6. Where a Party maintains measures relating to licensing requirements and procedures, qualification requirements and procedures, and technical standards, the Party shall:
(a) where practicable, make publicly available:
(i) information on requirements and procedures to obtain, renew or retain any licences or professional qualifications; and
(ii) information on technical standards;
(b) where any form of authorisation is required for the supply of a service, ensure that it will:
(i) within a reasonable period of time after the submission of an application deemed complete under its laws and regulations, consider the application, make a decision as to whether or not to grant the relevant authorisation and inform the applicant of the decision;
(ii) on request of the applicant, provide without undue delay, information concerning the status of the application;
(iii) where practicable, in the case of an incomplete application, on request of an applicant, identify all the additional information that is required to complete the application;
(iv) endeavour to provide the service supplier whose application has been found to be deficient with at least one means to achieve the authorisation; and
Note: Such means to achieve authorisation may include, but are not limited to, additional experience under the supervision of a professional qualified or licensed in that Party, additional academic training or exams in a specialised field, or language exams.
(v) where a competent authority of a Party notifies an unsuccessful applicant of the administrative decision in writing, ensure that the competent authority informs the applicant of the reasons for denial of the application in writing; and
(c) provide for adequate procedures to verify the competency of professionals of the other Party.
7. A Party shall, subject to its laws and regulations, permit service suppliers of the other Party to use the enterprise names under which they trade in the Area of the other Party and otherwise ensure that the use of enterprise names is not unduly restricted.
8. The Parties shall endeavour to implement the Disciplines on Domestic Regulation in the Accountancy Sector adopted under the auspices of the World Trade Organization on 14 December 1998.
9. This Article shall not apply to any measures which fall within the responsibility of non-government bodies. However, each Party shall encourage, where possible, such non-government bodies to comply with the relevant requirements of this Article.
Article 9.9. Recognition
1. A Party may recognise the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in the other Party for the purposes of the fulfilment, in whole or in part, of its standards or criteria for the authorisation, licensing or certification of service suppliers of the other Party.
2. Recognition referred to in paragraph 1, which may be achieved through harmonisation or otherwise, may be based upon an agreement or arrangement between the Parties or may be accorded unilaterally.
3. Where a Party recognises the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in any non-Party:
(a) nothing in Article 9.5 shall be construed to require the Party to accord such recognition to the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in the other Party;
(b) in cases where such recognition is accorded by an agreement or arrangement between the Party and the non-Party, the Party shall afford the other Party, on request, adequate opportunity to negotiate its accession to such an agreement or arrangement or to negotiate one comparable with it; and
(c) in cases where such recognition is accorded unilaterally, the Party shall afford the other Party an adequate opportunity to demonstrate that the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in the other Party should also be recognised.
4. A Party shall not accord recognition in a manner which would constitute a means of discrimination between the other Party and non-Parties in the application of its standards or criteria for the authorisation, licensing or certification of services suppliers, or a disguised restriction on trade in services.
5. Wherever appropriate, recognition provided for in paragraph 1 should be based on multilaterally agreed criteria. In appropriate cases, the Parties shall work in cooperation with relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations towards the establishment and adoption of common international standards and criteria for recognition and common international standards for the practice of relevant services trades and professions.
Article 9.10. Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers
1. Each Party shall ensure that any monopoly supplier of a service in its Area does not, in the supply of the monopoly service in the relevant market, act in a mamner inconsistent with the Party's obligations under Articles 9.3, 9.5 and 9.6 and paragraph 1 of Article 9.4, except those covered by the non-conforming measures under Article 9.7.
2. Where a Party's monopoly supplier competes, either directly or through an affiliated company, in the supply of a service outside the scope of its monopoly rights and which is subject to that Party's obligations under Articles 9.3, 9.5 and 9.6 and paragraph 1 of Article 9.4, except those covered by the non-conforming measures under Article 9.7, the Party shall ensure that such a supplier does not abuse its monopoly position to act in its Area in a manner inconsistent with such obligations.
Note: For the purposes of this paragraph, the definition of the term "affiliated" provided for in subparagraph (n)(iii) of Article XX VIII of the GATS shall apply mutatis mutandis.
3. Ifa Party has reason to believe that a monopoly supplier of a service of the other Party is acting in a manner inconsistent with paragraph 1 or 2, it may request the other Party establishing, maintaining or authorising such supplier to provide specific information concerning the relevant operations in its Area.
4. This Article shall also apply to cases of exclusive service suppliers, where a Party, formally or in effect:
(a) authorises or establishes a small number of service suppliers; and (b) substantially prevents competition among those suppliers in its Area.
Article 9.11. Subsidies
1. Each Party shall review the treatment of subsidies related to trade in services taking into account the development of the multilateral disciplines pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article XV of the GATS.
2. Inthe event that either Party considers that its interests have been adversely affected by a subsidy of the other Party, the Parties shall, on request of the former Party, enter into consultations with a view to resolving the matter.
3. During the consultations referred to in paragraph 2, the Party granting a subsidy shall, if it deems fit, consider a request of the other Party for information relating to the subsidy program such as:
(a) laws and regulations under which the subsidy is granted;
(b) form of the subsidy (e.g. grant, loan, tax concession);
(c) policy objective or purpose of the subsidy;
(d) dates and duration of the subsidy and any other time limits attached to it; and
(e) eligibility requirements of the subsidy.
4. The dispute settlement procedures provided for in Chapter 19 (Dispute Settlement) shall not apply to this Article.
Article 9.12. Payments and Transfers
1. Except under the circumstances envisaged in Article 9.13, a Party shall not apply restrictions on international transfers and payments for current transactions relating to trade in services.
2. Nothing in this Chapter shall affect the rights and obligations of the Parties as members of the International Monetary Fund under the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, including the use of exchange actions which are in conformity with the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, provided that a Party shall not impose restrictions on any capital transactions inconsistently with its obligations under this Chapter regarding such transactions, except under Article 9.13, or on request of the International Monetary Fund.
Article 9.13. Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance-of-payments
1. In the event of serious balance-of-payments and external financial difficulties orthreat thereof, a Party may adopt or maintain restrictive measures on trade in services, including on payments or transfers for transactions.
2. Restrictive measures referred to in paragraph 1:
(a) shall be applied such that the other Party is treated no less favourably than any non-Party;
(b) shall be consistent with the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund;
(c) shall avoid unnecessary damage to the commercial, economic and financial interests of the other Party;
(d) shall not exceed those necessary to deal with the circumstances described in paragraph 1; and
(e) shall be temporary and be phased out progressively as the situation specified in paragraph 1 improves.
3. Indetermining the incidence of such restrictive measures, a Party may give priority to the supply of services which are more essential to its economic or development programs. However, such restrictive measures shall not be adopted or maintained for the purposes of protecting a particular service sector.
4. Any restrictive measures adopted or maintained in accordance with paragraph 1, or any changes therein, shall be promptly notified to the other Party.
5. The Party which has adopted any restrictive measures in accordance with paragraph 1 shall, on request, commence consultations with the other Party in order to review the restrictive measures adopted by it.
Article 9.14. Denial of Benefits
1. A Party may deny the benefits of this Chapter and Chapters 10 (Telecommunications Services) and 11 (Financial Services) to a service supplier of the other Party that is an enterprise of the other Party, where the denying Party establishes that the enterprise is owned or controlled by persons of a non-Party, and that the denying Party:
(a) does not maintain diplomatic relations with the non-Party; or (b) adopts or maintains measures with respect to the non-Party that prohibit transactions with the enterprise or that would be violated or circumvented if the benefits of this Chapter and Chapters 10 (Telecommunications Services) and 11 (Financial Services) were accorded to the enterprise.
2. A Party may deny the benefits of this Chapter and Chapters 10 (Telecommunications Services) and 11 (Financial Services) to a service supplier of the other Party that is an enterprise of the other Party, where the denying Party establishes that the enterprise is owned or controlled by persons of a non-Party or of the denying Party and has no substantial business activities in the Area of the other Party.
Note: For the purposes of this Article, an enterprise is:
(a) "owned" by persons if more than 50 per cent of the equity interests in it is beneficially owned by such persons; and
(b) "controlled" by persons if such persons have the power to name a majority of its directors or otherwise to legally direct its actions.
Article 9.15. Sub-committee on Trade In Services
1. For the purposes of the effective implementation and operation of this Chapter, the Parties hereby establish a Sub-Committee on Trade in Services (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "the Sub-Committee").
2. The functions of the Sub-Committee shall be:
(a) reviewing and monitoring the implementation and operation of this Chapter;
(b) reviewing this Chapter in light of developments elsewhere;
(c) considering promotion of recognition of qualifications as outlined in Article 9.9 and Annex 8 (Recognition of Qualifications of Service Suppliers);
(d) reporting the findings of the Sub-Committee to the Joint Committee; and
(e) considering any other matters identified by the Parties.
3. The Sub-Committee shall be composed of and co-chaired by representatives of the Governments of the Parties.
4. The Sub-Committee shall meet at such venues and times and by such means as may be agreed by the Parties.
Chapter 10. Telecommunications Services
Article 10.1. Scope
1. This Chapter provides for commitments additional to Chapters 9 (Trade in Services) and 14 (Investment) in relation to telecommunications services.
2. This Chapter shall apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party affecting telecommunications services.
3. Except to ensure that enterprises operating broadcast stations and cable systems have continued access to and use of public telecommunications transport networks and services, this Chapter shall not apply to measures that a Party adopts or maintains relating to broadcasting services, including distribution of radio and television programming. This Chapter shall not apply to measures by Japan affecting telegraph services.
Note 1: For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "broadcasting services" shall include radio and television services and radio and television transmission services under the Services Sectoral Classification List (GATT Document MTN.GNS/W/120, dated 10 July 1991).
Note 2: For the purposes of this paragraph, for Japan, the term "telegraph services" means telegraph services referred to in Supplementary Provisions of Telecommunications Business Law (Law No. 86 of 1984).
4. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to:
(a) require a Party (or require a Party to oblige service suppliers under its jurisdiction) to establish, construct, acquire, lease, operate, or supply telecommunications transport networks or services not offered to the public generally; or
(b) require a Party to compel any enterprise exclusively engaged in the broadcasting services referred to in paragraph 3 to make available its broadcast or cable facilities as a public telecommunications transport network.
Article 10.2. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
(a) the term "carrier pre-subscription function" means a function of enabling end users to use the carrier they have selected by pre-registration without dialling a carrier identification code;
(b) the term "cost-oriented" means based on cost, and may include a reasonable profit, and may involve different cost methodologies for different facilities or services;
(c) the term "dialling parity" means the ability of an end user to use an equal number of digits including through carrier pre-subscription function to access a like public telecommunications transport service designated by the Party, regardless of the public telecommunications transport service supplier chosen by such end user;
(d) the term "end user" means a final consumer of or subscriber to public telecommunications transport networks or services, including a service supplier other than a supplier of public telecommunications transport networks or services;
(e) the term "essential facilities" means facilities of a public telecommunications transport network or service that:
(i) are exclusively or predominantly provided by a single or limited number of suppliers; and
ii) cannot feasibly be economically or technically substituted in order to provide a service;
(f) the term "interconnection" means linking with suppliers providing public telecommunications transport networks or services in order to allow the end users of one supplier to communicate with the end users of another supplier and to access services provided by another supplier;
(g) the term "leased circuits" means telecommunications facilities between two or more designated points that are set aside for the dedicated use of, or availability to, a particular user;
(h) the term "major supplier" means a supplier which has the ability to materially affect the terms of participation (having regard to price and supply) in the relevant market for basic telecommunications services as a result of:
(i) control over essential facilities; or
ii) use of its position in the market;
Note: For greater certainty, the term "basic telecommunications services" includes Internet access services.
(i) the term "non-discriminatory" means treatment no less favourable than that accorded to any other user of like public telecommunications transport networks or services in like circumstances;
(j) the term "public telecommunications transport network" means the telecommunications infrastructure which is used to provide public telecommunications transport services between and among defined network termination points;
(k) the term "public telecommunications transport service" means any telecommunications transport service offered to the public generally. Such services may include, inter alia, telegraph, telephone, telex and data transmission typically involving customer-supplied information between two or more points without any end-to-end change in the form or content of the customer's information;
(l) the term "telecommunications" means the transmission and reception of signals by any electromagnetic means;
(m) the term "telecommunications regulatory body" means any body or bodies responsible for the regulation of telecommunications; and
(n) the term "users" means end users or suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services.
Article 10.3. Access and Use
1. Each Party shall ensure that any service supplier of the other Party is accorded access to and use of public telecommunications transport networks and services in a timely fashion, on transparent, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions. This obligation shall be applied, inter alia, through paragraphs 2 through 6.
2. Each Party shall ensure that service suppliers of the other Party have access to and use of any public telecommunications transport network or service offered within or across the border of that Party, including private leased circuits, and to this end shall ensure, subject to paragraphs 5 and 6, that such suppliers are permitted to:
(a) purchase or lease, and attach terminal or other equipment which interfaces with the network and which is necessary to supply a supplier's service;
(b) provide services to individual or multiple users over any leased or owned circuits;
(c) interconnect private leased or owned circuits with public telecommunications transport networks and services or with circuits leased or owned by another service supplier;
(d) perform switching, signalling, processing, and conversion functions; and
(e) use operating protocols of the service supplier's choice in the supply of any services, other than as necessary to ensure the availability of telecommunications transport networks and services to the public generally.
3. Each Party shall ensure that service suppliers of the other Party may use public telecommunications transport networks and services for the movement of information within and across borders including for intra-corporate communications of such service suppliers, and for access to information contained in data bases or otherwise stored in machine-readable form in either Party or any non-Party which is a party to the WTO Agreement.
4. Notwithstanding paragraph 3, a Party may take such measures as are necessary to:
(a) ensure the security and confidentiality of messages; or
(b) protect the personal data of end users of public telecommunications transport networks or services, including the privacy of such users,
subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or disguised restriction on trade in services.
5. Each Party shall ensure that no condition is imposed on access to and use of public telecommunications transport networks and services, other than as necessary to:
(a) safeguard the public service responsibilities of suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services, in particular their ability to make their networks or services available to the public generally; or
(b) protect the technical integrity of public telecommunications transport networks or services.
6. Provided that they satisfy the criteria set out in paragraph 5, conditions for access to and use of public telecommunications transport networks and services may include:
(a) a requirement to use specified technical interfaces, including interface protocols, for interconnection with such networks and services;
(b) requirements, where necessary, for the inter-operability of such services and to encourage the achievement of the goals set out in Article 10.23;
(c) type approval of terminal or other equipment which interfaces with such networks and technical requirements relating to the attachment of such equipment to such networks;
(d) restrictions on interconnection of private leased or owned circuits with such networks or services or with circuits leased or owned by another service supplier; or
(e) notification, registration and licensing.
Article 10.4. Submarine Cables
Each Party shall ensure reasonable and non-discriminatory treatment for access to submarine cable systems (including landing facilities) in its Area, where a supplier is authorised to operate a submarine cable facility as a public telecommunications transport service.
Article 10.5. Number Portability
Each Party shall ensure that suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services in its Area provide number portability for end users when switching suppliers of mobile services or between other like services designated by that Party, to the extent technically feasible, on a timely basis and on reasonable terms and conditions.
Article 10.6. Dialling Parity
Each Party shall ensure that:
(a) suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services in its Area provide dialling parity within the same category of service to suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services of the other Party without unreasonable dialling delays; and
(b) suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services of the other Party are afforded non-discriminatory allocation of telephone numbers.
Article 10.7. Competitive Safeguards
1. Each Party shall maintain appropriate measures for the purpose of preventing suppliers who, alone or together, are a major supplier in its Area, from engaging in or continuing anticompetitive practices.
2. The anticompetitive practices referred to in paragraph 1 shall include, in particular:
(a) engaging in anticompetitive cross-subsidisation or other anticompetitive pricing practices;
(b) using information obtained from competitors with anticompetitive results; and
(c) not making available to other service suppliers, on a timely basis,
technical information about essential facilities and commercially relevant information which are necessary for them to provide services.
Article 10.8. Treatment by Major Suppliers
Each Party shall ensure that major suppliers in its Area accord suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services of the other Party treatment no less favourable than such major supplier accords in like circumstances to its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or any non-affiliated service suppliers regarding:
(a) the availability, provisioning, rates or quality of like telecommunications services; and
(b) the availability of technical interfaces necessary for interconnection.
Article 10.9. Resale
Each Party shall ensure that major suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services in its Area do not impose unreasonable or discriminatory conditions or limitations which have anticompetitive effects on the resale of such services by suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services of the other Party.
Article 10.10. Interconnection
1. Each Party shall ensure that suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks in its Area provide, directly or indirectly, interconnection with the suppliers of public telecommunications transport networks or services of the other Party on commercial terms.
2. Each Party shall ensure that major suppliers in its Area provide interconnection at any technically feasible point in the network. Such interconnection shall be provided:
(a) under non-discriminatory terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and rates, and of a quality no less favourable than that provided for its own like services, for like services of non-affiliated service suppliers or for its subsidiaries or other affiliates;