request consultations regarding whether the termination of any provision of this Agreement should take effect on a date later than that provided in paragraph 1. Such consultations shall commence within 30 days of the date of the request, or on such date as the Parties may agree.
Conclusion
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorised by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.
DONE at , in duplicate, this day of
For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
For Australia:
Attachments
ANNEX I. EXPLANATORY NOTES
The Schedule of a Party to this Annex sets out, pursuant to Article 8.7 (Non- Conforming Measures - Cross-Border Trade in Services) and Article 13.13 (Non-Conforming Measures - Investment), a Party's existing measures that are not subject to some or all of the obligations imposed by:
(a) Article 8.3 (National Treatment – Cross-Border Trade in Services) or Article 13.5 (National Treatment – Investment);
(b) Article 8.4 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment – Cross-Border Trade in Services) or Article 13.6 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment – Investment);