5. The Sub-Committee shall hold meetings at such times and venues or by means, as may be decided by the Parties.
Article 16.3. Liaison Office
1. Each Party shall designate and maintain the Liaison Office for the purposes of this Chapter.
2. The functions of the Liaison Office designated by each Party shall be:
(a) receiving complaints and inquiries from the juridical persons of the other Party with respect to the laws, regulations and other measures of the former Party which may adversely affect the business activities of the juridical persons;
(b) transmitting the complaints and inquiries referred to in subparagraph (a) to the relevant authorities of the former Party;
(c) seeking responses from the relevant authorities of the former Party referred to in subparagraph (b) within a reasonable period of time, if appropriate, in writing with sufficient explanations, reasons and legal basis, if any;
(d) transmitting the responses referred to in subparagraph (c) to the juridical persons referred to in subparagraph (a);
(e) providing the juridical persons referred to in subparagraph (a) with necessary information and advice in collaboration with the relevant authorities of the former Party; and
(f) reporting the findings to the Sub-Committee.
3. Each Party may designate an entity located in the other Party that will facilitate the communications between the Liaison Office of the other Party and the juridical persons of the former Party.
4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not be construed to prevent or restrict any contacts made by the juridical persons of a Party directly to the relevant authorities of the other Party.
Article 16.4. Non-Application of Chapter 21
Chapter 21 shall not apply to this Chapter.
Chapter 17. Labor
Article 17.1. Right to Regulate and Levels of Protection
1. Recognizing the right of each Party to determine its sustainable development policies and national economic priorities, to establish its own levels of domestic labor protection, and to adopt or modify accordingly its relevant laws and regulations, consistently with its commitments to the Conventions and Protocols of the International Labour Organization (hereinafter referred to as “ILO”), including the fundamental ILO Conventions, to which the Party is a party, each Party shall strive to ensure that its laws, regulations and related policies provide high levels of labor protection and shall strive to continue to improve those laws and regulations and their underlying levels of protection.
2. The Parties shall not encourage trade or investment by relaxing or lowering the levels of protection provided by their respective labor laws and regulations. To that effect, the Parties shall strive not to waive or otherwise derogate from those laws and regulations.
3. The Parties acknowledge that their respective labor laws and regulations should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, or a disguised restriction on trade or investment.
Article 17.2. Statement of Shared Commitments
1. The Parties recognize full and productive employment and decent work for all, as one of key elements to respond to economic, labor and social challenges. The Parties further recognize the importance of promoting the development of international trade in a way that is conducive to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all. In this context, the Parties shall exchange views and information on labor issues of mutual interest in the meetings of the Sub-Committee on Labor established pursuant to Article 17.4.
2. The Parties reaffirm their respective commitments with regard to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up (1998), as amended in 2022. Accordingly, the Parties shall respect, promote and realize in their respective laws, regulations and practices, the internationally recognized principles concerning the fundamental rights at work, which are:
(a) the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
(b) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor;
(c) the effective abolition of child labor;
(d) the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation; and
(e) a safe and healthy working environment.
3. Each Party reaffirms its commitments to effectively implement, in its laws, regulations and practices, the ILO Conventions it has ratified.
4. The Parties recognize that the violation of the internationally recognized principles concerning the fundamental rights at work referred to in paragraph 2 cannot be invoked or otherwise used as a legitimate comparative advantage, and that labor standards should not be used for protectionist trade purposes.
Article 17.3. Forced and Compulsory Labor
Recognizing the goal of eliminating all forms of forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory child labor, the Parties reaffirm their commitments to respect, promote and realize the principles of the fundamental ILO Conventions on forced and compulsory labor to which the Parties are parties.
Article 17.4. Sub-Committee on Labor
1. For the purpose of the effective implementation and operation of this Chapter, the Parties hereby establish a Sub-Committee on Labor (hereinafter referred to in this Article as “the Sub-Committee”).
2. The functions of the Sub-Committee shall be:
(a) reviewing and monitoring the implementation and operation of this Chapter and, when necessary, making appropriate recommendations to the Joint Committee;
(b) considering any other matter related to this Chapter as the Parties may decide;
(c) carrying out other functions as may be delegated by the Joint Committee;
(d) seeking solutions to resolve differences between the Parties as to the interpretation or application of this Chapter; and
(e) facilitating public awareness of the implementation of this Chapter in a mutually determined manner.
3. The Sub-Committee shall hold meetings at such times and venues or by means, as may be decided by the Parties.
Article 17.5. Contact Points
Each Party shall, upon entry into force of this Agreement, designate a contact point to facilitate communications between the Parties on any matter relating to this Chapter and notify the other Party of the contact details including information regarding the relevant officials. The Parties shall promptly notify each other of any change of those contact details.
Article 17.6. Non-Application of Chapter 21
Chapter 21 shall not apply to this Chapter.
Chapter 18. Environment
Article 18.1. Right to Regulate and Levels of Protection
1. Recognizing the right of each Party to determine its sustainable development policies and priorities, to establish its own levels of domestic environmental protection, and to adopt or modify accordingly its relevant laws and regulations, consistently with its commitments to the internationally recognized standards and international agreements to which the Party is a party, each Party shall strive to ensure that its laws, regulations and related policies provide adequate levels of environmental protection and shall strive to seek to improve those laws and regulations and their underlying levels of protection.
2. The Parties shall not encourage trade or investment by relaxing or lowering the levels of protection provided by their respective environmental laws and regulations. To that effect, the Parties shall strive not to waive or otherwise derogate from those laws and regulations or fail to effectively enforce them.
3. The Parties shall not use their respective environmental laws and regulations in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination against the other Party, or a disguised restriction on trade.
Article 18.2. Statement of Shared Commitments
1. The Parties stress the importance of multilateral environmental agreements, in particular those to which both Parties are parties, as a means of multilateral environmental governance for the international community to address global or regional environmental challenges. The Parties further stress the importance of achieving mutual supportiveness between trade and environment. In this context, the Parties shall exchange views and information on trade-related environmental matters of mutual interest in the meetings of the Sub-Committee on Environment established pursuant to Article 18.5, and as appropriate in other fora.
2. Each Party reaffirms its commitments to effectively implement, in its laws, regulations and practices, the multilateral environmental agreements to which the Party is a party.
3. Each Party shall exchange information with the other Party regarding ratification, acceptance or approval of, or accession to, the multilateral environmental agreements, including their amendments, which each Party considers appropriate to be bound by.
4. The Parties recognize the importance of achieving the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, done at New York on May 9, 1992 (hereinafter referred to as “UNFCCC”), in order to address the urgent threat of climate change, and the role of trade to that end. The Parties reaffirm their commitments to effectively implement the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, done at Paris on December 12, 2015, by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC at its 21st session. The Parties commit to working together to take actions to address climate change towards achieving the ultimate objective of the UNFCCC and the purpose of the Paris Agreement.
5. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining measures to implement the multilateral environmental agreements to which the Party is a party, provided that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination against the other Party, or a disguised restriction on trade.
Article 18.3. Transparency
Each Party shall ensure that any measure of general application pursuing the objectives of this Chapter is administered in a transparent manner, in accordance with its laws and regulations and the provisions of Chapter 19, including by providing the public with reasonable opportunities and sufficient time to comment as may be applicable, and by publishing such measures.
Article 18.4. Cooperation
Recognizing the importance of cooperation on trade-related and investment-related aspects of environmental policies in order to achieve the objectives of this Agreement, the Parties may inter alia:
(a) cooperate at bilateral or multilateral level in the fields of environmental protection including through appropriate international organizations or bodies in which both Parties participate;
(b) cooperate on evaluating the mutual impact between trade and environment as well as on identifying ways to enhance, prevent or mitigate such impact, taking into account the results of the monitoring and assessment carried out by the Parties;
(c) cooperate to facilitate and promote trade and investment in environmental goods and services, in a manner consistent with this Agreement, including through the exchange of information;
(d) cooperate on labelling schemes, including through the exchange of information on eco-labels;
(e) cooperate to promote corporate social responsibility on environmental issues;
(f) cooperate to benefit from the establishment of predictable, fair and competitive markets that respect the environment;
(g) cooperate on trade and investment-related aspects of multilateral environmental agreements, including through the exchange of views and information on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, done at Washington on March 3, 1973, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, done at Rio de Janeiro on June 5, 1992 and its protocols, and through technical and customs cooperation;
(h) cooperate on trade-related aspects of the international climate change regime, including on means to promote low-carbon technologies, other climate-resilient and climate-friendly technologies and energy efficiency;
(i) cooperate to promote the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, to protect and restore terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems, as well as to combat illegal trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora;
(j) cooperate to promote the conservation and sustainable management of forests and trade in legally harvested timber, timber and non-timber products, as well as to combat illegal logging;
(k) cooperate, bilaterally or through appropriate international organizations or bodies in which both Parties participate, to promote sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices and trade in legally obtained fisheries resources, as well as to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;
(l) cooperate, bilaterally or through appropriate international organizations or bodies in which both Parties participate, to protect human health and the environment by controlling the transboundary movement of hazardous waste and their disposal;
(m) cooperate to promote efficient and sustainable production, use and recycling of resources as part of more circular economies to help reduce the need to create new sources of goods while respecting each Party’s domestic laws, regulations and policies; and
(n) cooperate to promote, where needed, technological innovation, improved standards, compliance, sustainability, capacity building and technology transfer in the fields of environmental protection of the other Party.
Article 18.5. Sub-Committee on Environment
1. For the purpose of the effective implementation and operation of this Chapter, the Parties hereby establish a Sub-Committee on Environment (hereinafter referred to in this Article as “the Sub-Committee”).
2. The functions of the Sub-Committee shall be:
(a) reviewing and monitoring the implementation and operation of this Chapter and, when necessary, making appropriate recommendations to the Joint Committee;
(b) considering any other matter related to this Chapter as the Parties may decide;
(c) carrying out other functions as may be delegated by the Joint Committee; and
(d) seeking solutions to resolve differences between the Parties as to the interpretation or application of this Chapter.
3. The Sub-Committee shall hold meetings at such times and venues or by means, as may be decided by the Parties.
4. The Sub-Committee will pursue coherence and cooperation between its work and the activities of relevant multilateral environmental organizations or bodies.
Article 18.6. Contact Points
Each Party shall, upon entry into force of this Agreement, designate a contact point to facilitate communications between the Parties on any matter relating to this Chapter and notify the other Party of the contact details including information regarding the relevant officials. The Parties shall promptly notify each other of any change of those contact details.
Article 18.7. Non-Application of Chapter 21
Chapter 21 shall not apply to this Chapter.
Chapter 19. Transparency
Article 19.1. Publication
1. Each Party shall promptly publish, or otherwise make publicly available, including on the Internet where feasible, its laws, regulations, procedures, administrative rulings in accordance with its laws and regulations and judicial decisions of general application as well as international agreements to which the Party is a party, with respect to any matter covered by this Agreement.
2. To the extent possible, each Party shall publish, or otherwise make readily available any such laws, regulations, procedures and administrative rulings of general application in accordance with its laws and regulations with respect to any matter covered by this Agreement that it proposes to adopt.
3. Each Party shall, in accordance with its laws and regulations and to the extent possible, maintain public comment procedures concerning any such laws, regulations, procedures and administrative rulings of general application with respect to any matter covered by this Agreement that it proposes to adopt.
Article 19.2. Enquiries
1. Each Party shall make easily available to the public the names and addresses of the competent authorities responsible for laws, regulations, procedures and administrative rulings referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 19.1.
2. Each Party shall, on request of the other Party, within a reasonable period of time, respond to specific questions from, and provide information to, that other Party with respect to matters referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 19.1, in the English language.
Article 19.3. Administrative Proceedings
1. Upon receiving an application submitted by a person who seeks an administrative decision which pertains to or affects the implementation and operation of this Agreement, the competent authorities of a Party shall, in accordance with the laws and regulations of that Party:
(a) inform the applicant of the decision within a reasonable period of time after the submission of the application considered complete in accordance with the laws and regulations of that Party, taking into account the established standard period of time referred to in paragraph 3; and
(b) provide, within a reasonable period of time, information concerning the status of the application, on request of the applicant.
2. The competent authorities of a Party shall, in accordance with the laws and regulations of that Party, establish criteria for reviewing the application referred to in paragraph 1. The competent authorities shall make such criteria:
(a) as specific as possible; and
(b) publicly available except when it would extraordinarily raise administrative difficulties for that Party.
3. For the purpose of reviewing the applications referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities of a Party shall, in accordance with the laws and regulations of that Party:
(a) endeavor to establish standard periods of time between the receipt of the applications and the administrative decisions taken in response to the applications; and
(b) make publicly available such periods of time, if established.
4. The competent authorities of a Party shall, in accordance with the laws and regulations of that Party, prior to any final decision which imposes obligations on or restricts legal rights of a person, provide that person with:
(a) a reasonable notice, including a description of the nature of the measure, specific provisions upon which such measure will be based, and the facts which may be a cause of taking such measure; and
(b) a reasonable opportunity to present facts and arguments in support of position of such person,
provided that time, nature of the measure and public interest permit.
Article 19.4. Review and Appeal
1. Each Party shall maintain administrative or judicial tribunals or procedures for the purpose of prompt review and, where warranted, correction of administrative actions regarding matters covered by this Agreement. Such tribunals or procedures shall be impartial and independent of the authorities entrusted with the administrative enforcement of such actions.
2. Each Party shall ensure that the parties in any such tribunals or procedures are provided with the right to:
(a) a reasonable opportunity to support or defend their respective positions; and
(b) a decision based on the evidence and submissions of record.
3. Each Party shall ensure, subject to appeal or further review as provided in its laws and regulations, that such decision is implemented by the relevant authorities with respect to the administrative action at issue.
Article 19.5. Measures Against Corruption
1. Each Party reaffirms its rights and obligations under international agreements to which both Parties are parties, including the United Nations Convention against Corruption, done at New York on October 31, 2003.
2. Each Party shall adopt or maintain legislative and other measures in accordance with its laws and regulations as may be necessary to prevent, combat and eradicate corruption of its public officials regarding matters covered by this Agreement.
3. Each Party shall take appropriate measures, within its means and in accordance with fundamental principles of its legal system, to promote the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as enterprises, civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, in preventing, combatting and eradicating corruption in matters affecting international trade or investment, and to raise public awareness regarding the existence, causes and gravity of corruption, and the threat posed by it. To this end, a Party may, for example:
(a) enhance the transparency of and promote the contribution of the public to decision-making processes;
(b) ensure that the public has effective access to information;
(c) undertake public information activities that contribute to non-tolerance of corruption, as well as public education programs, including school and university curricula; and
(d) respect, promote and protect the freedom to seek, receive, publish and disseminate information concerning corruption. That freedom may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided for by law and are necessary:
(i) for respect of the rights or reputations of others; or
(ii) for the protection of national security or ordre public or of public health or morals.
Chapter 20. Cooperation
Article 20.1. Basic Principles
1. The Parties shall, in accordance with their respective laws and regulations, promote cooperation under this Agreement for their mutual benefit, in order to further liberalize trade and investment between the Parties and to promote sustainable development of the Parties. For this purpose, the Parties shall enhance further cooperation between their Governments, and encourage and facilitate mutual cooperation between relevant entities of the Parties, one or both of whom are entities other than the Governments of the Parties, in the following fields:
(a) trade and investment;
(b) infrastructure, construction and urban development;
(c) human resource development;
(d) supply chain;
(e) environment;
(f) intellectual property;
(g) labor;
(h) women’s economic empowerment;
(i) transparency;
(j) agriculture, forestry and fisheries, including Halal foods;
(k) manufacturing industry and textile industry;
(l) small and medium enterprises;
(m) science and technology;
(n) financial services;
(o) education;
(p) tourism;
(q) mining, energy and renewable energy;
(r) healthcare;
(s) competition;
(t) information and communications technology;
(u) electronic commerce;
(v) entertainment;
(w) skills development;