5. In determining whether a Party is in conformity with the obligation under paragraph 4, account shall be taken of international standards of relevant international organisations (18) applied by that Party.
6. In sectors where specific commitments are undertaken, each Party shall provide for adequate procedures to verify the competence of professionals of the other Party.
7. The Parties shall jointly review the results of the negotiations on disciplines on domestic regulation, pursuant to Article VI.4 of the GATS, with a view of incorporating them into this Chapter.
Article 8.10. Recognition
1. 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, each party shall give due consideration, as appropriate, to any request by the other Party to recognise, the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in that other Party. Such recognition which may be achieved through harmonisation or otherwise, may be based upon an agreement or arrangement with that other Party, or otherwise be accorded autonomously.
2. Where a Party recognises, by agreement or arrangement, the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in the territory of a non-party, that Party shall afford the other Party adequate opportunity to negotiate its accession to such an agreement or arrangement, whether existing or future, or to negotiate a comparable agreement or arrangement with it. Where a Party accords recognition autonomously, it shall afford adequate opportunity for the other Party to demonstrate that the education, or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in the territory of that other Party should also be recognised.
3. The Parties or their relevant professional bodies, as appropriate, may negotiate agreements for mutual recognition of education, or experience obtained, requirements met or licenses or certifications granted. Upon a request being made in writing by a Party to the other Party, the receiving Party shall transmit the request to its relevant professional body, as appropriate. The Parties shall report periodically to the Joint Committee on progress and on impediments experienced. Any delay or failure by the Parties or their professional bodies to negotiate or to reach and conclude an agreement on the details of such arrangements shall not be regarded as a breach of a Party's obligations under this paragraph and shall not be subject to Chapter 15 (Dispute Settlement).
4. A Party shall not accord recognition in a manner which would constitute a means of discrimination between the countries in the application of its standards or criteria for the authorisation, licensing or certification of service suppliers, or a disguised restriction on trade in services.
5. The Parties agree to encourage, where possible, the relevant bodies in their respective territories responsible for issuance and recognition of professional and vocational qualifications to:
(a) strengthen cooperation and to explore possibilities for mutual recognition of respective professional and vocational qualifications; and
(b) pursue mutually acceptable standards and criteria for licensing and certification with respect to service sectors of mutual importance to the Parties.
Article 8.11. Payments and Transfers
1. Except under the circumstances envisaged in Article 8.14, a Party shall not apply restrictions on international transfers and payments for current transactions with the other Party, relating to its specific commitments.
2. Nothing in this Chapter shall affect the rights and obligations of the Parties under the International Monetary Fund Agreement, including the use of exchange actions which are in conformity with the Articles of Agreement, provided that a Party shall not impose restrictions on capital transactions inconsistently with its specific commitments regarding such transactions, except under Article 8.14 or at the request of the International Monetary Fund.
Article 8.12. Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers
1. Each Party shall ensure that any monopoly supplier of a service in its territory does not, in the supply of the monopoly service in the relevant market, act in a manner inconsistent with that Party's obligations under Article 8.4 and its specific commitments.
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 specific commitments, the Party shall ensure that such a supplier does not abuse its monopoly position to act in its territory in a manner inconsistent with such commitments.
3. The provisions of this Article shall also apply to cases of exclusive service suppliers, where a Party, formally or in effect:
(a) authorizes or establishes a small number of service suppliers; and
(b) substantially prevents competition among those suppliers in its territory.
Article 8.13. Business Practices
1. Parties recognize that certain business practices of service suppliers, other than those falling under Article 8.12, may restrain competition and thereby restrict trade in services.
2. Each Party shall, at the request of the other Party, enter into consultations with a view to eliminating practices referred to in paragraph 1. The Party addressed shall accord full and sympathetic consideration to such a request and shall cooperate through the supply of publicly available non-confidential information of relevance to the matter in question. The Party addressed shall also provide other information available to the requesting Party, subject to its domestic law and to the conclusion of a satisfactory agreement concerning the safeguarding of its confidentiality by the requesting Party.
Article 8.14. Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance-of-Payments
1. The Parties shall endeavour to avoid the imposition of restrictions to safeguard the balance of payments.
2. In the event of serious balance-of-payments and external financial difficulties or threat thereof, a Party may adopt or maintain restrictions on trade in services on which it has undertaken specific commitments, including on payments or transfers for transactions related to such commitments. It is recognized that particular pressures on the balance of payments of a Party in the process of economic development or economic transition may necessitate the use of restrictions to ensure, inter alia, the maintenance of a level of financial reserves adequate for the implementation of its programme of economic development or economic transition.
3. The restrictions referred to in paragraph 2:
(a) shall not discriminate against the other 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 2;
(e) shall be temporary and be phased out progressively as the situation specified in paragraph 2 improves.
4. In determining the incidence of such restrictions, Parties may give priority to the supply of services which are more essential to their economic or development programmes. However, such restrictions shall not be adopted or maintained for the purpose of protecting a particular service sector.
5. Any restrictions adopted or maintained under paragraph 2, or any changes therein, shall be promptly notified to the Joint Committee.
Article 8.15. Denial of Benefits
A Party may deny the benefits of this Agreement to a service supplier that is a juridical person, if persons of a non-Party own or control that juridical person and the denying Party:
(a) does not maintain diplomatic relations with the non-Party and that non-Party is not a Member of the WTO; or
(b) adopts or maintains measures with respect to the non-Party or a person of the non-Party that prohibit transactions with the enterprise or that would be violated or circumvented if the benefits of this Agreement were accorded to the enterprise or to its investments.
Article 8.16. Review
With the objective of further liberalising trade in services between them, the Parties agree to jointly review their Schedules of Specific Commitments and Lists of MFN Exemptions within the framework of the Joint Committee, taking into account any autonomous liberalization and services liberalization developments as a result of on-going work under the auspices of the WTO.
Article 8.17. Annexes
The following Annexes are attached to this Chapter:
Annex 8A (Lists of MFN Exemptions);
Annex 8B (Telecommunications Services); and
Annex 8C (Schedules of Specific Commitments).
Chapter 9. DIGITAL TRADE
Article 9.1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
electronic authentication means the process or act of verifying the identity of a party to an electronic communication or transaction and ensuring the integrity of an electronic communication;
digital product means a computer programme, text, video, image, sound recording, or other product that is digitally encoded, produced for commercial sale or distribution, and can be transmitted electronically;(32) (33)
digital or electronic signature means data in digital or electronic form that is in, affixed to, or logically associated with, a digital or electronic document, and that may be used to identify or verify the signatory in relation to the digital or electronic document and indicate the signatory's approval of the information contained in the digital or electronic document;
electronic transmission or transmitted electronically means a transmission made using any electromagnetic means, including by photonic means;
open data means non-proprietary information, including data, made freely available to the public by the central level of government;
personal data means any information, including data, about an identified or identifiable natural person;
trade administration documents means forms a Party issues or controls that must be completed by or for an importer or exporter in connection with the import or export of goods; and
unsolicited commercial electronic message means an electronic message which is sent for commercial or marketing purposes, without the consent of the recipient or despite the explicit rejection of the recipient, through an internet access service supplier or, to the extent provided for under the laws and regulations of each Party, other telecommunications service.
Article 9.2. Objectives
1. The Parties recognise the economic growth and opportunity that digital trade provides, the importance of avoiding barriers to its use and development, the importance of frameworks that promote consumer confidence in digital trade, and the applicability of the WTO Agreement to measures affecting digital trade.
2. The Parties seek to foster an environment conducive to the further advancement of digital trade, including electronic commerce and the digital transformation of the global economy, by strengthening their bilateral relations on these matters.
Article 9.3. General Provisions
1. This Chapter shall apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party that affect trade by electronic means.
2. This Chapter shall not apply to:
(a) government procurement; or
(b) information held or processed by or on behalf of a Party, or measures related to such information, including measures related to its collection.
3. For greater certainty, the Parties affirm that measures affecting the supply of a service delivered or performed electronically are subject to the relevant provisions of Chapter 8 (Trade in Services) and its Annexes and Chapter 12 (Investment), including any exceptions or limitations set out in this Agreement that are applicable to such provisions.
Article 9.4. Customs Duties
1. No Party shall impose customs duties on digital or electronic transmissions, including content transmitted electronically, between a person of one Party and a person of the other Party.
2. For greater certainty, paragraph 1 shall not preclude a Party from imposing internal taxes, fees, or other charges on content transmitted digitally or electronically, provided that such taxes, fees, or charges are imposed in a manner consistent with this Agreement.
Article 9.5. Non-Discriminatory Treatment of Digital Products
1. No Party shall accord less favourable treatment to digital products created, produced, published, contracted for, commissioned, or first made available on commercial terms in the territory of the other Party, or to digital products of which the author, performer, producer, developer, or owner is a person of the other Party, than it accords to other like digital products.
2. This Article does not apply to broadcasting.
Article 9.6. Domestic Electronic Transactions Framework
1. Each Party shall endeavour to maintain a legal framework governing electronic transactions consistent with the principles of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996) or the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts, done at New York on 23 November 2005.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) avoid any unnecessary regulatory burden on electronic transactions; and
(b) facilitate input by interested persons in the development of its legal framework for electronic transactions, including in relation to trade documentation.
Article 9.7. Electronic Authentication and Electronic Signatures
1. Except in circumstances otherwise provided for under its law, neither Party shall deny the legal validity of a signature solely on the basis that the signature is in digital or electronic form.
2. Neither Party shall adopt or maintain measures regarding digital or electronic authentication that would:
(a) prohibit parties to an electronic transaction from mutually determining the appropriate authentication methods for that transaction; or
(b) prevent parties to an electronic transaction from having the opportunity to establish before judicial or administrative authorities that their transaction complies with any legal requirements with respect to authentication.
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, a Party may require that, for a particular category of transactions, the method of authentication meets certain performance standards or is certified by an authority accredited in accordance with its law.
4. The Parties shall encourage the use of interoperable means of authentication.
Article 9.8. Paperless Trading
Each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) make trade administration documents available to the public in digital or electronic form; and
(b) accept trade administration documents submitted electronically as the legal equivalent of the paper version of those documents.
Article 9.9. Online Consumer Protection
1. The Parties recognise the importance of adopting and maintaining transparent and effective measures to protect consumers from misleading, deceptive, and fraudulent commercial practices when they engage in digital trade.
2. Each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain consumer protection laws to proscribe misleading, deceptive, and fraudulent commercial activities that cause harm or potential harm to consumers engaged in digital trade. (34)
Article 9.10. Personal Data Protection
1. The Parties recognise the economic and social benefits of protecting the personal data of persons who conduct or engage in electronic transactions and the contribution that this makes to enhancingconsumer confidence in digital trade.
2. To this end, each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain a legal framework that provides for the protection of the personal data of users of digital trade. (35)
In the development of any legal framework for the protection of personal data, each Party should endeavour to take into account principles and guidelines of relevant international organisations.
3. Each Party shall ensure that its domestic legal framework for the protection of personal information of users of digital trade is applied on a non-discriminatory basis.
4. Each Party shall publish information on the personal information protections it provides to users of digital trade, including:
(a) how individuals can pursue remedies; and
(b) how businesses can comply with any legal requirements.
Article 9.11. Principles on Access to and Use of the Internet for Digital Trade
To support the development and growth of digital trade, each Party recognizes that consumers in its territory should be able to:
(a) access and use services and applications of their choice, unless prohibited by the Party's law;
(b) connect their choice of devices to the internet, provided that such devices do not harm the network and are not otherwise prohibited by the Party's law.
Article 9.12. Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Messages
1. Each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain measures regarding unsolicited commercial electronic messages that:
(a) require a supplier of unsolicited commercial electronic messages to facilitate the ability of a recipient to prevent ongoing reception of those messages; or
(b) require the consent, as specified in the laws and regulations of each Party, of recipients to receive commercial electronic messages.
2. Each Party shall provide recourse against a supplier of unsolicited commercial electronic messages that does not comply with a measure adopted or maintained in accordance with paragraph 1.
3. The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate in appropriate cases of mutual concern regarding the regulation of unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
Article 9.13. Cross-Border Flow of Information
Recognizing the importance of the free flow of information in facilitating trade, and acknowledging the importance of protecting personal data, the Parties shall endeavour to refrain from imposing or maintaining unnecessary barriers to electronic information flows across borders.
Article 9.14. Open Data
1. The Parties recognise that facilitating public access to and use of open data contributes to stimulating economic and social development, competitiveness, productivity improvements and innovation. To the extent that a Party chooses to make available open data, it shall endeavour to ensure:
(a) that the information is appropriately anonymised, contains descriptive metadata, and is in a machine readable and open format that allows it to be searched, retrieved, used, reused, and redistributed freely by the public; and
(b) to the extent practicable, that the information is made available in a spatially enabled format with reliable, easy-to-use, and freely available Application Programming Interfaces ("APIs"), and is regularly updated.
2. The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate to identify ways in which each Party can expand access to and use of open data, with a view to enhancing and generating business and research opportunities.
Article 9.15. Digital Government
1. The Parties recognise that technology can enable more efficient and agile government operations, improve the quality and reliability of government services, and enable governments to better serve the needs of their citizens and other stakeholders.
2. To this end, the Parties shall endeavour to develop and implement strategies to digitally transform their respective government operations and services, which may include:
(a) adopting open and inclusive government processes focusing on accessibility, transparency, and accountability in a manner that overcomes digital divides;
(b) promoting cross-sectoral and cross-governmental coordination and collaboration on digital agenda issues;
(c) shaping government processes, services, and policies with digital inclusivity in mind;
(d) providing a unified digital platform and common digital enablers for government service delivery;
(e) leveraging emerging technologies to build capabilities in anticipation of disasters and crises, and facilitating proactive responses;
(f) generating public value from government data by applying it in the planning, delivering, and monitoring of public policies, and adopting rules and ethical principles for the trustworthy and safe use of data;
(g) making government data and policy-making processes (including algorithms) available for the public to engage with; or
(h) promoting initiatives to raise the level of digital capabilities and skills of both the populace and the government workforce.
3. Recognising that the Parties can benefit by sharing their experiences with digital government initiatives, the Parties shall endeavour to cooperate on activities relating to the digital transformation of government and government services, which may include:
(a) exchanging information and experiences on digital government strategies and policies;
(b) sharing best practices on digital government and the digital delivery of government services; and
(c) providing advice or training to assist the other Party in building digital government capacity.
Article 9.16. Digital and Electronic Invoicing
1. The Parties recognise the importance of digital and electronic invoicing to increase the efficiency, accuracy, and reliability of commercial transactions.
2. The Parties recognise the economic importance of promoting the global adoption of digital and electronic invoicing systems, including interoperable international frameworks. To this end, the Parties shall consider:
(a) promoting, encouraging, supporting, or facilitating the adoption of digital and electronic invoicing by enterprises;
(b) promoting the existence of policies, infrastructure, and processes that support digital and electronic invoicing;
(c) generating awareness of, and building capacity for, digital and electronic invoicing; and
(d) sharing knowledge and experience related to interoperable international digital and electronic invoicing systems.
Article 9.17. Digital and Electronic Payments
1. Recognising the rapid growth of digital and electronic payments, in particular those provided by non-bank, non-financial institutions and financial technology enterprises, the Parties shall endeavour to support, as appropriate, the development of efficient, safe and secure cross-border digital and electronic payments by:
(a) fostering the adoption and use of internationally accepted standards for digital and electronic payments;
(b) promoting interoperability and the interlinking of digital electronic payment infrastructures; and
(c) encouraging innovation and competition in digital and electronic payments services.
2. To this end, each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) make publicly available its laws and regulations of general applicability relating to digital and electronic payments, including in relation to regulatory approval, licensing requirements, procedures, and technical standards;
(b) finalise decisions on regulatory or licensing approvals relating to digital and electronic payments in a timely manner;