Title
COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Preamble
PREAMBLE
The Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Government of the Republic of India (india);
hereinafter referred to individually as a "Party" and collectively as "the Parties";
RECOGNISING the Parties' strong, historic, and developing relationship, the friendly ties that exists between their people, and wishing to strengthen these links through the creation of a free trade area, thus establishing close and lasting relations;
CONSCIOUS of their respective rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, in a manner conducive to the development of regional! and international cooperation, thereby contributing to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade;
MINDFUL of the dynamic and rapidly changing international environment brought about by globalisation and technological progress that presents various economic and strategic challenges and opportunities to the Parties;
AIMING to establish a clear, transparent, and predictable legal framework that supports further expansion of trade;
DETERMINED to strengthen their economic and trade relations for their mutual benefit through trade liberalisation in goods and services;
DESIRING to enhance investment facilitation and cooperation between the Parties;
AIMING to encourage transfer of technology, strengthen their bilateral relationship, encourage creation of new employment opportunities, raise living standards, and improve the general welfare of their populations;
CONVINCED that the establishment of a free trade area will provide a more favourable climate for the promotion and development of economic and trade relations between the Parties;
INTENDING to facilitate trade by promoting efficient and transparent customs procedures that reduce costs and ensure predictability for their importers and exporters;
DETERMINED to support the growth and development of micro, small and medium- sized enterprises by enhancing their ability to participate in, and benefit from the opportunities created by this Agreement;
RECOGNISING their right to regulate and to preserve the flexibility of the Parties to set legislative and regulatory priorities;
RECOGNISING FURTHER the need to protect legitimate public welfare objectives, such as health, safety, environmental protection, conservation of living or non-living exhaustible natural resources, integrity and stability of the financial system, and
public morals, in accordance with the rights and obligations provided in this Agreement;
CONSCIOUS that a bilateral relationship between the Parties will contribute to trade expansion and promote greater regional economic integration, not only between the Parties but also in the region; and
CONVINCED that this Agreement will open a new era for the relationship between the Parties;
HAVE AGREED, AS FOLLOWS:
Body
Chapter 1. INITIAL PROVISIONS AND GENERAL DEFINITIONS
Article 1.1. Establishment of a Free Trade Area
As developing country World Trade Organization (WTO) Members, the Parties to this Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) hereby establish a free trade area, in conformity with the Decision of 28 November 1979 on Differential and More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of Developing Countries (Enabling Clause) and Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
Article 1.2. ObjectivesThe Objectives of this Agreement Are:
(a) to strengthen and enhance trade and economic cooperation in the fields agreed between the Parties;
(b) to liberalise and facilitate trade between the Parties in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement;
(c) to enhance investment facilitation and cooperation between the Parties in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement;
(d) to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the Parties' manufacturing and services sectors and to expand trade between the Parties, including joint exploitation of commercial and economic opportunities in non-Parties;
(e) to facilitate and enhance regional economic cooperation and integration; and
(f) to build upon the Parties' commitments at the WTO.
Article 1.3. General Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement:
"agreement" means this instrument, the India- UAE CEPA:
"Agreement on Agriculture" means the Agreement on Agriculture, set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
"Customs Valuation Agreement" means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
"days" means calendar days, including weekends and holidays;
"direct taxes" comprise all taxes on total income, on total capital or on elements of income or of capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of property, taxes on estates, inheritances and gifts, and taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises, as well as taxes on capital appreciation; and also include the taxes covered under the Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the United Arab Emirates for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, as amended by the Protocols thereto;
"DSU" means the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, set out in Annex 2 to the WTO Agreement;
"GATS" means the General Agreement on Trade in Services, set out in Annex 1B to the WTO Agreement;
"GATT 1994" means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
"Import Licensing Agreement" means the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures, set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
"Joint Committee" means the Joint Committee established pursuant to Article 17.1 (Joint Committee - Administration of the Agreement) of this Agreement;
"measure" means any measure, whether in the form of a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, practice, administrative action, or any other form;
"WTO" means the World Trade Organization; and
"WTO Agreement" means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done at Marrakesh, on 15 April 1994.
Article 1.4. Geographical Scope
This Agreement shall apply to the territory of the Parties, in accordance with their respective Constitutions, including their land territory, territorial waters, and the airspace above it and other maritime zones including the Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf over which the Parties have sovereignty, sovereign rights or exclusive jurisdiction, in accordance with their laws and regulations in force, and applicable rules of international law.
Article 1.5. Relation to other Agreements
1. The Parties reaffirm their rights and obligations with respect to each other under the WTO Agreement and other agreements to which they are party.
2. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and other agreements to which both Parties are party, the Parties shall immediately consult with each other with a view to finding a mutually satisfactory solution.
Article 1.6. Regional and Local Government
1. Each Party shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to it to ensure observance of the provisions of this Agreement by the regional and local governments and authorities within its territory.
2. This provision is to be interpreted and applied in accordance with the principles set out in paragraph 12 of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994.
Article 1.7. Transparency
1. Without prejudice to Article 1.8 (Confidential Information), each Party shall publish or otherwise make publicly available their laws, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application, as well as their respective international agreements which may affect the operation of this Agreement.
2. Each Party shall, within a reasonable period of time, respond to specific questions and provide, upon request, information to each other on matters referred to in paragraph 1.
3. Each Party shall make available to the public, the names and addresses of the competent authorities responsible for laws, regulations, administrative procedures, and administrative rulings, referred to in paragraph 1.
4. The Parties shall endeavour to make available all information, published or otherwise under paragraphs 1 to 3, in the English language. The Parties shall provide such information in the English language, if any request is made by an individual before the competent authority, within a reasonable period of time.
Article 1.8. Confidential Information
1. Each Party shall, in accordance with its laws and regulations, maintain the confidentiality of information designated as confidential by the other Party.
2. Information provided in confidence pursuant to this Agreement shall be used only for the purposes specified by the Party providing the information.
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, corfideritial information provided pursuant to this Agreement may be transmitted to a third party subject to the prior consent of the Party providing the information.
4, Nothing in this Agreement shall require a Party to disclose confidential information, the disclosure of which would impede law enforcement of the Party, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or which would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of any economic operator.
Chapter 2. TRADE IN GOODS
Article 2.1. Scope and Coverage
Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, this Chapter applies to trade in goods between the Parties.
Article 2.2. DefinitionsFor the Purposes of this Chapter:
"Customs Administration" means the authority that, according to the laws and regulations of each Party, is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the customs laws and regulations of that Party. For UAE, it shall be the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security, and for India, it shall be the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs; and
"customs duty" refers to any duty or charge of any kind imposed in connection with the importation of a product, but does not include any:
(a) charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed in conformity with Article Ill of the GATT 1994;
(b) anti-dumping or countervailing duty that is applied consistently with the provisions of Article VI of the GATT 1994, the Agreement on the Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (Anti-Dumping Agreement), and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement), set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement, respectively, or
(c) fee or other charge in connection with importation commensurate with the cost of services rendered in conformity with Article VIII of the GATT 41994.
Article 2.3. National Treatment on Internal Taxation and Regulation
1. The Parties shall accord national treatment in accordance with Article Iil of the GATT 1994, including its interpretative notes. To this end, Article Ill of the GATT 1994 and its interpretative notes are incorporated into and form part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
2. The treatment to be accorded by a Party under paragraph 1 means, with respect to a sub-central level of government, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment that sub-central level of government accords to any like, directly competitive, or substitutable goods, as the case may be, of the Party of which it forms a part.
Article 2.4. Customs Duties
1. The Parties shall not nullify or impair any of the tariff concessions made by them under this Agreement, except as provided in this Agreement.
2. Upon the entry into force of this Agreement, India shall eliminate its customs duties applied on goods originating from the UAE in accordance with Annex 2A (Schedule of Specific Tariff Commitments of India) and the UAE shall eliminate its customs duties on goods from India in accordance with Annex 2B (Schedule of Specific Tariff Commitments of the UAE).
3. Where a Party reduces its most-favoured nation (MFN) applied rate of customs duty, that duty rate shall apply to an originating good of the other Party if, and for as long as, it is lower than the customs duty rate on the same good calculated in accordance with Annex 2A (for India) or Annex 2B (for the UAE).
Article 2.5. Classification of Goods and Transposition of Schedules
1. The classification of goods traded between the Parties shall be in conformity with the HS and its amendments. Each Party shall ensure consistency in applying its laws and regulations on tariff classification of originating goods of the other Party.
2, Pursuant to paragraph 1, each Party shall ensure that the transposition of its schedule of tariff commitments, undertaken in order to implement Annex 2A (for India) or Annex 2B (for the UAE) in the nomenclature of the revised HS Code following periodic amendments to the HS Code, is carried out without impairing or diminishing the tariff commitments set out in its Schedule of Tariff Commitments in Annex 2A (for India) or Annex 2B (for the UAE).
3. The Parties shall publish such revisions in a timely manner.
4. Each Party shall, on the request of the other Party and within a reasonable period of time after receiving the request, provide the other Party a brief explanation in response to any concerns raised regarding the transposition of its Schedule of Tariff Commitments.
Article 2.6. Temporary Admission
1. Each Party shall, in accordance with its laws and regulations, grant temporary admission free of customs duties for the following goods imported from the other Party regardless of their origin:
(a) professional and scientific equipment and materials, including their spare parts, and goods for sports purposes, that are necessary for carrying out the business activity, trade, or profession of a person who qualifies for temporary entry pursuant to the laws of the importing Party;
(b) goods intended for display or use at playgrounds, theatres, exhibitions, fairs or other similar events, including commercial samples, advertising materials including printed materials, films and recordings;
(c) containers and pallets in use or to be used for refilling;
(d) machinery and equipment for completion of projects or for conducting the experiments and tests relating to such projects, or for repair; and
(e) goods entered for completion of processing.
2. A Party shall not impose any condition on the temporary admission of a good referred to in paragraph 1, other than to require that such good:
(a) be accompanied by a security deposit in an amount no greater than the customs duty or charges that would otherwise be owed on importation, releasable on exportation of the good;
(b) be exported on the departure of the person referred to in subparagraph 1(a) or within such period of time as is reasonably related to the purpose of temporary admission;
(c) be capable of identification when exported;
(d) not be sold or leased while in its territory;
(e) not be imported in a quantity greater than is reasonable for its intended use; and
(f) be otherwise admissible into the importing Party's territory under its laws.
3. If any condition that a Party imposes under paragraph 2 has not been fulfilled, that Party may apply the customs duty and any other charge that would normally be owed on importation of the good.
4. Each Party shall, at the request of the importer and for reasons deemed valid by its Customs Administration, extend the time limit for temporary admission beyond the period initially fixed.
5. Each Party shall relieve the importer of liability for failure to export a temporarily admitted good upon presentation of satisfactory proof to the Partyâs Customs Administration that the good has been destroyed within the original time limit for temporary admission or any lawful extension. A Party may condition relief of liability under this paragraph by requiring the importer to receive prior approval fron the Customs Administration of the importing Party before the good can be so destroyed.
6. Each Party, through its Customs Administration, shall adopt and maintain procedures providing for the expeditious release of goods admitted under this Article. To the extent possible, these procedures shall provide that when such goods accompany a national or resident of the other Party who is seeking temporary entry, the good shall be released simultaneously with the entry of that national or resident.
Article 2.7. Duty-Free Entry of Commercial Samples of Negligible Value and Printed Advertising Materials
1. Each Party shall, in accordance with its laws and regulations, grant duty-free entry to commercial samples of negligible value, and to printed advertising materials, imported from the territory of the other Party, regardless of their origin, but may require that:
(a) such samples be imported solely for the solicitation of orders for goods, or the solicitation of orders for services provided from the territory, of the other Party or a non-Party; or
(b) such advertising materials be imported in packets that each contain no more than one copy of each such material and that neither such materials nor packets form part of a larger consignment.
Article 2.8. Goods Returned or Re-Entered after Repair or Alteration
1. Neither Party may apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, that re-enters its territory within one (1) year after that good has been exported from its territory to the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration, regardless of whether such repair or alteration could be performed in its territory, except that a customs duty may be applied to the addition resulting from the repair or alteration that was performed in the territory of the other Party.
2. Neither Party may apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, imported temporarily from the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration, provided such good is exported from the territory of the importing Party within one (1) year of its entry.
3. For the purposes of this Article, "repair" or "alteration" means any operation or process undertaken on a good to remedy operational defects or material damage and entailing the re-establishment of the good to its original function, or to ensure its compliance with technical requirements for its use. Repair or alteration of a good includes restoring, renovating, cleaning, resterilising, maintenance, or other operation or process, regardless of a possible increase in the value of the good, that does not:
(a) destroy a good's essential characteristics or create a new or commercially different good;
(b) transform an unfinished good into a finished good; or
(c) changes the function of a good.
4. The Parties shall commence a review of this Article within two (2) years of the date of entry into force of this Agreement and, thereafter, every three (3) years, or as the Parties agree otherwise.
Article 2.9. Import and Export Restrictions
Article Xl of the GATT 1994 and its interpretive notes are incorporated into and form part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 2.10. Import Licensing
1. Each Party shall ensure that all automatic and non-automatic import licensing procedures are implemented in a transparent and predictable manner, and applied in accordance with the Import Licensing Agreement. No Party shall adopt or maintain a measure that is inconsistent with the Import Licensing Agreement.
2. Promptly after entry into force of this Agreement, each Party shall notify the other Party of any existing import licensing procedures. The notification shall include the information specified in Article 5.2 of the Import Licensing Agreement. A Party shall be deemed to be in compliance with this paragraph if:
(a) it has notified that procedure to the WTO Committee on Import Licensing provided in Article 4 of the Import Licensing Agreement together with the information specified in Article 5.2 of the Import Licensing Agreement; and
(b) in the most recent annual submission due before the date of entry into force of this Agreement for the Party to the WTO Committee on Import Licensing, in response to the annual questionnaire on import licensing procedures as described in Article 7.3 of the Import Licensing Agreement, it has provided with respect to that procedure, the information requested in the questionnaire.
3. Thereafter, each Party shall notify the other Party of any new import licensing procedure and any modification it makes to its existing import licensing procedures, to the extent possible thirty (30) days before it takes effect. In no case shall a Party provide the notification later than sixty (60) days after the date of its publication. A notification provided under this Article shall include the information specified in Article 5 of the Import Licensing Agreement. A Party shall be deemed to be in compliance with this obligation if it notifies a new import licensing procedure or a modification to an existing import licensing procedure to the WTO Committee on Import Licensing in accordance with Articles 5.1, 5.2 or 5.3 of the Import Licensing Agreement.
4. Before applying any new or modified import licensing procedure, a Party shall publish the new procedure or modification on an official government website. To the extent possible, the Party shall do so at least twenty-one (21) days before the new procedure or modification takes effect.
5. The notification required under paragraphs 2 and 3 is without prejudice to whether the import licensing procedure is consistent with this Agreement.
6. No application shall be refused for minor documentation errors which do not alter the basic data contained therein. Minor documentation errors may include formatting errors (for instance, the width of a margin or the font used) and errors with spelling which are made without fraudulent intent or gross negligence.
7. A notification made under paragraph 3 shall state if, under any procedure that is a subject of the notification:
(a) the terms of an import license for any product limit the permissible end users of the product; or
(b) the Party imposes any of the following conditions on eligibility for obtaining a license to import any product
(i) membership in an industry association;
(ii) approval by an industry association of the request for an import license;
(iii) a history of importing the product, or similar products;
(iv) minimum importer or end use production capacity; (v) minimum importer or end use registered capital; or
(vi) a contractual or other relationship between the importer and distributor in the Party's territory.
8. Each Party shall, to the extent possible, answer within sixty (60) days all reasonable enquiries from the other Party with regard to the criteria employed by its respective licensing authorities in granting or denying import licenses. The importing Party shall publish sufficient information for the other Party and traders to know the basis for granting or allocating import licences.
9. If a Party denies an import licence application with respect to a good of the other Party, it shall, on request of the applicant and within a reasonable period after receiving the request, provide the applicant with an explanation of the reason for the denial.
Article 2.11. Customs Valuation
The Parties shall determine the customs value of goods traded between them in accordance with Article VII of the GATT 1994 and the Customs Valuation Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 2.12. Export Subsidies
1. The Parties shall not introduce or maintain export subsidies that are contrary to their obligations under the SCM Agreement on all goods traded between them.
2. The Parties reaffirm their commitments made in the WTO Ministerial Conference Decision on Export Competition adopted in Nairobi on 19 December 2015, including the elimination of scheduled export subsidy entitlements for agricultural goods.
3. The Parties share the objective of the multilateral elimination of export subsidies for agricultural goods and shall work together to prevent. their reintroduction in any form.
Article 2.13. Transparency
Article X of the GATT 1994 is incorporated into and form part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 2.14. Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance-of-Payments
1. The Parties shall endeavour to avoid the imposition of restrictive measures for balance-of-payments purposes.
2. Any such measures taken for trade in goods shall be in accordance with Article XII of the GATT 1994 and the Understanding on the Balance-of-Payments Provisions of the GATT 1994, the provisions of which are incorporated into and form part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.