2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the Parties shall exchange information and experiences on national systems relating to the protection of consumers engaged in electronic commerce.
3. The Parties shall evaluate alternative mechanisms for the resolution of cross-border disputes conducted through electronic means and relating to consumer protection in cross- border electronic transactions.
4. The Parties further undertake to
(a) promote the conclusion of cooperative arrangements between them for the cross-border protection of consumer rights in electronic commerce;
(b) exchange information on suppliers that have been sanctioned for infringements of consumer rights in electronic commerce, such as fraudulent and deceptive commercial practices; (2)
(c) promote capacity building initiatives related to the protection of consumer rights in electronic commerce and the prevention of practices that infringe such rights;
(d) seek to standardise the information to be provided to consumers in electronic commerce, which should include at least: terms, conditions of use, prices, additional charges, if any, and methods of payment; and
(e) consider, in conjunction, other forms of cooperation aimed at protecting the rights of consumers in electronic commerce.
Article 13.7. Paperless Administration of Trade
1. Each Party shall seek to make available to the public in electronic form all documents related to the administration of trade.
2. Each Party shall seek to accept documents in electronic form related to administration of trade, as a legal equivalent to the paper version of said documents, pursuant to its laws.
Article 13.8. Protection of Personal Information
1. The Parties must adopt or maintain laws, regulations or administrative measures for the protection of personal information of the users that participate in electronic commerce. The Parties shall take prevailing international standards on the subject into consideration.
2. The Parties must exchange information and experiences related to their personal information protection laws.
Article 13.9. Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Messages
The Parties shall adopt or maintain measures to protect users from unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
Article 13.10. Authentication and Digital Certificates
1. No Party may adopt or maintain laws on electronic authentication that prevent the parties to a transaction carried out by electronic means from having the opportunity to prove before corresponding judicial or administrative tribunals that the said electronic transaction complies with the authentication requirements established by its laws.
2. The Parties shall establish validation mechanisms and criteria to encourage interoperability of electronic authentication between them pursuant to international standards. To this end, they may consider recognising certificates bearing advanced electronic or digital signatures, as appropriate, issued by certification service providers that operate within the territory of any Party pursuant to the procedure determined by their laws, with the objective of protecting security and integrity standards.
Article 13.11. Cross-Border Transfer of Information by Electronic Means
1. The Parties recognise that they may have their own regulatory requirements for the transfer of information by electronic means.
2. Each Party shall permit the cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, including the transfer of personal information, in the conduct of a covered person's business.
3. Nothing in this Article shall prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining measures inconsistent with paragraph 2 to pursue a legitimate public policy objective, provided that such measures are not applied in a manner that would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade.
Article 13.11 bis. Use and Location of Computer Facilities
1. No Party may require a covered person to use or locate computer facilities in the territory of that Party as a condition for the conduct of its business. (3)
2. Nothing in this Article shall prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining measures inconsistent with paragraph 1 to achieve a legitimate public policy objective, provided that such measures are not applied in a manner that would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade.
Article 13.12. Cooperation
Considering the global nature of electronic commerce, the Parties reaffirm the importance of:
(a) Working together to facilitate the employment of electronic commerce in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises;
(b) Sharing information and experiences of laws, regulations and programmes in the field of electronic commerce, including those related to personal information protection, consumer protection, security of electronic communication, authentication, intellectual property rights, and e-government;
(c) Working together to maintain cross-border information flows as an essential element in the promotion of a dynamic environment for electronic commerce;
(d) Encouraging electronic commerce by promoting the adoption of codes of conduct, standardised contracts, seals of approval, guidelines and mechanisms which are used in the private sector, and
(e) Actively participating in regional and multilateral forums, to promote the development of electronic commerce.
Article 13.13. Administration of this Chapter
The Parties shall work together to achieve the objectives of this Chapter through various means, including information and communication technology, face-to-face meetings and working groups with specialists.
Article 13.14. Relation to other Chapters
In the event of inconsistency between this Chapter and another Chapter of this Additional Protocol, the other Chapter shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Chapter 14. TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Article 14.1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
Authorisation means the licences, concessions, permits, registrations or other types of authorisation that a Party may establish as a requirement for the supply of public telecommunications services;
Co-location means access to and use of a physical space in order to install, maintain or repair equipment at premises owned or controlled and used by a major provider to supply public telecommunications services;
Cost-oriented means based on costs, and may include a reasonable profit and involve different cost methodologies for different facilities or services;
End user means a final consumer of, or a subscriber to, a public telecommunications service, including a service provider, but excluding a provider of public telecommunications services;
Essential facilities means facilities of a public telecommunications network or service that:
(a) Are exclusively and predominantly provided by a single or limited number of suppliers, and
(b) Cannot feasibly be economically or technically substituted in order to provide a service;
Interconnection means linking with providers of public services in order to allow the users of one provider to communicate with users of another provider and to access services supplied by another provider;
Leased circuits means telecommunications facilities between two or more designated points that are set aside for the dedicated use of, or availability to, a particular client or other users chosen by that client;
Major provider means a provider of public telecommunications services that has the ability to significantly affect the conditions of participation (with regard to rates and supply) in the relevant market of public telecommunications services, by means of:
(a) Control of essential facilities, or
(b) The use of its market position; Network element means a facility or equipment used in the supply of public telecommunications services, including the features, functions and capabilities provided with such facilities and equipment;
Non-discriminatory means treatment no less favourable than that accorded, in like circumstances, to any other user of like public telecommunications services;
Number portability means the ability of end users of public telecommunications services to maintain the same telephone numbers in the same geographic area, (1) without a reduction in quality or reliability when switching to a like provider of public telecommunications services;
Public telecommunications network means the telecommunications infrastructure used to provide public telecommunications services;
Public telecommunications service means any telecommunications service that a Party provides to the general public whether explicitly or in effect. Said services may include, inter alia, telephone and data transmission typically involving the transmission of customer-supplied information between two or more points without any end-to-end change in the form or content of that information;
Reference interconnection offer means an interconnection offer from a major provider that is registered and approved by the telecommunications regulatory agency, and sufficiently detailed so as to allow public telecommunications service providers that wish to accept such rates, terms and conditions, to obtain interconnection without the need to negotiate with the provider in question;
Standard interconnection offer means an interconnection offer from a major provider that is sufficiently detailed so as to allow public telecommunications service providers that wish to accept such rates, terms and conditions, to obtain interconnection without the need to negotiate with the provider in question;
Telecommunications means the transmission and reception of signals by any electromagnetic means;
Telecommunications regulatory agency means the agency or agencies of a Party that are responsible for the regulation of telecommunications;
User means end users and providers of public telecommunications services.
Article 14.2. Scope of Application
1. This Chapter applies to:
(a) The measures related to the access and use of networks and public telecommunications services;
(b) The measures related to the obligations of providers of public telecommunications services, and
(c) Other measures related to public telecommunications networks and services.
2. This Chapter does not apply to measures related to radio broadcasting and cable transmission of radio or television programming, except to ensure that the enterprises that provide such services have access to and continual use of public telecommunications networks and services pursuant to Article 14.3.
3. No provision in this Chapter shall be construed as: (a) Compelling a Party, or compelling a Party to require any enterprise to establish, construct, purchase, lease, operate or supply telecommunications networks or services, where such networks or services are not offered to the general public.
(b) Compelling a Party to require any enterprise, dedicated exclusively to radio broadcasting or cable transmission of radio or television programming, to make their cable transmission or radio broadcasting facilities available as a public telecommunications network, or
(c) Preventing a Party from prohibiting persons that operate private networks from using their networks to provide public telecommunications networks or services to third parties.
Article 14.3. Access to and Use of Public Telecommunications Networks and Services (2)
1. Each Party shall ensure that enterprises of other Parties have access to, and can make use of, any public telecommunications service offered in its territory or across its borders, on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions. This obligation must be applied together with the specifications of paragraphs 2 to 6, among others.
2. Each Party shall ensure that such enterprises are permitted:
(a) To purchase or lease and connect terminals or equipment that interface with public telecommunications networks;
(b) To supply single or multiple services to end users through the circuits that they own or lease;
(c) To connect the circuits they own or lease to public telecommunications networks and services or to the circuits owned or leased by another enterprise;
(d) To perform switching, signalling, processing and conversion operations, and (e) To use the operation protocols of their choice.
3. Each Party shall ensure that the enterprises of other Parties are able to use public telecommunications networks and services to transmit information in its territory or across its borders and to access the information contained in databases or stored in a machine-readable form in the territory of any Party.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 3, a Party may take necessary steps to ensure the security and confidentiality of messages, or to protect the privacy of end usersâ personal data, provided that such measures are not applied in such a way that it may constitute a form of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination, or a disguised restriction on the trade in services.
5. Each Party shall ensure that no conditions are placed on the access to and use of public telecommunications networks and services other than those necessary for:
(a) Safeguarding the responsibilities of providers of public telecommunications networks and services, and in particular their ability to make their networks or services available to the general public, or
(b) Protecting the technical integrity of public telecommunications networks or services
6. Provided that the criteria established in paragraph 5 are satisfied, the conditions for access to and use of public telecommunications networks and services may include:
(a) Requirements to use specific technical interfaces including interface protocols, for the interconnection with said networks and services;
(b) Requirements, where necessary, for the interoperability of said networks and services;
(c) Validation or approval of the terminal equipment or other equipment that is in interface with the network and technical requirements related to the connection of said equipment to those networks, and
(d) Notification, registration and authorisations.
Article 14.3 bis. Use of Telecommunications Networks In Emergency Situations
1. Each Party shall endeavour to take the necessary measures to ensure that telecommunications undertakings transmit, at no cost to users, alert messages as defined by its competent authority in emergency situations. (3)
2. Each Party shall encourage telecommunications service providers to protect their networks from serious failures caused by emergency situations, with a view to ensuring public access to telecommunications services in such situations.
3. The Parties shall endeavour to manage, in a joint and coordinated manner, telecommunications actions in emergency situations.
4. Each Party shall evaluate the measures necessary for mobile telephone service providers to provide the possibility for international roaming users of the other Parties to make calls to that Party's toll-free emergency numbers, in accordance with their national coverage.
Article 14.4. Interconnection
1. Each Party shall ensure that providers of public telecommunications services in its territory directly or indirectly supply interconnection to the providers of public telecommunications services of other Parties.
2. Each Party shall grant their telecommunications regulatory agency the authority to require interconnection at cost-based rates.
3. Upon carrying out the provisions of paragraph 1, each Party shall ensure that the providers of public telecommunications services in its territory take reasonable steps to protect the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information belonging to, or concerning, providers and end users of public telecommunications services where such information is only used to provide those services.
Article 14.5. Number Portability
Each Party shall ensure that providers of public telecommunications services in its territory offer number portability (4) (5) in a timely manner, and on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions.
Article 14.6. Access to Telephone Numbers
Each Party shall ensure that providers of public telecommunications services from other Parties receive non-discriminatory access to telephone numbers.
Article 14.6 bis. Hurt, Stolen, or Lost Mobile Terminal Equipment
1. Each Party shall establish procedures to allow providers of public telecommunications services, established in its territory, to exchange and block on their networks the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) codes of mobile terminal equipment reported in the territory of another Party as stolen, misplaced, or lost.
2. The procedures set out in paragraph | shall include the use of such databases as the Parties may agree for this purpose.
Article 14.6 ter. Broadband
The Parties shall endeavour to:
(a) promote the interconnection of Internet traffic within each Party's territory among all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) through new Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), and promote interconnection among the Parties' IXPs;
(b) adopt or maintain measures to ensure that public works projects (6) provide mechanisms to facilitate the deployment of fibre optic or other telecommunications networks;
(c) encourage the deployment of telecommunications networks that connect users to the major centres of global Internet content generation; and
(d) adopt policies that encourage the deployment of Internet content generation centres and distribution networks in their respective territories.
Article 14.6 quater. Net Neutrality
Each Party shall adopt or maintain measures to ensure compliance with net neutrality. (7)
Article 14.7. Competitive Safeguards
1. Each Party shall maintain adequate measures to prevent providers, whether individually or jointly, and including major providers in their own territory, from engaging in or continuing to use anti-competitive practices.
2. The anti-competitive practices referred to in paragraph 1 specifically include:
(a) Engaging in anti-competitive cross-subsidisation;
(b) Using information obtained from competitors with anti-competitive results, and
(c) Not making available to other providers of telecommunications services, in a timely manner, technical information about essential facilities and commercially relevant information, which is necessary for such providers to supply public telecommunications services.
Article 14.8. Interconnection with Major Providers
General Terms and Conditions
1. Each Party shall ensure that major providers in its territory provide interconnection to providers of public telecommunications services from other Parties:
(a) At any technically feasible point in its network;
(b) On terms and conditions which include non-discriminatory technical standards and specifications;
(c) Of a quality no less favourable than that provided to such major providers' own like services, to like services of unaffiliated service providers or to like services of its subsidiaries or other affiliates;
(d) In a timely manner, on terms, conditions (including technical standards and specifications) and at cost-based rates that are transparent, reasonable, take into consideration economic feasibility, and sufficiently unbundled such that providers need not pay for network components or facilities that it does not require for the service to be provided, and
(e) Upon request, at points in addition to the network termination points offered to the majority of users, subject to charges that reflect the cost of construction of necessary additional facilities.
Interconnection Options
2. Each Party shall ensure that providers of public telecommunications services of other Parties can interconnect their facilities and equipment with those of major providers in its territory, pursuant to at least one of the following options:
(a) A reference interconnection offer or other standard interconnection offer that contains the rates, terms and conditions that major providers offer to the providers of public telecommunications services;
(b) The terms and conditions of an existing interconnection agreement, or
(c) By means of the negotiation of a new interconnection agreement.
Public Availability of Procedures for Negotiation of Interconnection
3. Each Party shall make publicly available the procedures applicable to the negotiation of interconnection with the major providers of its territory.
Public Availability of rates, terms and conditions necessary for Interconnection
4. Each Party shall provide the means for providers of public telecommunications services from other Parties to obtain the rates, terms and conditions necessary for interconnection supplied by a major provider. At the least, these means include ensuring:
(a) The public availability of existing interconnection agreements between a major provider in its territory and other providers of public telecommunications services;
(b) The public availability of rates, terms and conditions for interconnection with a major provider, established by the telecommunications regulatory agency or another competent agency, or
(c) The public availability of the reference interconnection offer.
Article 14.9. Treatment of Major Providers
Each Party shall ensure that major providers in its territory accord providers of public telecommunications services of other Parties treatment no less favourable than that accorded by said major providers, in like circumstances, to its subsidiaries, affiliates or to unaffiliated service providers, with respect to:
(a) The availability, supply, rates or quality of like public telecommunications services, and
(b) The availability of technical interfaces necessary for interconnection.