1. The importing Party shall take steps to ensure that products originating from the exporting Party are subject to import verification procedures as expeditiously as possible.
2. The importing Party shall inform the exporting Party, as expeditiously as possible, of the results of import verification procedures in the case of products that are rejected or do not meet the requirements established for importation.
3. The Parties shall endeavor to reduce the frequency of verification procedures for physical sanitary and phytosanitary controls applied by the importing Party to the products of the exporting Party, in accordance with the results obtained taking into account the risks involved and the results of the verifications.
Article 4.11. Exchange of Information
1. The Parties shall exchange information on matters related to the development and application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures that may affect trade between them, as well as on scientific developments or new scientific information available that is relevant to this Chapter.
2. The Parties shall inform, within forty-eight (48) hours following the confirmation of a problem, the changes that occur in animal health matters, such as the appearance of diseases or sanitary alerts on food products that fall within the criteria for immediate notification defined in international standards.
3. Changes in phytosanitary matters, such as the appearance of quarantine pests or the spread of pests under official control, shall be reported within seventy-two (72) hours of their verification.
Article 4.12. Transparency
1. The Parties recognize the importance of observing the rules on notification provided for in the SPS Agreement and, in this regard, shall consider compliance with these obligations sufficient to strengthen transparency in bilateral trade.
2. At the request of the other Party, the Party notifying a sanitary or phytosanitary measure that may involve restrictions on bilateral trade shall provide a scientific justification, based on the disciplines of the SPS Agreement, within as expeditious a period as possible.
3. In all cases of adoption of an emergency sanitary or phytosanitary measure affecting the exchange of goods between the Parties, the Party adopting the measure shall, without undue delay, notify the other Party of the measure and its justification. This obligation shall be considered fulfilled if the Party adopting the measure has submitted its notification to the SPS Committee of the WTO.
Emergency sanitary or phytosanitary measures shall be maintained only as long as the threats or causes that gave rise to them persist.
4. The Parties shall strengthen the reciprocal transparency of their sanitary and phytosanitary measures by publishing the measures adopted on free and publicly accessible official websites.
Article 4.13. Technical Cooperation
1. The Parties agree to give special importance to technical cooperation to facilitate the implementation of this Chapter.
2. The Competent Authorities of the Parties, mentioned in Annex I, may enter into agreements for cooperation and coordination of activities.
3. The Parties shall seek, where possible, to coordinate positions in regional or multilateral fora where international sanitary and phytosanitary standards, guidelines or recommendations are developed or aspects related thereto are negotiated.
Article 4.14. Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
1. The Parties establish the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (hereinafter referred to as the "SPS Committee") for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of this Chapter.
The SPS Committee shall be composed of the Competent Authorities and Contact Points designated by each Party, as indicated in Annex I.
2. The SPS Committee shall meet on an ordinary basis at least once a year, unless the Parties agree otherwise, in person, and at least once a year, unless the Parties agree otherwise, on a regular basis.
The SPS Committee shall meet in person, by teleconference, videoconference or other means that ensure an adequate level of functioning, and extraordinarily, whenever the Parties deem it appropriate.
3. When the meetings are face-to-face, they shall be held alternately in the territory of each Party and it shall be the responsibility of the host Party to organize the meeting.
4. The functions of the SPS Committee shall be:
(a) to exchange information on the Competent Authorities and Contact Points of each Party, detailing their areas of competence. The corresponding information included in Annex I may be updated in the event of modifications;
(b) promote cooperation and technical assistance, including cooperation in the development, application and enforcement of sanitary or phytosanitary measures;
(c) exchange information and propose procedures and deadlines for the bilateral implementation of the disciplines provided for in the Chapter;
(d) to entertain, upon written request of a Party, consultations on any matter arising under this Chapter;
(e) establish technical working groups in the fields of animal and plant health and such others as they deem appropriate;
(f) keep the Administrative Commission informed of the work carried out by the SPS Committee; and
(g) develop all those actions that the Parties consider pertinent for the fulfillment of this Chapter.
5. In order to order its functioning, the SPS Committee shall establish its own rules of procedure, if possible during its first meeting. The SPS Committee may revise these rules when it deems appropriate.
Article 4.15. Consultation Mechanism
1. The Parties may hold consultations to discuss and suggest any procedures for resolving difficulties arising from the application of this Chapter. Consultations may be held by electronic mail, teleconference, or other means. The Party requesting the consultations shall prepare minutes, which shall be approved by the Parties.
2. If the Parties do not reach a satisfactory solution after the consultations, the case shall be submitted to the SPS Committee which shall
2. If the Parties do not reach a satisfactory solution after consultations, the case shall be submitted to the SPS Committee, which shall meet in extraordinary session.
Chapter 5. TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
Article 5.1. Objective
The objective of this Chapter is to facilitate trade in goods between the Parties by identifying, preventing and eliminating unnecessary technical barriers to trade, improving transparency and promoting cooperation between the Parties on matters dealt with under this Chapter.
Article 5.2. Relationship to the WTO TBT Agreement
The Parties reaffirm their rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (hereinafter referred to as the "TBT Agreement") which is incorporated into and made part of this Chapter, mutatis mutandis.
Article 5.3. Scope of Application
1. This Chapter shall apply to the development, adoption and application of standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures of the Parties, as defined in Annex I of the TBT Agreement, including those of central level of government and local governmental bodies that may directly or indirectly affect trade in goods between the Parties.
2. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to the Parties' sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which shall be governed by Chapter 4 (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures).
3. Government procurement specifications prepared by governmental agencies for the production or consumption needs of such agencies are not subject to the provisions of this Chapter, which shall be governed by Chapter 12 (Government Procurement).
4. The application of Article 50 of the Treaty of Montevideo of 1980, with respect to technical barriers to trade, shall be governed by the provisions of this Chapter.
Article 5.4. Trade Facilitating Initiatives
1. The Parties recognize the importance of intensifying their collaboration in order to increase mutual understanding of their respective systems and to identify trade facilitation initiatives that contribute to the elimination and reduction of technical barriers to trade.
2. The Parties shall negotiate, whenever possible, trade facilitation initiatives in the areas of technical standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, including accreditation and metrology, in accordance with the provisions of the TBT Agreement.
3. A Party may propose to the other Party a joint analysis on sectors, products or group of products or potential regulatory issues, in which they may negotiate trade facilitation initiatives in order to increase the flow of bilateral trade. In the event that one of the Parties considers that this is not possible, the provisions of paragraph 6 shall apply.
4. The Parties shall exchange information related to the subject matter of the analysis referred to in paragraph 3 and shall encourage the participation of representatives of their productive sector, under the modality they agree upon, and of their competent regulatory and governmental authorities.
5. The Parties, through their competent regulatory and governmental authorities, shall select, on a case-by-case basis, the appropriate tools to address the issue that has given rise to the request. For each sector, product or group of products identified, the Parties shall determine, by mutual agreement, trade facilitation initiatives, which may include, among others:
(a) exchange of information on regulatory practices and approaches;
(b) initiatives for further harmonization of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures with relevant international standards;
(c) regulatory convergence actions;
(d) use of accreditation to qualify conformity assessment bodies; and
(e) mutual or unilateral recognition of conformity assessment procedures and their results conducted in the other Party.
6. When a Party does not accept the request to analyze a sector or a set of sectors, products, groups of products or the suggestion of a proposed trade facilitation initiative, it shall promptly present the reasons for such decision and offer, if possible, alternatives.
7. Trade facilitation initiatives shall be defined on a case-by-case basis by the Parties. To this end, the Parties shall establish ad hoc sectoral or thematic working groups, with the actors they deem appropriate, and shall seek to develop a work schedule, as well as other aspects that the Parties may mutually agree upon.
8. The Parties shall implement the results of the understandings reached under this Article, through the appropriate instrument and as mutually agreed.
Article 5.5. Technical Regulations
1. The Parties agree to make best use of good regulatory practices with respect to the development, adoption, and application of technical regulations, as provided for in the TBT Agreement.
2. The Parties reaffirm the commitment to use relevant international standards as the basis for their technical regulations, except where such international standards would be an ineffective or inappropriate means for the achievement of the legitimate objectives pursued.
3. Where international standards have not been used as a basis for a technical regulation that may have a significant effect on trade, a Party shall explain, at the request of the other Party, the reasons why such standards have been considered inappropriate or ineffective for the objective pursued.
4. The Parties shall encourage their competent regulatory authorities to conduct regulatory impact assessments in accordance with their respective rules and procedures.
5. In developing technical regulations, which have an impact on MSMEs, the Parties should consider the potential impact on MSMEs.
Article 5.6. Standards
1. The Parties reaffirm the commitment set out in paragraph 1 of Article 4 of the TBT Agreement to take all reasonable measures to ensure that all governmental or non-governmental standardizing bodies and other private entities that develop and apply standards in their trade relations accept and comply with the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards, Annex 3 of the TBT Agreement, and shall also take into account, to the extent possible, the principles set out in the Decision of the Committee on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations in relation to Articles 2, 5 and Annex 3 of the Agreement, adopted by the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade on 13 November 2000, and its subsequent revisions.
2. In determining whether an international standard, guidance or recommendation within the meaning of Articles 2 and 5 of the TBT Agreement and Annex 3 thereto exists, each Party shall consider the Decisions and Recommendations adopted by the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade since 1 January 1995, Annexes to Part I.2 (G/TBT/1/Rev.13) and subsequent revisions thereto.
Article 5.7. Conformity Assessment
1. The Parties recognize that the choice of appropriate conformity assessment procedures depends on the institutional structure and legal provisions in force in each Party, within the framework of the obligations under the TBT Agreement.
2. The Parties recognize the existence of differences in conformity assessment procedures in their respective territories, and agree that such procedures shall not be more stringent or applied more strictly than necessary to give the importing Party adequate confidence that products comply with technical regulations or standards, taking into account the risks that non-compliance would create.
3. The Parties recognize that there is a wide range of mechanisms that facilitate the acceptance of conformity assessment results conducted in the territory of the other Party, including, but not limited to:
(a) voluntary agreements between conformity assessment bodies in the territory of the Parties;
(b) agreements on mutual acceptance of the results of conformity assessment procedures with respect to specific technical regulations conducted by bodies located in the territory of the other Party;
(c) accreditation procedures for qualifying conformity assessment bodies;
(d) government approval or designation of conformity assessment bodies;
(e) the recognition of the results of conformity assessments carried out in the territory of the other Party; and
(f) the importing Party's acceptance of the supplier's declaration of conformity.
4. The Parties undertake to:
(a) exchange information on different mechanisms with a view to facilitating the acceptance of conformity assessment results;
(b) encourage testing, inspection and certification bodies to exchange experiences on the procedures used to assess conformity; and
(c) promote the exchange of information on accreditation systems and encourage accreditation bodies to participate actively in international cooperative arrangements in the field of accreditation, such as the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
5. For purposes of transparency and mutual confidence, if a Party does not accept the results of conformity assessment procedures carried out in the territory of the other Party, it shall, at the request of that other Party, explain the reasons for its decision.
6. Each Party shall accord to the subsidiaries of the other Party's conformity assessment bodies located in its territory, treatment no less favorable than that accorded to its own bodies.
7. With the objective of increasing mutual confidence in the results of conformity assessment, a Party may request information from the other Party on the technical competence of the conformity assessment bodies involved, among others. Additionally, the Parties should consider facilitating access of technicians to their territories to demonstrate their conformity assessment schemes and systems.
Article 5.8. Transparency
1. The Parties shall ensure transparency with respect to information on technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures.
2. The Parties shall notify each other electronically, through the contact point established by each Party, and in accordance with Article 10 of the TBT Agreement, regarding drafts and amendments of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, as well as those adopted to address urgent problems under the terms of the TBT Agreement, at the same time that they send the notification to the WTO Central Registry of Notifications. Such notification shall include an electronic link to the notified document or a copy thereof.
3. The Parties shall notify even those draft technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that are consistent with the technical content of relevant international standards.
4. Each Party shall publish adopted technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures on official and publicly accessible websites.
5. Each Party shall, in accordance with its domestic procedures, allow interested persons of the other Party to participate in the development of its standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures on terms no less favorable than those accorded to its nationals.
6. For each Party to prepare written comments on the drafts and amendments of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, a period of at least sixty (60) days shall be granted, from the publication in the Official Gazette in the case of Brazil, or from the notification referred to in paragraph 2 in the case of Chile. The foregoing is excepted in cases in which urgent problems arise or threaten to arise for the Parties. Each Party shall consider positively the well-founded requests of the other Party to extend the comment period.
7. Subject to the conditions specified in Article 2.12 of the TBT Agreement on the reasonable period of time between the publication of technical regulations and their entry into force, the Parties understand that the term "reasonable period of time" normally means a period of not less than six (6) months, except where this would not be practicable to achieve the legitimate objectives pursued.
Article 5.9. Consultations on Specific Commercial Concerns
1. Each Party shall give prompt and positive consideration to any request by the other Party for consultations on specific trade concerns relating to the application of this Chapter.
2. A Party that considers itself affected by a technical regulation, standard, or conformity assessment procedure that may be considered a technical barrier to trade shall submit in writing its concern to the other Party, including the following information:
(a) identification of the institution responsible for the application of the measure;
(b) description of the problem and, if possible, identification of the measure;
(c) description of the product(s) affected;
(d) objective or justification for the consultation; and
(e) proposals for possible solutions.
3. The other Party shall respond to the concern submitted in writing within sixty (60) days, including the following information:
(a) the reasons for the choice of the measure or for the decision not to accept results of a conformity assessment procedure, including the technical-scientific justification if the measure does not coincide with relevant international standards, guidelines or recommendations or if these do not exist;
(b) the explanation of the legitimate objectives and how the technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure achieves them, as appropriate.
4. If the concern of the Party considered to be affected is not eliminated by the response of the other Party, the issue may be addressed as soon as possible, considering the different mechanisms established in this Chapter.
5. Each Party shall ensure the participation, as appropriate, of representatives of its competent governmental regulatory authorities within the scope of this Chapter.
Article 5.10. Cooperation
1. The Parties agree to cooperate to:
(a) strengthen their respective metrology, standardization, technical regulation, and conformity assessment bodies, as well as their information and notification systems within the structure of the TBT Agreement;
(b) strengthen technical confidence among such bodies, primarily for the purpose of achieving the implementation of the tools referred to in Article 5.4;
(c) increase and improve participation and, whenever possible, seek coordination of common positions in international organizations on matters related to standardization and conformity assessment procedures;
(d) whenever possible, support the development and implementation of relevant international standards;
(e) promote training necessary for the purposes of this Chapter;
(f) promote technical assistance through competent regional or international organizations; and
(g) develop joint activities among the technical bodies involved in the activities covered by this Chapter.
2. The Parties shall cooperate with each other in the exchange of information on private standards that may affect trade. The Parties shall also encourage private bodies to develop them so that, inter alia, they are truthful, do not mislead the consumer and take into account scientific and technical information; are based on relevant international standards, guides or recommendations and best practices, if applicable and available; do not treat a product less favorably on the basis of its origin; and do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade.
Article 5.11. 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 Brazil, by representatives of the Divisão de Acesso a Mercados del Ministério de Relações Exteriores, or its successor, and.
(b) in the case of Chile, the Dirección de Asuntos Económicos Bilaterales of the Dirección General de Relaciones Económicas Internacionales, or its successor.
2. With the objective of facilitating communication of activities under this Chapter, each Party shall designate and notify a contact point to the Committee. In addition, each Party shall promptly notify the other Party of any changes to its contact point or details of relevant officials.
3. The responsibilities of the contact points referred to in paragraph 2 shall include:
(a) providing information or explanation at the request of the other Party, which shall be submitted in hard copy or electronic form within sixty (60) days of the submission of the request. The requested Party shall endeavor to respond to each request within thirty (30) days of the submission of the request;
(b) coordinate the participation of relevant governmental authorities, including regulatory authorities, and, as appropriate, other interested parties, on matters related to this Chapter; and
(c) carrying out additional responsibilities specified by the Committee.
4. The functions of the Committee shall include:
(a) monitoring the implementation and administration of this Chapter, addressing any problems raised by either Party relating to its provisions;
(b) fostering and enhancing cooperation in the development and improvement of standards, technical regulations, or conformity assessment procedures, in accordance with Article 5.10;
(c) facilitate cooperation in accordance with Article 5.10, as well as support Trade Facilitation Initiatives and technical discussions as appropriate, in accordance with Article 5.4;
(d) exchange information on work being undertaken in non-governmental, regional, multilateral fora and cooperative programs involved in activities related to standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures;
(e) review this Chapter in light of developments within the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade and develop recommendations to modify this Chapter, if necessary;
(f) report to the Administrative Commission on the implementation of this Chapter;
(g) to establish, if necessary, for particular matters or sectors, working groups to deal with specific matters related to this Chapter and the TBT Agreement;
(h) to address, at the request of a Party, consultations on specific trade concerns arising under Article 5.9 and other relevant provisions of this Chapter; and
(i) take any other action that the Parties consider will assist them in the implementation of this Chapter and the TBT Agreement, with a view to facilitating trade in goods between the Parties.
3. The Committee shall meet as often as necessary, at the request of the Parties. The meetings shall be held in person, by teleconference, videoconference or by any other means, as agreed by the Parties.
Chapter 6. Cross-border Trade In Services
Article 6.1. Definitions
For purposes of this Chapter:
Cross-border trade in services or cross-border supply of services means the supply of a service:
(a) From the territory of one Party to the territory of the other Party;
(b) In the territory of a Party, to a person of the other Party, or
(c) By a national of a Party in the territory of the other Party;
But does not include the provision of a service in the territory of a Party for an investment, such as defined in Article 8.1 (Definitions);
Measures adopted or maintained by a Party means measures adopted or maintained by:
(a) Governments or authorities at the central, federal, regional or local level of a Party, or
(b) Non-governmental organizations in the exercise of powers delegated by governments or authorities at the central, federal, regional or local level of a Party;
Natural person of a Party means a national of a Party according to its legislation and who reside in the territory of that Party;
Service provider of a Party means a person of a Party that intends to supply or provide a service;