6. Each Party shall allow a period of at least 60 days from the date of such notification in paragraph 1 of this article, for the other Party to provide written comments on drafts and amendments to technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, except where they threaten or present urgent problems. Each Party shall give positive consideration to reasonable requests from the other Party for an extension of the comment period.
7. Subject to the conditions specified in Article 2.12 of the TBT Agreement on the reasonable interval between the publication of technical regulations and their entry into force, the Parties shall understand the term "reasonable interval" to mean normally a period of not less than six months, except where it is impracticable to fulfil the legitimate objectives pursued.
Article 6.9. Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
1. The Parties hereby establish a Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (hereinafter referred to as the "Committee"), which shall be composed of
(a) In the case of Chile, by representatives of the General Directorate of International Economic Relations, or its successor, and
(b) In the case of Uruguay, by representatives of the Interministerial Commission for Technical Barriers to Trade Issues, or its successor.
2. The functions of the Committee shall include:
(a) Monitor the implementation and administration of this Chapter;
(b) Promptly address matters that a Party proposes to address with respect to the development, adoption, application, or enforcement of standards, technical regulations, or conformity assessment procedures
(c) Increase cooperation in the development and improvement of standards, technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures;
(d) As appropriate, facilitate sectoral cooperation between governmental and non-governmental entities on standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures in the territories of the Parties, as well as facilitate the process of adopting recognition agreements and the equivalence of technical regulations;
(e) Exchange information about the work being done in non-governmental, regional, multilateral forums and cooperation programs involved in activities related to standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures;
(f) To review the present Chapter in the light of the developments within the Committee from Technical Obstacles to Trade of the WTO and to develop recommendations to amend this Chapter if necessary;
(g) Report to the Commission on the implementation of this Chapter;
(h) Establish, if necessary for particular issues or sectors, working groups for the treatment of specific matters related to this Chapter and the TBT Agreement;
(i) To respond, at the request of a Party, to technical consultations on any matter arising under this Chapter;
(j) Establish working groups to address issues of interest in regulatory cooperation, and
(k) Take any other action that the Parties believe will assist them in implementing this Chapter and the TBT Agreement, and in facilitating trade in goods between the Parties
3. Upon request, the Committee shall give favorable consideration to any sector-specific proposal that a Party makes for deepening cooperation under this Chapter.
4. The Committee shall meet at the locations, times and as many times as necessary at the request of the Parties. The meetings will be held in person, via teleconference, videoconference or by any other means, agreed by the Parties.
Article 6.10. Exchange of Information
Any information or explanation requested by a Party under the provisions of this Chapter shall be provided by the other Party in printed or electronic form within 60 days of the request. The Party shall endeavor to respond to each request within 30 days of its submission.
Article 6.11. Implementation Annexes
The Parties may negotiate annexes to deepen the disciplines of this Chapter, which shall be an integral part of it. These annexes shall be approved by the Commission.
Article 6.12. Technical Consultations
1. Each Party shall promptly and positively consider any request by the other Party for consultations on specific trade concerns related to the implementation of this Chapter.
2. Each Party shall ensure the participation, as appropriate, of representatives of its competent government regulatory authorities, within the scope of this Chapter.
3. Where both Parties have resorted to consultations pursuant to paragraph 1, such consultations may, by mutual agreement, constitute the consultations referred to in Article 18.4 (Consultations).
Chapter 7. CROSS-BORDER TRADE IN SERVICES
Article 7.1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
Investment Agreement means the Investment Agreement between the Republic of Chile and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, of March 25, 2010;
cross-border trade in services or cross-border supply of services means the provision of a service:
(a) From the territory of one Party to the territory of the other Party;
(b) In the territory of a Party, by a person of that Party, to a person of the other Party, or
(c) By a national of one Party in the territory of the other Party;
but does not include the supply of a service in the territory of a Party for a covered investment as defined in Article 1 of the Investment Agreement;
enterprise of a Party means any entity constituted or organized under the laws and regulations of that Party, owned or controlled by a person of that Party, whether for profit or not, whether privately or governmentally owned, including any corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture, association, organization or company, and a branch office located in the territory of that Party and doing business in that territory;
measures adopted or maintained by a Party means measures adopted or maintained by
(a) Governments or authorities at the central or local level of a Party, or
(b) Non-governmental bodies in the exercise of powers delegated by governments or authorities at the central or local level of a Party
natural person of a Party means a national of a Party under its law, and who resides in the territory of that Party
service provider of a Party means a person of a Party who intends to provide or is providing a service;
specialized air services means any air service other than freight or passenger transportation, such as aerial fire fighting, flight training, scenic flights, spraying, surveying, mapping, photography, parachuting, glider towing, helicopter services for logging or construction, and other air services related to agriculture, industry and inspection;
ground handling services means the provision of services at an airport, on a commission basis or contract, for the following services: representation, administration and supervision of airlines; passenger assistance; baggage handling; ramp services; catering, with the exception of food preparation; cargo and mail handling; aircraft refueling; aircraft cleaning and servicing; surface transportation; and flight operations, crew administration and flight planning. Ground handling services do not include: self- handling; security; line maintenance; aircraft repair and maintenance; or the management or operation of essential centralized airport infrastructure such as de-icing facilities, fuel distribution systems, baggage handling systems, and fixed intra-airport transportation systems;
Airport operation services means the provision of air terminal, runway or other airport infrastructure operation services, whether on a commission or contract basis. Airport operation services do not include air navigation services;
Computerized reservation system services means services provided by computerized systems containing information about air carriers' schedules, available seats, fares and pricing rules, through which reservations may be made or tickets issued;
services provided in the exercise of governmental authority means any service that is not provided on a commercial basis or in competition with one or more service providers, and
Sale and marketing of air transport services means the opportunities for the air carrier interested in freely selling and marketing its air transport services, including all aspects of marketing, such as market research, advertising and distribution. These activities do not include pricing of air transport services or applicable conditions.
Article 7.2. Scope
1. This Chapter shall apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party affecting cross-border trade in services supplied by service suppliers of the other Party. Such measures include measures affecting
(a) The production, distribution, marketing, sale or supply of a service;
(b) The purchase or use of, or payment for, a service;
(c) The access to and use of services that are offered to the general public by a Party's prescription in connection with the provision of a service;
(d) The presence in the Party's territory of a service provider of the other Party, and
(e) The provision of a bond or other form of financial security, as a condition for the provision of a service.
2. In addition to paragraph 1, Articles 7.5 and 7.8 shall also apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party affecting the supply of a service in its territory by a service supplier of the other Party through commercial presence.
3. This Chapter shall not apply to:
(a) Financial services, as defined in Article XII of the 53rd Additional Protocol to the ACE No. 35
(b) Public procurement, which will be governed by the Agreement on Public Procurement between the Republic of Chile and the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, of January 22, 2009 (1) ;
(c) Services provided in the exercise of government authority;
(d) Subsidies or grants made by a Party or a state enterprise, including government-supported loans, guarantees, and insurance
(e) Telecommunications services.
4. This Chapter shall not apply to air services, including domestic and international air transport services, whether scheduled or non-scheduled, and related services in support of air services, except as follows:
(a) Aircraft repair and maintenance services while the aircraft is out of service, excluding so-called line maintenance;
(b) Sale and marketing of air transport services;
(c) Computerized reservation system services;
(d) Specialized air services;
(e) Airport operation services, and
(f) Ground handling services.
5. The Parties recognize the importance of air services in facilitating the expansion of trade, strengthening economic growth, and benefiting consumers. Accordingly, and without prejudice to paragraph 4, the Parties shall work, in appropriate fora, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, towards a liberal multilateral air services agreement.
6. In the event of any inconsistency between this Chapter and a bilateral, plurilateral or multilateral air services agreement to which both Parties are party, the air services agreement shall prevail in determining the rights and obligations of the Parties.
7. If the GATS Annex on Air Transport Services is amended, the Parties shall jointly review any of the new definitions, with a view to aligning the definitions in this Agreement with those definitions, where appropriate.
8. This Chapter does not impose any obligation on a Party with respect to a national of the other Party seeking to enter its labor market or who is permanently employed in its territory, nor does it confer any right on that national with respect to such access or employment.
9. For greater certainty, nothing in this Chapter is subject to investor-state dispute resolution under the Investment Agreement.
Article 7.3. National Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord to the services and service suppliers of the other Party treatment no less favorable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to its own services and service suppliers.
2. For greater certainty, whether treatment is granted in "like circumstances" under paragraph 1 depends on the totality of the circumstances, including whether the relevant treatment distinguishes between services and service providers on the basis of legitimate public welfare objectives.
Article 7.4. Most-Favored- Nation Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord to services and service suppliers of the other Party treatment no less favorable than that it accords, in like circumstances, to services and service suppliers of any non-Party.
2. For greater certainty, whether treatment is granted in "like circumstances" under paragraph 1 depends on the totality of the circumstances, including whether the relevant treatment distinguishes between services and service providers on the basis of legitimate public welfare objectives.
Article 7.5. Market Access
No Party shall adopt or maintain, either on the basis of a regional subdivision or on the basis of its entire territory, measures that
(a) Impose limitations on the:
(i) number of service providers, either in the form of numerical quotas, monopolies, exclusive service providers or by requiring an economic needs test;
(ii) total value of transactions of services or assets in the form of numerical quotas or by requiring an economic needs test
(iii) total number of service operations or the total quantity of service output, expressed in terms of numerical units designated in the form of quotas or by the requirement of an economic needs test, (2) or
(iv) the total number of natural persons who may be employed in a particular service sector or who may be employed by a service supplier and who are necessary for, and directly related to, the supply of a specific service in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test, or
(b) Restrict or prescribe the specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which a service provider may provide a service.
Article 7.6. Local Presence
Neither Party shall require a service supplier of the other Party to establish or maintain a representative office or any form of enterprise, or to be resident in its territory, as a condition for the cross-border supply of a service.
Article 7.7. Non-conforming Measures
1. Articles 7.3, 7.4, 7.5 and 7.6 shall not apply to:
(a) Any existing non-conforming measure that is maintained by a Party:
(i) at the central level of government, as set out by that Party in its Schedule to Annex J, or
(ii) at the local level of government;
(b) The continuation or prompt renewal of any nonconforming action referred to in subparagraph (a), or
(c) The modification of any non-conforming measure referred to in subparagraph (a), to the extent that such modification does not decrease the conformity of the measure, as it was in effect immediately before the modification, with Articles 7.3, 7.4, 7.5 or 7.6.
2. Articles 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, and 7.6 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 II.
Article 7.8. National Regulations
1. Each Party shall ensure that all measures of general application affecting trade in services are administered in a reasonable, objective, and impartial manner.
2. With a view to ensuring that measures relating to qualification requirements and procedures, technical standards, and licensing requirements do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade in services, and recognizing the right to regulate and introduce new regulations on the supply of services to satisfy its policy objectives, each Party shall ensure that any such measures it adopts or maintains:
(a) Are based on objective and transparent criteria, such as competence and ability to provide the service;
(b) Are not more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of services, and
(c) In the case of licensing procedures, they do not in themselves constitute a restriction on the provision of the service.
3. Where a Party maintains measures relating to qualification requirements and procedures, technical standards, and licensing requirements:
(a) You must ensure that it is made available to the public:
(i) information about requirements and procedures for obtaining, renewing, or retaining a license or professional title, and
(ii) information on technical standards;
(b) It will seek, when some type of authorization is required to provide the service:
(i) within a reasonable period of time after the submission of an application that is deemed complete in accordance with national laws and regulations, a decision is made whether or not to grant the relevant authorization;
(ii) the applicant is informed, without undue delay, of the decision as to whether or not the relevant authorization was granted;
(iii) at the request of such applicant, information concerning the status of the application is provided without undue delay, and
(iv) Whenever possible, upon written request by the applicant for an unapproved application, the reasons for not granting the relevant authorization are provided in writing.
(c) It shall endeavour to establish appropriate procedures to verify the competence of the other Party's professionals;
(d) It will seek, in professional services and in other service sectors that are relevant, to consider and, where feasible, take the necessary measures to implement temporary registration or licensing regimes for specific projects, based on the licenses or recognitions for foreign suppliers established by national professional bodies (without the need for additional oral or written examinations), in order to facilitate temporary access to service suppliers to provide the service in relation to specific projects or for limited periods, in circumstances where specific technical knowledge is required. This temporary or limited licensing regime should not operate to prevent foreign suppliers from subsequently obtaining local licenses by meeting the necessary local licensing requirements;
(e) It shall seek, in each sector in which passing an examination is required as a prerequisite to providing a service in the territory of the Party:
(i) in the event that the testing process is administered by government authorities, take reasonable steps to schedule testing at reasonable intervals, or
(ii) in the event that the testing process is administered only by non- governmental bodies or professional associations, make every effort to encourage such bodies or associations to schedule testing at reasonable intervals, and
in each case, the Party shall ensure that such examinations are open to applicants from the other Party, and to the extent possible, use electronic means to conduct such examinations or conduct the examinations orally and provide the opportunity to take such examinations in the territory of the other Party.
4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply to non-conforming aspects of the measures that are not subject to the obligations under Article 7.3 or Article 7.5 by reason of an entry in a Party's Schedule in Annex I, or measures that are not subject to obligations under Article 7.3 or Article 7.5 by reason of an entry in a Party's Schedule in Annex II.
1 For purposes of compliance, in whole or in part, with its standards or criteria for the authorization, licensing, or certification of a Party's service suppliers, and subject to the requirements of paragraph 4, a Party may recognize education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in the territory of the other Party or a non-Party. Such recognition, which may be effected through harmonization or otherwise, may be based on an agreement or arrangement with the Party or non-Party in question or may be granted autonomously.
2, If a Party recognizes, autonomously or through an agreement or arrangement, education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in the territory of a non-Party, nothing in Article 7.4 shall be construed to require the Party to give such recognition to education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses or certifications granted in the territory of the other Party.
3. A Party that is a party to an agreement or arrangement of the type referred to in paragraph 1, whether existing or future, shall provide adequate opportunity to the other Party, upon request, to negotiate its accession to such agreement or arrangement or to negotiate a comparable agreement or arrangement. If a Party grants recognition autonomously, it shall provide the other Party adequate opportunity to demonstrate that the education, experience, licenses or certifications obtained or requirements met in the territory of that other Party should be recognized.
4 A Party shall not provide recognition in a manner that would constitute a means of discrimination between countries in the application of its standards or criteria for the authorization, licensing, or certification of service suppliers, or a disguised restriction on trade in services.
Article 7.10. Denial of Benefits
Subject to notice and consultation, a Party may deny the benefits of this Chapter to a service provider of the other Party, if the service provider is an enterprise:
(a) Owned or controlled by persons from a non-Party or denying Party, and
(b) It does not have substantial business operations in the territory of the other Party.
Article 7.11. Transparency
1. Each Party shall publish, as soon as possible and no later than the date of its entry into force, all relevant measures of general application that relate to or affect the operation of this Chapter. Each Party shall also publish the international agreements it enters into with any country that relate to or affect trade in services.
2. Each Party shall, to the extent practicable, promptly inform the Commission of the adoption of new, or changes to existing, laws, regulations, or administrative guidelines that it considers will significantly affect trade in services covered by commitments under this Chapter.
3. Each Party shall respond, as soon as possible, to all requests for specific information from the other Party concerning any of its measures of general application referred to in paragraph 1. In addition, and in accordance with its domestic law, each Party shall, through its competent authorities, provide, to the extent possible, information on matters subject to notification under paragraph 2 to service providers of the other Party that request it.
4. Paragraph 3 shall not be construed to require a Party to disclose confidential information, the disclosure of which would impede law enforcement or otherwise be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice privacy or legitimate business interests.
5. Nothing in Section B: Transparency of Chapter 16 (Transparency and Anti- Corruption) applies to this Chapter.
Article 7.12. Payments and Transfers (3) (4)
1. Each Party shall permit all transfers and payments related to the cross-border supply of services to be made freely and without delay to and from its territory.
2. Each Party shall permit all transfers and payments related to the cross-border supply of services to be made in a freely circulating currency at the market rate of exchange prevailing on the date of transfer.
3. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2, a Party may prevent or delay the making of a transfer or payment, through the equitable, non-discriminatory, and good faith application of its laws, with respect to
(a) Bankruptcy, insolvency or protection of creditorsâ rights;
(b) Issuance, trading or operation of securities, futures, options or derivatives
(c) Financial reporting or record keeping of transfers when necessary to assist law enforcement or financial regulatory authorities;
(d) Criminal violations, or
(e) Guarantee of compliance with court orders or judgments or administrative procedures.
Annex 7.12. PAYMENTS AND TRANSFERS
CHILE