Article 9.2. Scope
1. This Chapter shall apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party relating to:
(a) investors of another Party;
(b) covered investments; and
(c) with respect to Article 9.10 (Performance Requirements) and Article 9.16 (Investment and Environmental, Health and other Regulatory Objectives), all investments in the territory of that Party.
2. A Party's obligations under this Chapter shall apply to measures adopted or maintained by:
(a) the central, regional or local governments or authorities of that Party; and
(b) any person, including a state enterprise or any other body, when it exercises any governmental authority delegated to it by central, regional or local governments or authorities of that Party. (13)
3. For greater certainty, this Chapter shall not bind a Party in relation to an act or fact that took place or a situation that ceased to exist before the date of entry into force of this Agreement for that Party.
Article 9.3. Relation to other Chapters
1. In the event of any inconsistency between this Chapter and another Chapter of this Agreement, the other Chapter shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
2. A requirement of a Party that a service supplier of another Party post a bond or other form of financial security as a condition for the cross-border supply of a service does not of itself make this Chapter applicable to measures adopted or maintained by the Party relating to such cross-border supply of the service. This Chapter shall apply to measures adopted or maintained by the Party relating to the posted bond or financial security, to the extent that the bond or financial security is a covered investment.
3. This Chapter shall not apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party to the extent that they are covered by Chapter 11 (Financial Services).
Article 9.4. National Treatment (14)
1. Each Party shall accord to investors of another Party treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to its own investors with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments in its territory.
2. Each Party shall accord to covered investments treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to investments in its territory of its own investors with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments.
3. For greater certainty, the treatment to be accorded by a Party under paragraphs 1 and 2 means, with respect to a regional level of government, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment accorded, in like circumstances, by that regional level of government to investors, and to investments of investors, of the Party of which it forms a part.
Article 9.5. Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord to investors of another Party treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to investors of any other Party or of any non-Party with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments in its territory.
2. Each Party shall accord to covered investments treatment no less favourable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to investments in its territory of investors of any other Party or of any non-Party with respect to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, and sale or other disposition of investments.
3. For greater certainty, the treatment referred to in this Article does not encompass international dispute resolution procedures or mechanisms, such as those included in Section B (Investor-State Dispute Settlement).
Article 9.6. Minimum Standard of Treatment (15)
1. Each Party shall accord to covered investments treatment in accordance with applicable customary international law principles, including fair and equitable treatment and full protection and security.
2. For greater certainty, paragraph 1 prescribes the customary international law minimum standard of treatment of aliens as the standard of treatment to be afforded to covered investments. The concepts of "fair and equitable treatment" and "full protection and security" do not require treatment in addition to or beyond that which is required by that standard, and do not create additional substantive rights. The obligations in paragraph 1 to provide:
(a) "fair and equitable treatment" includes the obligation not to deny justice in criminal, civil or administrative adjudicatory proceedings in accordance with the principle of due process embodied in the principal legal systems of the world; and
(b) "full protection and security" requires each Party to provide the level of police protection required under customary international law.
3. A determination that there has been a breach of another provision of this Agreement, or of a separate international agreement, does not establish that there has been a breach of this Article.
4. For greater certainty, the mere fact that a Party takes or fails to take an action that may be inconsistent with an investor's expectations does not constitute a breach of this Article, even if there is loss or damage to the covered investment as a result.
5. For greater certainty, the mere fact that a subsidy or grant has not been issued, renewed or maintained, or has been modified or reduced, by a Party, does not constitute a breach of this Article, even if there is loss or damage to the covered investment as a result.
Article 9.7. Treatment In Case of Armed Conflict or Civil Strife
1, Notwithstanding Article 9.12.6(b) (Non-Conforming Measures), each Party shall accord to investors of another Party and to covered investments non-discriminatory treatment with respect to measures it adopts or maintains relating to losses suffered by investments in its territory owing to armed conflict or civil strife.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, if an investor of a Party, in a situation referred to in paragraph 1, suffers a loss in the territory of another Party resulting from:
(a) requisitioning of its covered investment or part thereof by the latter's forces or authorities; or
(b) destruction of its covered investment or part thereof by the latter's forces or authorities, which was not required by the necessity of the situation,
the latter Party shall provide the investor restitution, compensation or both, as appropriate, for that loss.
3. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to existing measures relating to subsidies or grants that would be inconsistent with Article 9.4 (National Treatment) but for Article 9.12.6(b) (Non-Conforming Measures).
Article 9.8. Expropriation and Compensation (16)
1. No Party shall expropriate or nationalise a covered investment either directly or indirectly through measures equivalent to expropriation or nationalisation (expropriation), except:
(a) for a public purpose; (17) (18)
(b) in a non-discriminatory manner;
(c) on payment of prompt, adequate and effective compensation in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3 and 4; and
(d) in accordance with due process of law.
2. Compensation shall:
(a) be paid without delay;
(b) be equivalent to the fair market value of the expropriated investment immediately before the expropriation took place (the date of expropriation);
(c) not reflect any change in value occurring because the intended expropriation had become known earlier; and
(d) be fully realisable and freely transferable.
3. If the fair market value is denominated in a freely usable currency, the compensation paid shall be no less than the fair market value on the date of expropriation, plus interest at a commercially reasonable rate for that currency, accrued from the date of expropriation until the date of payment.
4. If the fair market value is denominated in a currency that is not freely usable, the compensation paid, converted into the currency of payment at the market rate of exchange prevailing on the date of payment, shall be no less than:
(a) the fair market value on the date of expropriation, converted into a freely usable currency at the market rate of exchange prevailing on that date; plus
(b) interest, at a commercially reasonable rate for that freely usable currency, accrued from the date of expropriation until the date of payment.
5. This Article shall not apply to the issuance of compulsory licences granted in relation to intellectual property rights in accordance with the TRIPS Agreement, or to the revocation, limitation or creation of intellectual property rights, to the extent that the issuance, revocation, limitation or creation is consistent with Chapter 18 (Intellectual Property) and the TRIPS Agreement. (19)
6. For greater certainty, a Party's decision not to issue, renew or maintain a subsidy or grant, or decision to modify or reduce a subsidy or grant,
(a) in the absence of any specific commitment under law or contract to issue, renew or maintain that subsidy or grant; or
(b) in accordance with any terms or conditions attached to the issuance, renewal, modification, reduction and maintenance of that subsidy or grant, standing alone, does not constitute an expropriation.
Article 9.9. Transfers (20)
1. Each Party shall permit all transfers relating to a covered investment to be made freely and without delay into and out of its territory. Such transfers include:
(a) contributions to capital; (21)
(b) profits, dividends, interest, capital gains, royalty payments, management fees, technical assistance fees and other fees;
(c) proceeds from the sale of all or any part of the covered investment or from the partial or complete liquidation of the covered investment;
(d) payments made under a contract, including a loan agreement;
(e) payments made pursuant to Article 9.7 (Treatment in Case of Armed Conflict or Civil Strife) and Article 9.8 (Expropriation and Compensation); and
3) payments arising out of a dispute.
2. Each Party shall permit transfers relating to a covered investment to be made in a freely usable currency at the market rate of exchange prevailing at the time of transfer.
3. Each Party shall permit returns in kind relating to a covered investment to be made as authorised or specified in a written agreement between the Party and a covered investment or an investor of another Party.
4. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, a Party may prevent or delay a transfer through the equitable, non-discriminatory and good faith application of its laws (22) relating to:
(a) bankruptcy, insolvency or the protection of the rights of creditors;
(b) issuing, trading or dealing in securities, futures, options or derivatives;
(c) criminal or penal offences;
(d) financial reporting or record keeping of transfers when necessary to assist law enforcement or financial regulatory authorities; or
(e) ensuring compliance with orders or judgments in judicial or administrative proceedings.
5. Notwithstanding paragraph 3, a Party may restrict transfers of returns in kind in circumstances where it could otherwise restrict such transfers under this Agreement, including as set out in paragraph 4.
Article 9.10. Performance Requirements
1. No Party shall, in connection with the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, or sale or other disposition of an investment of an investor of a Party or of a non-Party in its territory, impose or enforce any requirement, or enforce any commitment or undertaking:
(a) to export a given level or percentage of goods or services; (b) to achieve a given level or percentage of domestic content;
(c) to purchase, use or accord a preference to goods produced in its territory, or to purchase goods from persons in its territory;
(d) to relate in any way the volume or value of imports to the volume or value of exports or to the amount of foreign exchange inflows associated with the investment;
(e) to restrict sales of goods or services in its territory that the investment produces or supplies by relating those sales in any way to the volume or value of its exports or foreign exchange earnings;
(f) to transfer a particular technology, a production process or other proprietary knowledge to a person in its territory;
(g) to supply exclusively from the territory of the Party the goods that the investment produces or the services that it supplies to a specific regional market or to the world market;
(h) (i) to purchase, use or accord a preference to, in its territory, technology of the Party or of a person of the Party; or
(ii) that prevents the purchase or use of, or the according of a preference to, in its territory, a particular technology; or
(i) to adopt:
(i) a given rate or amount of royalty under a licence contract; or
(ii) a given duration of the term of a licence contract,
in regard to any licence contract in existence at the time the requirement is imposed or enforced, or any commitment or undertaking is enforced, or any future licence contract (25) freely entered into between the investor and a person in its territory, provided that the requirement is imposed or the commitment or undertaking is enforced in a manner that constitutes direct interference with that licence contract by an exercise of non- judicial governmental authority of a Party. For greater certainty, paragraph 1(i) does not apply when the licence contract is concluded between the investor and a Party.
2. No Party shall condition the receipt or continued receipt of an advantage, in connection with the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, or sale or other disposition of an investment of an investor of a Party or of a non-Party in its territory, on compliance with any requirement:
(a) to achieve a given level or percentage of domestic content;
(b) to purchase, use or accord a preference to goods produced in its territory, or to purchase goods from persons in its territory;
(c) to relate in any way the volume or value of imports to the volume or value of exports or to the amount of foreign exchange inflows associated with the investment; or
(d) to restrict sales of goods or services in its territory that the investment produces or supplies by relating those sales in any way to the volume or value of its exports or foreign exchange earnings.
3. (a) Nothing in paragraph 2 shall be construed to prevent a Party from conditioning the receipt or continued receipt of an advantage, in connection with an investment of an investor of a Party or of a non-Party in its territory, on compliance with a requirement to locate production, supply a service, train or employ workers, construct or expand particular facilities, or carry out research and development, in its territory.
(b) Paragraphs 1(f), 1(h) and 1(i) shall not apply:
(i) if a Party authorises use of an intellectual property right in accordance with Article 31 (26) of the TRIPS Agreement, or to measures requiring the disclosure of proprietary information that fall within the scope of, and are consistent with, Article 39 of the TRIPS Agreement; or
(ii) if the requirement is imposed or the commitment or undertaking is enforced by a court, administrative tribunal or competition authority to remedy a practice determined after judicial or administrative process to be anticompetitive under the Party's competition laws. (27) (28)
(c) Paragraph 1(i) shall not apply if the requirement is imposed or the commitment or undertaking is enforced by a tribunal as equitable remuneration under the Party's copyright laws.
(d) Provided that such measures are not applied in an arbitrary or unjustifiable manner, or do not constitute a disguised restriction on international trade or investment, paragraphs 1(b), 1(c), 1(f), 2(a) and 2(b) shall not be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining measures, including environmental measures:
(i) necessary to secure compliance with laws and regulations that are not inconsistent with this Agreement;
(ii) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health; or
(iii) related to the conservation of living or non-living exhaustible natural resources.
(e) Paragraphs 1(a), 1(b), 1(c), 2(a) and 2(b) shall not apply to qualification requirements for goods or services with respect to export promotion and foreign aid programs.
(f) Paragraphs 1(b), 1(c), 1(f), 1(g), 1(h), 1@, 2(a) and 2(b) shall not apply to government procurement.
(g) Paragraphs 2(a) and 2(b) shall not apply to requirements imposed by an importing Party relating to the content of goods necessary to qualify for preferential tariffs or preferential quotas.
(h) Paragraphs (1)(h) and (1)(i) shall not be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining measures to protect legitimate public welfare objectives, provided that such measures are not applied in an arbitrary or unjustifiable manner, or in a manner that constitutes a disguised restriction on international trade or investment.
4. For greater certainty, nothing in paragraph 1 shall be construed to prevent a Party, in connection with the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation, or sale or other disposition of an investment of an investor of a Party or of a non-Party in its territory, from imposing or enforcing a requirement, or enforcing a commitment or undertaking, to employ or train workers in its territory provided that the employment or training does not require the transfer of a particular technology, production process or other proprietary knowledge to a person in its territory.
5. For greater certainty, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to any commitment, undertaking or requirement other than those set out in those paragraphs.
6. This Article does not preclude enforcement of any commitment, undertaking or requirement between private parties, if a Party did not impose or require the commitment, undertaking or requirement.
Article 9.11. Senior Management and Boards of Directors
1. No Party shall require that an enterprise of that Party that is a covered investment appoint to a senior management position a natural person of any particular nationality.
2. A Party may require that a majority of the board of directors, or any committee thereof, of an enterprise of that Party that is a covered investment, be of a particular nationality or resident in the territory of the Party, provided that the requirement does not materially impair the ability of the investor to exercise control over its investment.
Article 9.12. Non-Conforming Measures
1. Article 9.4 (National Treatment), Article 9.5 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment), Article 9.10 (Performance Requirements) and Article 9.11 (Senior Management and Boards of Directors) shall not apply to:
(a) any existing non-conforming measure that is maintained by a Party at:
(i) the central level of government, as set out by that Party in its Schedule to Annex I;
(ii) a regional level of government, as set out by that Party in its Schedule to Annex I; or
(iii) a local level of government;
(b) the continuation or prompt renewal of any non-conforming measure referred to in subparagraph (a); or
(c) an amendment to any non-conforming measure referred to in subparagraph (a), to the extent that the amendment does not decrease the conformity of the measure, as it existed immediately before the amendment, with Article 9.4 (National Treatment), Article 9.5 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment), Article 9.10 (Performance Requirements) or Article 9.11 (Senior Management and Boards of Directors) (29)
2. Article 9.4 (National Treatment), Article 9.5 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment), Article 9.10 (Performance Requirements) and Article 9.11 (Senior Management and Boards of Directors) shall not apply to any measure that a Party adopts or maintains with respect to sectors, subsectors or activities, as set out by that Party in its Schedule to Annex IL.
3. If a Party considers that a non-conforming measure applied by a regional level of government of another Party, as referred to in paragraph 1(a)(ii), creates a material impediment to investment in relation to the former Party, it may request consultations with regard to that measure. These Parties shall enter into consultations with a view to exchanging information on the operation of the measure and to considering whether further steps are necessary and appropriate. (30)
4. No Party shall, under any measure adopted after the date of entry into force of this Agreement for that Party and covered by its Schedule to Annex II, require an investor of another Party, by reason of its nationality, to sell or otherwise dispose of an investment existing at the time the measure becomes effective.
5. (a) Article 9.4 (National Treatment) shall not apply to any measure that falls within an exception to, or derogation from, the obligations which are imposed by:
(i) Article 18.8 (National Treatment); or
(ii) Article 3 of the TRIPS Agreement, if the exception or derogation relates to matters not addressed by Chapter 18 (Intellectual Property).
(b) Article 9.5 (Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment) shall not apply to any measure that falls within Article 5 of the TRIPS Agreement, or an exception to, or derogation from, the obligations which are imposed by: