Article 9.3. GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR GRANT OF TEMPORARY ENTRY
1. Each Party shall grant temporary entry to natural persons of other Party, who are otherwise qualified for entry under applicable measures relating to public health and safety and national security, in accordance with this Chapter.
2. Each Party shall process expeditiously applications for temporary entry from natural persons of the other Party, including requests for further extensions. Each Party shall notify applicants for temporary entry, either directly or through their prospective employers, of the outcome of their applications, including the period of stay and other conditions.
3. Neither Party shall require labour market testing, economic needs testing or other procedures of similar effects as a condition for temporary entry in respect of natural persons upon whom the benefits of this Chapter are conferred.
4. Natural persons of either Party who are granted temporary entry into the territory of the other Party shall not be required to make contributions to social security funds in the host country. In such cases, they will not be eligible for social security benefits in the other Party for the duration of the stay.
Article 9.4. SHORT-TERM TEMPORARY ENTRY
Business Visitors
1. A Party shall, upon application by a business visitor of the other Party, who otherwise meets its criteria for the grant of a five-year multiple journey visa, ordinarily grant that business visitor with that immigration visa. Such a visa shall be granted provided the business visitor:
(a) complies with immigration measures applicable to temporary entry;
(b) presents proof of nationality;
(c) provides a letter of recommendation from a governmental economic agency of the Party to whom the application is made, giving an indication of his business activities/interests. In the event that it is not available, the Party shall consider a letter of recommendation from reputed Chambers of Commerce, Export Promotion Councils or similar organizations in his own country; and
(d) is otherwise qualified for entry under applicable measures relating to public health and safety and national security in accordance with this Chapter.
If that business visitor does not meet the aforesaid criteria, he or she may still be granted a multiple journey visa for a period of less than five years, as the Party granting the immigration visa deems fit. Each Party shall grant a business visitor of the other Party the right to temporary entry for a period of up to two months, which may be extended by a period of up to one month upon request, for holders of five-year multiple journey visas and up to one month for holders of multiple journey visas with a validity period of less than five years.
Short-Term Service Suppliers
2. Each Party shall, upon application by a short-term service supplier of the other Party who otherwise meets its criteria for the grant of an immigration visa, grant that short-term service supplier, through the issuance of a single immigration visa, the right to temporary entry for an initial period of up to 90 days, with possibility for a further period of up to 90 days provided that the total sum of the initial period and the extended period shall not exceed 180 days or the length of the service contract referred to in paragraph 2(i)(i) of Article 9.2, whichever is the shorter period.
Article 9.5. LONG-TERM TEMPORARY ENTRY
Intra-Corporate Transferees
1. Unless there has been a breach of any of the conditions governing temporary entry, or an application for an extension of an immigration visa has been refused on such grounds of national security or public order by the granting Party as it deems fit, each Party shall grant temporary entry to an intra-corporate transferee of the other Party, who otherwise meets its criteria for the grant of an immigration visa, for an initial period of up to two years or the period of the contract, whichever is less. The period of stay may be extended for period of up to three years at a time for a total term not exceeding eight years.
Professionals
2. Each Party shall grant temporary entry and stay for up to one year or the duration of contract, whichever is less, to a natural person seeking to engage in a business activity as a professional, or to perform training functions related to a particular profession, including conducting seminars, if the professional otherwise complies with immigration measures applicable to temporary entry, on presentation by the natural person concerned of:
(a) Proof of nationality of the other Party;
(b) Documentation demonstrating that he or she will be so engaged and describing the purpose of entry, including the letter of contract from the party (9-2) engaging the services of the natural person in the host Party; and
(c) Documentation demonstrating the attainment of the relevant minimum educational requirements or alternative credentials.
Article 9.6. EMPLOYMENT OF SPOUSES AND DEPENDANTS
For natural persons of a Party who have been granted the right to long term temporary entry and have been allowed to bring in their spouses or dependants, a Party shall, upon application, grant the accompanying spouses or dependants of the other Party the right to work as managers, executives or specialists (as defined in paragraphs 2(f)(i) to (iii) of Article 9.2), subject to its relevant licensing, administrative and registration requirements. Such spouses or dependants can apply independently in their own capacity (and not necessarily as accompanying spouses or dependants) and shall not be barred by the Party granting them the right to work from taking up employment in a category other than that of managers, executives, or specialists solely on the ground that they as the accompanying spouses or dependants are already employed in its territory as managers, executives or specialists.
Article 9.7. REGULATORY TRANSPARENCY
1. Each Party shall maintain or establish contact points or other mechanisms to respond to inquiries from interested persons regarding regulations affecting the temporary entry of natural persons. These contact points shall also be the authorized points allowing business persons to report and seek clarifications, if any, on instances where they have encountered special difficulties in the process of seeking temporary entry in the other Party.
2. To the extent possible, each Party shall allow reasonable time between publication of regulations affecting the temporary entry of natural persons and their effective date, and such notification to the other Party can be made electronically available.
3. Prior to the entry into force of this Agreement, the Parties shall exchange information on current procedures relating to the processing of applications for temporary entry.
Article 9.8. IMMIGRATION MEASURES
Nothing in this Chapter shall prevent a Party from applying measures to regulate the entry of natural persons of the other Party into, or their temporary stay in, its territory, including those measures necessary to protect the integrity of, and to ensure the orderly movement of natural persons across its borders, provided that such measures are not applied in such a manner as to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to the other Party under the terms of this Chapter.
Article 9.9. EXPEDITIOUS APPLICATIONS PROCEDURES
Each Party shall process expeditiously applications for temporary entry from natural persons of the other Party, including requests for further extension, for grant of Business/Employment Visa in the case of India and Business Visas/ Employment Passes in the case of Singapore, from natural persons of the other Party, including further immigration visa request or extension thereof, particularly applications from members of professions for which mutual recognition arrangements have been concluded pursuant to Article 7.11.
Article 9.10. NOTIFICATION OF OUTCOME OF APPLICATION
Each Party shall notify the applicant for temporary entry, either directly or through his or her prospective employers, of the outcome of final determination, including the period of stay and other conditions.
Article 9.11. RESOLUTION OF PROBLEMS
The relevant authorities of both Parties shall endeavor to favorably resolve any specific or general problems (within the framework of their domestic laws, regulations and other similar measures governing the temporary entry of natural persons) which may arise from the implementation and administration of this Chapter.
Article 9.12. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
1. A Party may not initiate proceedings under Chapter 15 regarding a refusal to grant temporary entry under this chapter unless
(a) the matter involves a breach of any of the provisions relating to the right of entry accruing under this Chapter;
(b) involves a pattern of practice; and
(c) its natural persons affected by the pattern of practice have exhausted the available domestic administrative remedies of the other Party.
2. The remedies referred to in paragraph 1(c) shall be deemed to be exhausted if a final determination in the matter has not been issued by the competent authority within one year of the institution of proceedings for domestic administrative remedies including proceedings by way of review, and the failure to issue a determination is not attributable to the delay caused by the natural person.
Article 9.13. RESERVATIONS
The commitments made by each Party under this Chapter shall be subject to any terms, conditions, reservations or limitations it has scheduled in respect of each service sector under Chapter 7.
Chapter 10. E-COMMERCE
Article 10.1. GENERAL
The Parties recognise the economic growth and opportunity provided by electronic commerce and the importance of avoiding barriers to its use and development and the applicability of WTO rules (10-1) to electronic commerce.
Article 10.2. DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this Chapter:
carrier medium means any physical object, as listed under the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA-1) Attachment A, capable of storing a digital product by any method and from which a digital product
can be perceived, reproduced or communicated, directly or indirectly;
digital products means computer programs, text, video, images, sound recordings and other products that are digitally encoded, regardless of whether they are fixed on a cartier medium or transmitted electronically (10-2);
electronic means means employing computer processing;
electronic transmission or transmitted electronically means the transfer of digital products using any electromagnetic or photonic means; and
person means either a natural person or a juridical person as defined in Chapter 7.
Article 10.3. ELECTRONIC SUPPLY OF SERVICES
The Parties affirm that the supply of a service using electronic means falls within the scope of the obligations contained in the relevant provisions of Chapters 2, 6 and 7, subject to any reservations or exceptions applicable to such obligations.
Article 10.4. DIGITAL PRODUCTS
1. A Party shall not apply customs duties or other duties, fees or charges on or in connection with the importation or exportation of digital products by electronic transmission (10-3).
2. Each Party shall determine the customs value of imported carrier media bearing digital products according to the cost or value of the carrier medium alone, without regard to the cost or value of the digital products stored on the carrier medium.
3. (a) Each Party shall accord to the digital products of the other Party (10-4)treatment no less favourable than it accords to its own like digital products (10-5) in respect of all measures (10-6) affecting the contracting for, commissioning, creation, publication, production, storage, distribution, marketing, sale, purchase, delivery or use of such digital products.
(b) A Party shall accord treatment no less favourable to digital products whose author, performer, producer, developer or distributor is a person of the other Party than it accords to like digital products whose author, performer, producer, developer or distributor is a person of the first Party.
4 A Party shall not accord treatment less favourable to some digital products on the basis of factors not found in paragraph 3, which have the effect of affording protection to its own digital products and/or which act as a disguised restriction to trade in digital products of the other Party.
Article 10.5. EXCEPTIONS
1. This Chapter is subject to the General and Security exceptions contained in Chapters 2, 6 and 7 and any other relevant exceptions or reservations set forth in other Chapters of this Agreement.
2. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to Government Procurement.
3. This Chapter does not apply to measures affecting broadcasting, as defined by each Party under its domestic law, which may include webcasting, cablecasting and video-on-demand.
Article 10.6. TRANSPARENCY
Each Party shall publish or otherwise make available to the public its laws, regulations and measures of general application which pertain to electronic commerce.
Chapter 11. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CO-OPERATION
Article 11.1. CO-OPERATION
The Parties, recognizing the importance and potential of intellectual property rights and rights in plant varieties, undertake to develop and promote mutually beneficial co-operation between the Parties in this area.
Article 11.2. FORMS OF CO-OPERATION
The forms of the co-operation pursuant to Article 11.1 may include:
(a) joint consideration of the organization of symposia, seminars, workshops and other training programs in Singapore and in India; and
(b) joint consideration of collaboration in projects including the development of programmes, platforms, tools and other infrastructure to promote the effective use and application of intellectual property rights,
together with partners such as the Intellectual Property Training Institute (Nagpur, India) and the I P Academy (Singapore).
Chapter 12. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Article 12.1. CO-OPERATION IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. The Parties, recognising that science and technology, particularly in advanced areas, will contribute to the continued expansion of their respective economies in the medium and long term, shall develop and promote co-operative activities between the Parties (hereinafter referred to in this Chapter as "Co-operative Activities"), for peaceful purposes in the field of science and technology on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.
2. The Parties shall also encourage, where appropriate, other cooperative activities between parties, one or both of whom are entities in their respective territories other than the Parties (hereinafter referred to in this Chapter as "Other Co-operative Activities"), which could inter alia, include other governmental agencies, academies of science, research institutes, enterprises, institutions of higher education and scientific societies.
3. The provisions of this Chapter shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of the Agreement on Cooperation in Science & Technology between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of the Republic of Singapore signed on 4th January 1995 ("the 1995 Agreement"), provided however that in the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Chapter and the provisions of the 1995 Agreement, the provisions of this Chapter shall prevail.
Article 12.2. AREAS AND FORMS OF CO-OPERATIVE ACTIVITIES
1. The areas of the co-operation pursuant to Article 12.1 may include research, design and development in:
(a) marine biotechnology;
(b) agricultural biotechnology;
(c) space research;
(d) advanced materials;
(e) information technology; and
(f) other areas agreed through mutual consultation.
2. The forms of the co-operation under paragraph 1 may include:
(a) exchange of information and data;
(b) joint seminars, workshops and meetings;
(c) visits and exchange of scientists, technical personnel or other experts, including through participation in science and technology conferences and seminars;
(d) implementation of joint projects and programmes; and
(e) commercialisation of technologies in both countries or any third country including participation in joint ventures.
Article 12.3. PROTECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND OTHER RIGHTS OF a PROPRIETARY NATURE
1. Scientific and technological information of a non-proprietary nature arising from Co-operative Activities may be made available to the public by the government of either Party.
2. In accordance with the applicable laws and regulations of the Parties and with relevant international agreements to which the Parties are, or may become parties, the Parties shall ensure the adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or other rights of a proprietary nature resulting from the Cooperative Activities undertaken pursuant to this Chapter.
3. The Parties will agree on how the rights to the results of Co-operative Activities are to be distributed on the basis of mutually agreed terms, taking into account the contribution of each Party, both to the previous and resultant intellectual property. The Parties shall consult for this purpose as necessary.
Article 12.4. COSTS OF CO-OPERATIVE ACTIVITIES
1. Costs of Co-operative Activities shall be borne in such manner as may be mutually agreed.
2. The implementation of this Chapter shall be subject to the availability of appropriate funds and the applicable laws and regulations of each Party.
Article 12.5. IMPLEMENTING ARRANGEMENTS
Implementing arrangements setting forth the details and procedures of Co-operative Activities under this Chapter may be made between the government agencies of the Parties who are responsible for various areas of collaboration.
Chapter 13. EDUCATION
Article 13.1. CO-OPERATION
The Parties, recognising the importance of education on sustainable economic growth, human resource, and social development, shall develop and promote mutually beneficial co-operation between the Parties, in the field of education.
Article 13.2. AREAS AND FORMS OF CO-OPERATION
1. The Parties shall encourage close co-operation between their educational institutions.
2. Both countries shall facilitate collaborations between the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and/or Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and the universities in Singapore, such as proposed collaboration between IfT Mumbai and the National University of Singapore, and IT Chennai and the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, to offer post-graduate research and education, with industrial linkages to, multi- national and local companies based in India and Singapore.
3. The degrees specified by the University Grants Commission of India and awarded by an approved university or an institute deemed to be a university under the University Grants Commission (UGC) or an Institution of National Importance of India and similarly, degrees awarded by the universities in Singapore shall be recognised for the purposes of qualifying the holder to be considered for admission to the universities of both countries. This does not exempt the holder of a degree from India or Singapore from complying with other admission conditions or requirements as may be imposed by the educational institutes in India or Singapore respectively.
Article 13.3. JOINT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
1. For the purposes of effective implementation of this Chapter, a Joint Committee on Education (hereinafter referred to in this Article as "the Education Joint Committee") shall be established. The functions of the Education Joint Committee shall be:
(a) overseeing and reviewing the co-operation and implementation of this Chapter;
(b) providing advice to the Parties with regard to the implementation of this Chapter, which may include identification and recommendation of areas of co-operation and encouragement of their implementation; and
(c) any other areas of cooperation in education which may be mutually agreed upon.
2. The Education Joint Committee shall comprise:
(a) senior officials from the Ministry of Human Resource Development of India, and the Economic Development Board of Singapore, as co-chairs; and
(b) such other members as may be appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development of India and the Economic Development Board of Singapore.
3. Each Party may invite representatives of its relevant entities including those from the private sector, with the necessary expertise relevant to the issues to be discussed, to participate in the Education Joint Committee.
4. The Education Joint Committee shall hold its inaugural meeting within 12 months after this Agreement comes into force. Subsequent meetings of the Education Joint Committee shall be held alternately in India and Singapore and at such frequency as the Parties may agree on.
Chapter 14. MEDIA
Article 14.1. CO-OPERATION
The Parties, recognising both the potential of the media, such as print, film and broadcasting, as a means for promoting understanding between the Parties and the rapid development of innovative media services, shall promote co-operation in this area between the Parties.
Article 14.2. EXCHANGE OF VIEWS BETWEEN REGULATORY AUTHORITIES
The Parties, recognising that mutual understanding of the media services in the respective Parties will enhance the ability of competent authorities of the Parties to work together, and that strengthening the relationship between their respective regulatory authorities will enable the Parties to better cope with the emergence of new media services, shall exchange views and information on issues relating to the media sector, which may include:
(a) policy and regulatory framework for emerging media services and other issues concerning the media industry;
(b) approach to regulation of content;
(c) mechanism for promoting private sector activities; and
(d) encouraging co-operation between their respective industries.
Article 14.3. FRAMEWORK FOR CO-OPERATION
A detailed framework for media co-operation is annexed to this Chapter as Annex 14A.
Chapter 15. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
Article 15.1. SCOPE AND COVERAGE
1. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties elsewhere in this Agreement, the provisions of this Chapter shall apply with respect to the avoidance or settlement of disputes between the Parties concerning their rights and obligations under this Agreement.
2. The rules and procedures set out in this Chapter may be waived, varied or modified by mutual agreement.
3. The provisions of this Chapter may be invoked in respect of measures affecting the observance of this Agreement taken by regional or local governments or authorities within the territory of a Party. When an arbitral tribunal has ruled that a provision of this Agreement has not been observed, the responsible Party shall take such measures as may be required to ensure its observance within its territory.
4. Arbitral tribunals shall interpret the provisions of this Agreement in accordance with customary rules of interpretation of public international law.
Article 15.2. DEFINITION
For the purposes of this Chapter, the term "award" shall, unless the context otherwise requires, mean findings, recommendations and/or rulings, as the case may be, and shall exclude payment of monetary compensation by the Party concerned.