Title
TRANS-PACIFIC STRATEGIC ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
Preamble
The Governments of Brunei Darussalam, the Republic of Chile, New Zealand and the Republic of Singapore, (hereinafter referred to collectively as the "Parties" or individually as a "Party", unless the context otherwise requires), resolve to:
STRENGTHEN the special links of friendship and cooperation among them;
ENLARGE the framework of relations among the Parties through liberalising trade and investment and encouraging further and deeper cooperation to create a strategic partnership within the Asia - Pacific region;
CONTRIBUTE to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade and provide a catalyst for broader cooperation at international forums;
CREATE an expanded and secure market for the goods and services in their territories;
AVOID distortions in their reciprocal trade;
ESTABLISH clear rules governing their trade;
ENSURE a predictable commercial framework for business planning and investment;
BUILD on their respective rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization and other multilateral and bilateral agreements and arrangements;
AFFIRM their commitment to the Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) goals and principles;
REAFFIRM their commitment to the APEC Principles to Enhance Competition and Regulatory Reform with a view to protecting and promoting the competitive process and the design of regulation that minimises distortions to competition;
BE MINDFUL that economic development, social development and environmental protection are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development and that closer economic partnership can play an important role in promoting sustainable development;
ENHANCE the competitiveness of their firms in global markets;
FOSTER creativity and innovation, and promote the protection intellectual property rights to encourage trade in goods and services among the Parties;
STRENGTHEN their strategic economic partnership to bring economic and social benefits, to create new opportunities for employment and to improve the living standards of their peoples;
UPHOLD the rights of their governments to regulate in order to meet national policy objectives;
PRESERVE their flexibility to safeguard the public welfare;
ENHANCE their cooperation on labour and environmental matters of mutual interest;
PROMOTE common frameworks within the Asia â Pacific region, and affirm their commitment to encourage the accession to this Agreement by other economies;
HAVE AGREED as follows:
Body
Chapter 1. INITIAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.1. Objectives
1. This Agreement establishes a Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership among the Parties, based on common interest and on the deepening of the relationship in all areas of application.
2. This Agreement covers in particular the commercial, economic, financial, scientific, technological and cooperation fields. It may be extended to other areas to be agreed upon by the Parties in order to expand and enhance the benefits of this Agreement.
3. The Parties seek to support the wider liberalisation process in APEC consistent with its goals of free and open trade and investment.
4. The trade objectives of this Agreement, as elaborated more specifically through its principles and rules, including national treatment, most-favoured- nation treatment and transparency, are to:
(a) encourage expansion and diversification of trade among each Party's territory;
(b) eliminate barriers to trade in, and facilitate the cross-border movement of, goods and services among the territories of the Parties;
(c) promote conditions of fair competition in the free trade area;
(d) substantially increase investment opportunities among each Partyâs territory;
(e) provide adequate and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in each Party's territory; and
(f) create an effective mechanism to prevent and resolve trade disputes.
Article 1.2. Establishment of the Free Trade Area
The Parties to this Agreement, consistent with Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which are part of the WTO Agreement, hereby establish a free trade area.
Chapter 2. GENERAL DEFINITIONS
Article 2.1. Definitions of General Application
For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified:
Agreement means the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement;
APEC means the Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation;
Commission means the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Commission established under Article 17.1 (Establishment of the Strategic Economic Partnership Commission); customs administration means the competent authority that is responsible under the laws of a Party for the administration of customs laws, regulations and policies, and
(a) in relation to Brunei Darussalam means the Royal Customs and Excise Department;
(b) in relation to Chile means the National Customs Service of Chile;
(c) in relation to New Zealand means the New Zealand Customs Service; and
(d) in relation to Singapore means the Singapore Customs;
customs duty includes any duty or charges of any kind imposed in connection with the importation of a good, and any surtaxes or surcharges imposed in connection with such importation, but does not include:
(a) charges equivalent to an internal tax imposed consistently with GATT 1994, including excise duties and goods and services tax;
(b) fees or other charges that
(i) are limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered, and
(ii) do not represent a direct or indirect protection for domestic goods or a taxation of imports for fiscal purposes; and
(c) any anti-dumping or countervailing duty applied consistently with the provisions of Article VI of GATT 1994, the WTO Agreement on the Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994, and the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures;
Customs Valuation Agreement means the Agreement on Implementation of Article Vil of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
days means calendar days;
enterprise means any corporation, company, association, partnership, trust, joint venture, sole-proprietorship or other entity constituted or organised under applicable law, regardless of whether or not the entity is organised for profit, privately or otherwise owned, or organised with limited or unlimited liability;
enterprise of a Party means an enterprise constituted or organised under the law of a Party;
existing means in effect on the date of entry into force of this Agreement for a Party;
GATS means the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
GATT 1994 means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
goods of a Party means domestic products as these are understood in GATT 1994 or such goods as the Parties may agree and includes originating goods of a Party;
goods and products shall be understood to have the same meaning unless the context otherwise requires;
Harmonized System (HS) means the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System administered by the World Customs Organisation, including its General Rules of Interpretation, Section Notes and Chapter Notes, as adopted and implemented by the Parties in their respective tariff laws;
heading means the first four digits in the tariff classification under the Harmonized System;
measure includes any law, regulation, procedure, requirement or practice;
national means a natural person who has the nationality of a Party according to Annex 2.A or a permanent resident of a Party;
originating means qualifying under the rules of origin set out in Chapter 4 (Rules of Origin);
person means a natural person or an enterprise;
person of a Party means a national or an enterprise of a Party;
producer means a person who grows, raises, mines, harvests, fishes, captures, gathers, collects, breeds, extracts, hunts, manufactures, processes, assembles or disassembles a good;
preferential tariff treatment means the customs duty rate applicable to an originating good, pursuant to the Parties' respective Tariff Elimination Schedules set out in Annex 1;
Safeguards Agreement means the Agreement on Safeguards, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
subheading means the first six digits in the tariff classification under the Harmonised System;
territory means for a Party the territory of that Party as set out in Annex 2.A; WTO means the World Trade Organisation;
WTO Agreement means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done on April 15, 1994.
Annex 2.A. Country-Specific Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified:
natural person who has the nationality of a Party means:
(a) with respect to Brunei Darussalam, a subject of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan in accordance with the Laws of Brunei;
(b) with respect to Chile, a Chilean as defined in Article 10 of the Constitucién Politica de la Republica de Chile;
(c) with respect to New Zealand, a citizen as defined in the Citizenship Act 1977, as amended from time to time, or any successor legislation; and
(d) with respect to Singapore, any person who is a citizen within the meaning of its Constitution and domestic laws.
territory means:
(a) with respect to Brunei Darussalam, the territory of Brunei Darussalam and the maritime areas adjacent to the coast of Brunei Darussalam to the extent to which Brunei Darussalam may exercise sovereign rights or jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its legislation;
(b) with respect to Chile, the land, maritime, and air space under its sovereignty, and the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within which it exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law;
(c) with respect to New Zealand, the territory of New Zealand and the exclusive economic zone, seabed and subsoil over which it exercises sovereign rights with respect to natural resources in accordance with international law, but does not include Tokelau; and
(d) with respect to Singapore, its land territory, internal waters and territorial sea as well as and any maritime area situated beyond the territorial sea which has been or might in future be designated under its domestic law, in accordance with international law, as an area within which Singapore may exercise sovereign rights or jurisdiction with regard to the sea, seabed, the subsoil and the natural resources.
Chapter 3. TRADE IN GOODS
Article 3.1. Definitions
For the Purposes of this Chapter:
advertising films and recordings means recorded audio/visual (film, tape, or disc), or audio (tape or disc) media designed to advertise or promote goods or services by any company, firm or person, having an established business or resident in the territory of a Party, excluding such media for general public exhibition;
agricultural goods means those goods referred to in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture, which is part of the WTO Agreement;
commercial samples of negligible value means commerical samples having a value, individually or in the aggregate as shipped, of not more than one US dollar, or the equivalent amount in the currency of a Party, or so marked, torn, perforated or otherwise treated that they are unsuitable for sale or for use except as comercial samples;
consular transactions means requirements that goods of a Party intended for export to the territory of the other Party must first be submitted to the supervision of the consul of the importing Party in the territory of the exporting Party for the purpose of obtaining consular invoices or consular visas for commercial invoices, certificates of origin, manifests, shippers' export declarations or any other customs documentation required on or in connection with importation;
duty-free means free of customs duty;
export subsidies shall have the meaning assigned to that term in Article 1(e) of the Agreement on Agriculture, which is part of the WTO Agreement, including any amendment of that article;
goods admitted for sports purposes means articles and equipment for use in sports contests, demonstrations or training in the territory of the Party into whose territory such goods are imported;
goods intended for display or demonstration includes instruments, apparatus and models designed for demonsirational purposes, unsuitable for other purposes, and classified in Harmonized System Tariff heading 90.23;
printed advertising materials means those goods classified in Chapter 49 of the Harmonized System, including brochures, pamphlets, leaflets, trade catalogues, yearbooks published by trade associations, tourist promotional materials and posters, that are used to promote, publicise or advertise a good or serviced, are essentially intended to advertise a good or services, and are supplied free of charge.
Article 3.2. Scope
Except as otherwise provided, this Chapter applies to trade in all goods between any of the Parties.
Article 3.3. National Treatment
Each Party shall accord national treatment to the goods of the other Parties in accordance with Article Ill of GATT 1994. To this end, the provisions of Article III of GATT 1994 are incorporated into and shall form part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 3.4. Elimination of Customs Duties
1. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, no Party may increase any existing customs duty, or adopt any customs duty, on an originating good.
2. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, and subject to a Party's Schedule as set out in Annex I, as at the date of entry into force of this Agreement each Party shall eliminate all customs duties on originating goods of another Party.
3. On the request of any Party, the Parties shall consult to consider accelerating the elimination of customs duties set out in their Schedules. An agreement between two or more of the Parties to accelerate the elimination of a customs duty on a good shall supersede any duty rate or staging category determined pursuant to their Schedules for such good when approved by each Party in accordance with Article 17.2 (Functions of the Commission). Any such acceleration shall be extended to all Parties.
Article 3.5. Goods Re-entered after Repair and Alteration
1. The Parties may not apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, that re-enters its territory after that good has been temporarily exported from its territory to the territory of another Party for repair or alteration, regardless of whether such repair or alteration could be performed in its own territory.
2. The Parties may not apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, admitted temporarily from the territory of another Party for repair or alteration.
3. For the purposes of this Article, repair and alteration does not include an operation or process that:
(a) destroys a good's essential characteristics or creates a new or commercially different good; or
(b) transforms an unfinished good into a finished good.
Article 3.6. Duty-Free Entry of Commercial Samples of Negligible Value and Printed Advertising Material
With the exception of liquor and tobacco products, the Parties shall grant customs duty-free entry to commercial samples of negligible value and to printed advertising materials imported from the territory of another Party, regardless of their origin, but may require that:
(a) such samples be imported solely for the solicitation of orders for goods, or services provided from the territory, of another Party or a non-Party; or
(b) such advertising materials are imported in packets that each contain no more than one copy of each material and that neither such materials nor packets form part of a larger consignment.
Article 3.7. Temporary Admission of Goods
1. With the exception of liquor and tobacco products each Party shall grant customs duty-free temporary admission for:
(a) professional equipment, including equipment for the press or television, software and broadcasting and cinematographic equipment, necessary for carrying out the business activity, trade or profession of a business person;
(b) goods intended for display or demonstration;
(c) commercial samples and advertising films and recordings; and
(d) goods admitted for sports purposes, including racing or others similar events, regardless of their origin.
2. Each Party shall, at the request of the person concerned and for reasons deemed valid by its customs authority, extend the time limit for temporary admission beyond the period initially fixed, provided that the period of extension, having regard to the particular goods and circumstances of each case, is reasonable and the period of extension is no greater than the period initially fixed.
3. No Party may condition the duty-free temporary admission of goods referred to in Paragraph 1, other than to require that such goods:
(a) be used solely by or under the personal supervision of a national or resident of another Party in the exercise of the business activity, trade, profession, or sport of that person;
(b) not be sold or leased or disposed of or transferred while in its territory;
(c) be accompanied by a security in an amount no greater than the charges that would otherwise be owed on entry or final importation, releasable on exportation of the good;
(d) be capable of identification wnen imported and exported;
(e) be exported on the departure of the person referenced in Subparagraph (a), or within such other period, related to the purpose of the temporary admission, as the Party may establish;
(f} be admitted in no greater quantity than is reasonable for their intended use; and
(g) be otherwise admissible into the Party's territory under its laws.
4. If any condition that a Party imposes under Paragraph 3 has not been fulfilled, the Party may apply the customs duty and any other charge that would normally be owed on the good plus any other charges or penalties provided for under its domestic law.
5. Each Party, through its customs authority, shall adopt procedures providing for the expeditious release of goods admitted under this Article. To the extent possible, such procedures shall provide that when such a good accompanies a national or resident of another Party who is seeking temporary entry, the good shall be released simultaneously with the entry of that national or resident.
6. Each Party shall permit a good temporarily admitted under this Article to be exported through a customs authorised point of departure other than that through which it was admitted.
7. Subject to Chapter 12 (Trade in Services):
(a) each Party shall allow a vehicle or container used in international traffic that enters its territory from the territory of another Party to exit its territory on any route that is reasonably related to the economic and prompt departure of such vehicle or container;
(b) no Party may require any bond or impose any penalty or charge solely by reason of any difference between the customs authorised point of entry and the customs authorised point of departure of a vehicle or container;
(c) no Party may condition the release of any obligation, including any bond, that it imposes in respect of the entry of a vehicle or container into its territory on its exit through any particular customs authorised point of departure; and
(d) no Party may require that the vehicle or carrier bringing a container from the territory of another Party into its territory be the same vehicle or carrier that takes such container back to the territory of that other Party.
Article 3.8. Non-Tariff Measures
1. No Party shall adopt or maintain any non-tariff measures on the importation of any good of another Party or on the exportation of any good destined for the territory of another Party except in accordance with its rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement or in accordance with other provisions of this Agreement.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the measures set out in Annex 3.A.
Article 3.9. Administrative Fees and Formalities
1. The Parties agree that fees, charges, formalities and requirements imposed in connection with the importation and exportation of goods shall be consistent with their obligations under GATT 1994.
2. No Party may require consular transactions, including related fees and charges, in connection with the importation of any good of the other Parties.
3. Each Party shall make available through the Internet or a comparable computer-based telecommunications network a current list of the fees and charges it imposes in connection with importation or exportation.
Article 3.10. Export Duties
No Party may adopt or maintain any duty, tax, or other charge on the export of any good to the territory of the other Parties, unless such duty, tax, or charge is adopted or maintained on any such good when destined for domestic consumption.(1)