(c) Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture;
(d) Article VI of GATT 1994;
(e) the Anti-Dumping Agreement; and
(f) the SCM Agreement.
Article 47. Transparency of Trade Defence Instruments
1. Parties agree that trade defence instruments (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and global safeguards) should be used in full compliance with the relevant WTO requirements and on the basis of a fair and transparent system.
2. Before a final determination on anti-dumping or countervailing measures is made, the Parties shall ensure the disclosure of all essential facts under consideration which form the basis for the decision to apply measures, without prejudice to Article 6.5 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement and Article 12.4 of the SCM Agreement. Disclosures shall allow interested parties sufficient time to make their comments.
3. Each interested party shall be given an opportunity to express its views during anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, provided that this does not unnecessarily delay the conduct of the investigations.
4. This Article shall not be subject to Chapter 14 of this Title.
Chapter 3. CUSTOMS
Article 48. Customs Cooperation
1. The Parties shall strengthen cooperation in the area of customs in order to ensure a transparent trade environment, facilitate trade, enhance supply chain security, promote consumer safety, prevent the flows of goods infringing intellectual property rights and fight smuggling and fraud.
2. In order to implement the objectives referred to in paragraph 1 and within the limits of available resources, the Parties shall cooperate with a view to, inter alia:
(a) improving customs legislation and harmonising and simplifying customs procedures, in accordance with international conventions and standards applicable in the field of customs and trade facilitation, including those developed by the WTO (including the Trade Facilitation Agreement) and the World Customs Organization (in particular the Revised Kyoto Convention), and taking into account the instruments and best practices developed by the European Union, including customs blueprints;
(b) establishing modern customs systems, including modern customs clearance technologies; provisions for authorised economic operators; automated risk-based analysis and controls; simplified procedures for the release of goods; post-clearance audit; transparent customs valuation and provisions for customs-to-business partnerships;
(c) ensuring the facilitation and effective control of transhipment operations and transit movements through their respective territories; ensuring cooperation and coordination between all concerned authorities and agencies in their respective territories to facilitate traffic in transit; and pursuing, where relevant and appropriate, opportunities to make compatible the respective customs transit systems;
(d) encouraging the highest standards of professional ethics, in particular at the border, through the application of measures reflecting the principles of the World Customs Organization's Arusha Declaration;
(e) exchanging best practices and providing technical support for planning and for ensuring the highest standards of professional ethics;
(f) exchanging, where appropriate, relevant information and data while respecting each other's rules on the confidentiality of sensitive data and on the protection of personal data;
(g) engaging, where relevant and appropriate, in coordinated customs actions between their customs authorities.
Article 49. Mutual Administrative Assistance
Without prejudice to other forms of cooperation envisaged in this Agreement, in particular in Article 48, the Parties shall provide each other with mutual administrative assistance in customs matters in accordance with Protocol I.
Article 50. Customs Valuation
1. Articles 1-17 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement, shall govern the customs valuation of goods in the trade between the Parties. These provisions are hereby incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
2. The Parties shall cooperate with a view to reaching a common approach to issues relating to customs valuation.
Chapter 4. TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
Article 51. Objective
The objective of this Chapter is to facilitate trade in goods between the Parties by preventing, identifying and eliminating unnecessary technical barriers to trade.
Article 52. Scope
1. This Chapter applies to the preparation, adoption and application of all standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures defined in the TBT Agreement which may affect trade in goods between the Parties.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, this Chapter does not apply to:
(a) purchasing specifications prepared by governmental bodies for production or consumption requirements of such bodies; or
(b) sanitary and phytosanitary measures, as defined in Annex A to the SPS Agreement, which are covered by Chapter 5 of this Agreement.
Article 53. Relationship with the TBT Agreement
The Parties affirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other under the TBT Agreement, which is hereby incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 54. Technical Regulations
1. Each Party shall carry out, in accordance with the rules and procedures applicable to that Party, a regulatory impact assessment of planned technical regulations taking into account the available regulatory and non-regulatory alternatives to the proposed technical regulation that may fulfil the Party's legitimate objectives in accordance with Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement.
2. Each Party shall use relevant international standards as a basis for its technical regulations unless it can demonstrate that such international standards would be an ineffective or inappropriate means for the fulfilment of the legitimate objectives pursued.
3. If a Party has not used international standards as a basis for its technical regulations, it shall, on the request of the other Party, take measures to ensure that any substantial deviation from the relevant international standard is identified and explain the reasons why such standards were considered to be inappropriate or ineffective for the aim pursued.
4. Each Party shall review its technical regulations to increase their convergence with relevant international standards, taking into account, inter alia, any new development in the relevant international standards or any change in the circumstances that have given rise to divergences from any relevant international standard.
5. When developing major technical regulations which may have a significant effect on trade, each Party shall take measures to ensure, in accordance with its respective rules and procedures, that procedures exist that allow persons to provide input through a public discussion, except where urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security arise or threaten to arise, and that the results of such discussions are made public.
Article 55. Standards
1. With a view to harmonising standards on as wide a basis as possible, each Party shall encourage the standardising bodies established within its territory and the regional standardising bodies of which it or the standardising bodies established in its territory are members to:
(a) participate, within the limits of their resources, in the preparation of international standards by relevant international standardising bodies;
(b) use relevant international standards as a basis for the standards they develop, except where such international standards would be ineffective or inappropriate, for instance because of an insufficient level of protection or fundamental climatic or geographical factors or fundamental technological problems;
(c) avoid duplication of, or overlap with, the work of international standardising bodies;
(d) review, at regular intervals, national and regional standards not based on relevant international standards, with a view to increasing their convergence with such international standards;
(e) cooperate with the relevant standardising bodies of the other Party in international standardisation activities; that cooperation may be undertaken in the international standardising bodies or at regional level; and
(f) foster bilateral cooperation between them and the standardising bodies of the other Party.
2. The Parties should exchange information on their respective standardisation processes, and the extent of use of international, regional or sub-regional standards as a basis for their national standards.
3. If requirements of standards are rendered mandatory in a draft technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure, the transparency obligations set out in Article 58 of this Agreement and in Article 2 or 5 of the TBT Agreement shall be fulfilled.
4. International standards adopted by the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission, the International Telecommunication Union, the Codex Alimentarius Commission established by the Food and Agriculture Organization shall be considered to be the relevant international standards within the meaning of Articles 2 and 5 of the TBT Agreement and of Annex 3 thereto, not precluding the use of other international standards.
5. A standard developed by other international organisations could also be considered to be relevant international standard within the meaning of Articles 2 and 5 of the TBT Agreement and of Annex 3 thereto, provided that it has been developed:
(a) by a standardisation body which seeks to establish consensus either among:
(i) national delegations of the participating WTO Members representing all the national standardisation bodies in their territory that have adopted, or expect to adopt, standards for the subject matter to which the international standardisation activity relates, or
(ii) governmental bodies of participating WTO Member; and
(b) in accordance with the Decision of the Committee on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations with relation to Articles 2 and 5 of the TBT Agreement and of Annex 3 thereto.
Article 56. Conformity Assessment
1. The provisions set out in Article 52 with respect to the preparation, adoption and application of technical regulations shall apply to conformity assessment procedures mutatis mutandis.
2. If a Party requires conformity assessment as a positive assurance that a product conforms with a technical regulation, it shall select conformity assessment procedures (7) proportionate to the risks involved as determined on the basis of risk assessment, including, where appropriate, the use of the supplier's declaration of conformity.
3. If a Party requires third-party conformity assessment as a positive assurance that a product conforms with a technical regulation, and it has not reserved this task to a government authority as specified in paragraph 4, it shall:
(a) preferentially use accreditation to qualify conformity assessment bodies;
(b) make best use of international standards for accreditation and conformity assessment, as well as international agreements involving the Parties' accreditation bodies, for example through the mechanisms of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF);
(c) consider joining or encourage its conformity assessment bodies to join, as applicable, any functioning international agreements or arrangements for harmonisation or facilitation of acceptance of conformity assessment results;
(d) ensure that economic operators have a choice amongst the conformity assessment bodies accepted by the authorities of a Party for a particular product;
(e) ensure that conformity assessment bodies are independent of manufacturers, importers and economic operators in general and that there are no conflicts of interest between accreditation bodies and conformity assessment bodies;
(f) allow conformity assessment bodies to use subcontractors to perform testing or inspections in relation to the conformity assessment; and
(g) publish on a single website a list of the bodies that it has designated to perform such conformity assessment and relevant information on the scope of designation of each of those bodies.
4. Nothing in point (f) of paragraph 3 shall be construed to prohibit a Party from requiring subcontractors to meet the same requirements that the conformity assessment body to which it is contracted would be required to meet in order to perform the contracted tests or inspection itself.
5. Nothing in this Article shall preclude a Party from requiring that conformity assessment in relation to specific products be performed by specified government authorities. In such cases, the Party shall:
(a) limit the conformity assessment fees to the approximate cost of the services rendered and, on the request of an applicant for conformity assessment, explain how any fees it imposes for such conformity assessment are limited to the approximate cost of services rendered; and
(b) make publicly available the conformity assessment fees.
6. Three years after the entry into force of this Agreement, the Parties shall start discussions on the acceptance of a supplier's declaration of conformity as proof of compliance with existing technical regulations, in particular in the following fields:
(a) safety aspects of electrical and electronic equipment;
(b) safety aspects of machinery;
(c) electromagnetic compatibility of equipment;
(d) energy efficiency, including eco-design requirements; and
(e) restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.
Article 57. Cooperation In the Field of Technical Barriers to Trade
1. The Parties shall strengthen their cooperation with regard to standards, technical regulations, metrology, market surveillance, accreditation and conformity assessment procedures with a view to increasing the mutual understanding of their respective systems and facilitating access to their respective markets. To that end, the Parties shall seek to identify and develop cooperation mechanisms and initiatives appropriate for the particular issues or sectors, including:
(a) exchanging information and experiences on the preparation and application of their respective technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures;
(b) encouraging cooperation between their respective bodies responsible for metrology, standardisation, conformity assessment and accreditation; and
(c) exchanging information on developments in relevant regional and multilateral fora related to standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures and accreditation.
2. In order to promote trade between them, the Parties shall:
(a) seek to reduce the differences which exist between them with regard to technical regulations, metrology, standardisation, market surveillance, accreditation and conformity assessment procedures, including by encouraging the use of relevant internationally agreed instruments;
(b) promote, in accordance with international rules, the use of accreditation in support of the assessment of the technical competence of conformity assessment bodies and their activities; and
(c) promote the participation and, where possible, the membership of the Kyrgyz Republic and its relevant national bodies in the European and international organisations whose activity relates to standards, conformity assessment, accreditation, metrology and related functions.
Article 58. Transparency
1. Upon transmitting a proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure to the WTO Central Registry of Notifications a Party shall allow for a period of at least 60 days for the other Party to provide written comments, except where urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security arise or threaten to arise. A Party shall give consideration to a reasonable request to extend the period for comments.
2. If a Party receives written comments on its proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure from the other Party, it shall:
(a) if requested by the other Party, discuss the written comments with the participation of its own competent regulatory authority, at a time when they can be taken into account; and
(b) reply to comments in writing no later than the date of publication of the technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure.
3. Each Party shall publish on a website its responses to comments it receives following the notification referred to in paragraph 1 no later than on the date of publication of the adopted technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure.
4. Each Party shall, if requested by the other Party, provide information regarding the objectives of, and legal basis and rationale for, a technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure that the Party has adopted or is proposing to adopt.
5. Each Party shall ensure that the technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures it has adopted are published on a website free of charge.
6. Each Party shall provide information on the adoption and the entry into force of the technical regulation and conformity assessment procedure and the adopted final text through an addendum to the original notification to the WTO.
7. There shall be a reasonable interval between the publication of technical regulations and their entry into force in order to allow economic operators of the other Party to adapt. The phrase "reasonable interval" shall be understood to mean a period of not less than six months, except in cases where this would be an ineffective means for the fulfilment of the legitimate objectives pursued.
8. A Party shall give positive consideration to a reasonable request from the other Party, received prior to the end of the comment period following the transmission of a proposed technical regulation to the WTO as referred to in paragraph 1, to extend the period of time between the adoption of the technical regulation and its entry into force, except in cases where the delay would be an ineffective means for the fulfilment of the legitimate objectives pursued.
Article 59. Marking and Labelling
1. The Parties agree that a technical regulation may include or exclusively address marking or labelling requirements. In such cases, the Parties shall apply the principles of Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement.
2. If a Party requires mandatory marking or labelling of products:
(a) it shall only require information which is relevant for consumers or users of the product or to indicate the product's conformity with the mandatory technical requirements;
(b) it shall not require any prior approval, registration or certification of the labels or markings of products, nor any fee disbursement, as a precondition for placing on its market products that otherwise comply with its established requirements unless it is necessary in view of the risk of the products to human, animal or plant health or life, the environment or national security;
(c) if it requires the use of a unique identification number by economic operators, it shall issue such number to the economic operators of the other Party without undue delay and on a non‑discriminatory basis;
(d) provided that the elements listed below are not misleading, contradictory or confusing in relation to the information required in the Party importing the goods, that Party shall permit:
(i) information in other languages in addition to the language required in the Party importing the goods;
(ii) internationally accepted nomenclatures, pictograms, symbols or graphics; and
(iii) additional information to that required in the Party importing the goods;
(e) it shall accept that labelling, including supplementary labelling or corrections to labelling, takes place in customs warehouses or other designated areas as an alternative to labelling in the country of origin; and
(f) where appropriate, it will consider accepting non-permanent or detachable labels, or marking or labelling in the accompanying documentation rather than physically attached to the product.
Article 60. Consultations
1. A Party may request consultations with the other Party regarding any matter arising under this Chapter by delivering a written request to the TBT Chapter coordinator of the other Party. The Parties shall make every attempt to resolve the matter in a mutually satisfactory manner and may convene the Cooperation Committee for that purpose.
2. For greater certainty, this Article is without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the Parties under Chapter 14.
Article 61. TBT Chapter Coordinator
1. Each Party shall nominate a TBT Chapter coordinator and inform the other Party if it changes. The TBT Chapter coordinators shall work jointly to facilitate the implementation of this Chapter and the cooperation between the Parties in all matters related to the TBT Agreement.
2. The functions of each TBT Chapter coordinator shall include:
(a) following the implementation and administration of this Chapter, including any issue related to the development, adoption, application or enforcement of standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures;
(b) communicating with the other Party's TBT Chapter coordinator on initiatives taken by the Parties for enhancing cooperation in the development and improvement of standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures and exchanging information on developments in non-governmental, regional and multilateral fora related to standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.
3. The TBT Chapter coordinators shall communicate with one another by any agreed method that is appropriate to carry out their functions.
Chapter 5. SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MATTERS
Article 62. Objective
The objective of this Chapter is to set out the principles applicable to sanitary and phytosanitary (hereinafter referred to as "SPS") measures in trade between the Parties, as well as to cooperate on animal welfare, the protection of plants and antimicrobial resistance. The principles set out in this Chapter shall be applied by the Parties in a manner that facilitates trade and avoids the creation of unjustified barriers to trade between them, while preserving each Party's level of protection of human, animal or plant life or health.
Article 63. Multilateral Obligations
The Parties affirm their rights and obligations made under the SPS Agreement.
Article 64. Principles
1. The Parties shall ensure that SPS measures are developed and applied on the basis of the principles of proportionality, transparency, non-discrimination and scientific justification and taking into account the international standards (the International Plant Protection Convention, signed in Rome on 6 December 1951 (hereinafter referred to as the "IPPC"), the World Organisation for Animal Health (hereinafter referred to as the "OIE"), and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Codex Alimentarius")).
2. Each Party shall ensure that its SPS measures do not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between its own territory and the territory of the other Party to the extent that identical or similar conditions prevail. SPS measures shall not be applied in a manner which would constitute a disguised restriction on trade between the Parties.
3. Each Party shall ensure that SPS measures, procedures or controls are implemented and that requests for information received from a competent authority of the other Party are addressed without undue delay and in a manner no less favourable to imported products than to like domestic products.
Article 65. Import Requirements
1. The import requirements of the importing Party shall be applicable to the entire territory of the exporting Party, subject to Article 64.
2. The import requirements set out in certificates that may be required for trading food and agricultural goods between the Parties are based on IPPC, OIE and Codex Alimentarius principles and their relevant standards, unless the import requirements are supported by a science-based risk assessment conducted in accordance with the applicable international rules provided for in the SPS Agreement.
3. The requirements set out in import permits as issued by the Kyrgyz Republic shall not contain sanitary and veterinary conditions that are more stringent than those laid down in the certificates referred to in paragraph 2. Each Party should apply harmonised import certificates that are managed at central level and that are applicable to the whole territory of the exporting Party.
Article 66. Measures Linked to Animal and Plant Health
In accordance with the SPS Agreement and the relevant IPPC, OIE and Codex Alimentarius standards, guidelines or recommendations:
(a) the Parties shall recognise the concept of pest or disease-free areas and areas of low pest or disease prevalence;
(b) the importing Party shall base its sanitary measures applicable to the exporting Party whose territory is affected by a pest or disease on the zoning decision taken by the exporting Party, provided that the importing Party's appropriate level of protection will be achieved;
(c) when determining pest- or disease-free areas and areas of low pest or disease prevalence, the Parties shall consider factors such as geographical location, ecosystems, epidemiological surveillance and the effectiveness of sanitary or phytosanitary controls in such areas.
Article 67. Inspections and Audits
Inspections and audits carried out by the importing Party in the territory of the exporting Party to evaluate and recognise the latter's inspection and certification systems shall be performed in accordance with the relevant IPPC, OIE and Codex Alimentarius standards, guidelines and recommendations. The costs of inspections and audits shall be borne by the Party carrying out the audits and the inspections.
Article 68. Exchange of Information and Cooperation
1. The Parties shall discuss and exchange information on existing SPS and animal welfare measures and on their development and implementation. Such discussions and exchange of information shall, as appropriate, take into account the SPS Agreement and the standards, guidelines or recommendations of the IPPC, the OIE and the Codex Alimentarius.
2. The Parties agree to cooperate on matters relating to food safety, animal health, animal welfare, plant health, the protection of plants and antimicrobial resistance through the exchange of information, expertise and experience with the objective of building up capacity in those fields. Such cooperation may include technical assistance.
3. Upon request by either Party, the Parties shall establish a timely dialogue on SPS issues to consider matters relating to SPS and other urgent issues covered by this Chapter. The Cooperation Committee may adopt rules for the conduct of such dialogues.
4. The Parties shall designate and regularly update contact points for communication on matters covered by this Chapter.
Article 69. Transparency
Each Party shall:
(a) pursue transparency as regards SPS measures applicable to trade and, in particular, to the SPS requirements applied to imports of the other Party;
(b) upon the request of the other Party and within two months after the date of such a request, communicate the requirements that apply for the import of specific products, and indicate whether a risk assessment is needed; and
(c) notify the contact point of the other Party by mail, fax or e-mail, without undue delay, of any serious or significant animal or plant health risk, including any food emergencies related to goods traded between the Parties.