Title
Australia - United States Free Trade Agreement
Preamble
The Government of the United States of America and the Government of Australia ("the Parties"), resolved to:
REINFORCE the longstanding ties of friendship and cooperation between them;
STRENGTHEN their economic relations and further liberalize and expand bilateral trade and investment;
ESTABLISH clear and mutually advantageous rules governing their trade and reduce the barriers to trade that exist between them;
ENCOURAGE a closer economic partnership that will bring economic and social benefits, create new employment opportunities, and improve living standards for their people;
PROMOTE a predictable, transparent, and consistent business environment that will assist enterprises to plan effectively and use resources efficiently;
FOSTER creativity and innovation and promote stronger links between dynamic sectors of their economies;
IMPLEMENT this Agreement in a mamner consistent with their commitment to high labour standards, sustainable development, and environmental protection; and
BUILD on their rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement and other agreements to which they are both parties;
HAVE AGREED as follows:
Body
Chapter ONE. Establishment of a Free Trade Area and Definitions
Article 1.1. General
1. The Parties to this Agreement, consistent with Article XXIV of GATT 1994 and Article V of GATS, hereby establish a free trade area in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
2. The Parties affirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other under existing bilateral and multilateral agreements to which both Parties are party, including the WTO Agreement.
3. This Agreement shall not be construed to derogate from any international legal obligation between the Parties that entitles goods or services, or suppliers of goods or services, to treatment more favourable than that accorded by this Agreement.
Article 1.2. General Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified:
1. Agreement on Textiles and Clothing means the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
2. central government or central level of government means:
(a) for the United States, the federal government; and
(b) for Australia, the Commonwealth government,
3. covered investment means, with respect to a Party, an investment in its territory of an investor of the other Party, in existence as of the date of entry into force of this Agreement or established, acquired, or expanded thereafter;
4. customs duty includes any customs or import duty and a charge of any kind imposed in connection with the importation of a good, including any form of surtax or surcharge in connection with such importation, but does not include any:
(a) charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed consistently with Article II:2 of GATT 1994 in respect of the like domestic good or in respect of goods from which the imported good has been manufactured or produced in whole or in part;
(b) antidumping or countervailing duty that is applied pursuant to a Party's law; or
(c) fee or other charge in connection with importation commensurate with the cost of services rendered;
5. Customs Valuation Agreement means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VIT of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
6. days means calendar days;
7. enterprise means any entity constituted or organized under applicable law, whether or not for profit, and whether privately-owned or governmentally-owned or controlled, including any corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture, association, or similar organization;
8. enterprise of a Party means an enterprise constituted or organized under a Party's law;
9. existing means in effect on the date of entry into force of this Agreement;
10. GATS means the General Agreement on Trade in Services, contained in Annex 1B to the WTO Agreement;
11. GATT 1994 means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement,
12. goods of a Party means domestic products as these are understood in GATT 1994 or such goods as the Parties determine under the rules of origin applied in the normal course of trade, and includes originating goods of a Party;
13. government procurement means the process by which a government obtains the use of or acquires goods or services, or any combination thereof, for governmental purposes and not with a view to commercial sale or resale or use in the production or supply of goods or services for commercial sale or resale;
14. Harmonized System (HS) means the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, including its General Rules of Interpretation, Section Notes, and Chapter Notes, as adopted and implemented by the Parties in their respective tariff laws;
15. measure includes any law, regulation, procedure, requirement, or practice; 16. national means a natural person referred to in Annex 1-A to this Agreement;
17. originating means qualifying under the rules of origin set out in Chapter Five (Rules of Origin);
18. person means a natural person or an enterprise; 19. person of a Party means a national or an enterprise of a Party;
20. regional government or regional level of government means,
(a) for the United States, a state of the United States, the District of Colombia, or Puerto Rico; and
(b) for Australia, a state of Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, or the Northern Territory;
21. Safeguards Agreement means the Agreement on Safeguards, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
22. service supplied in the exercise of governmental authority means any service which is supplied neither on a commercial basis, nor in competition with one or more service suppliers;
23. SPS Agreement means the Agreement on Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
24. state enterprise means an enterprise that is owned, or controlled through ownership interests, by the central or a regional government of a Party;
25. TBT Agreement means the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement,
26. territory means, with respect to a Party, the territory of that Party as set out in Annex 1- A to this Agreement;
27. textile or apparel good means a good listed in the Annex to the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing;
28. TRIPS Agreement means the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, contained in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement;
29. WTO means the World Trade Organization; and
30. WTO Agreement means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done on April 15, 1994.
ANNEX 1-A. Certain definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement:
1. national means:
(a) with respect to Australia, an Australian citizen as defined in the Australian Citizenship Act 1948, or a permanent resident; and
(b) with respect to the United States, a national of the United States as defined in Title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act or a permanent resident; and
2. territory means:
(a) with respect to Australia, the territory of the Commonwealth of Australia:
(i) excluding all external territories other than the Territory of Norfolk Island, the Territory of Christmas Island, the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and the Coral Sea Islands Territory; and
(ii) including Australia's territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf; and
(b) with respect to the United States:
(I) the customs territory of the United States, which includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico;
(ii) the foreign trade zones located in the United States and Puerto Rico; and
(iii) any areas beyond the territorial seas of the United States within which, in
accordance with international law and its domestic law, the United States may exercise rights with respect to the seabed and subsoil and their natural resources.
Chapter TWO. National Treatment and Market Access for Goods
Article 2.1. Scope and Coverage
Except as otherwise provided, this Chapter applies to trade in goods of a Party.
Section A. National Treatment
Article 2.2. National Treatment
Each Party shall accord national treatment to the goods of the other Party in accordance with Article III of GATT 1994, including its interpretative notes. To this end, Article III of GATT 1994 and its interpretative notes are incorporated into and made a part of this Agreement, subject to Annex 2-A (Application of Chapter 2).
Section B. Tariffs
Article 2.3. Elimination of Customs Duties
1. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, each Party shall progressively eliminate its customs duties on originating goods of the other Party in accordance with Annex 2-B (Tariff Elimination).
2. Neither Party may increase an existing customs duty or introduce a new customs duty on imports of an originating good, other than as permitted by this Agreement, subject to Annex 2-A (Application of Chapter 2).
Article 2.4. Customs Value
The Parties shall apply the provisions of the Customs Valuation Agreement for the purposes of determining the customs value of goods traded between the Parties.
Article 2.5. Temporary Admission
1. Each Party shall grant duty-free temporary admission for the following goods, imported by or for the use of a resident of the other Party:
(a) professional equipment, including software and broadcasting and cinematographic equipment, necessary for carrying out the business activity, trade, or profession of a person who qualifies for temporary entry pursuant to the laws of the importing Party;
(b) goods intended for display or demonstration at exhibitions, fairs, or similar events, including commercial samples for the solicitation of orders, and advertising films and recordings; and
(c) goods temporarily admitted for sports purposes, regardless of their origin.
2. Neither Party may condition the duty-free temporary admission of a good referred to in paragraph 1, other than to require that such good:
(a) be used solely by or under the personal supervision of a national or resident of the other Party in the exercise of the business activity, trade, or profession of that person;
(b) not be sold, leased, or consumed 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 when exported;
(e) be exported on or before the departure of that person or within such other period as is reasonably related to the purpose of the temporary admission, not to exceed three years after the date of importation;
(f) be imported in no greater quantity than is reasonable for its intended use; and
(g) be otherwise admissible into the Party's territory under its laws.
3. If any condition that a Party imposes under paragraph 2 has not been fulfilled, the Party may apply the customs duty and any other charge that would normally be owed on entry or final importation of the good.
4. Each Party, through its customs authorities, shall adopt procedures providing for the expeditious release of the goods described in paragraph 1. To the extent possible, when such goods accompany a national or resident of the other Party secking temporary entry, and are imported by that person for use in the exercise of a business activity, trade, or profession of that person, the procedures shall allow for the goods to be released simultaneously with the entry of that person subject to the necessary documentation required by the customs authorities of the importing Party.
5. Each Party shall, at the request of the person concerned and for reasons deemed valid by its customs authorities, extend the time limit for temporary admission beyond the period initially fixed.
6. Each Party shall permit temporarily admitted goods to be exported through a customs port other than that through which they were imported.
7. Each Party shall relieve the importer of liability for failure to export a temporarily admitted good on presentation of satisfactory proof to the Party's customs authorities that the good has been destroyed within the original time limit for temporary admission or any lawful extension. Prior approval will have to be sought from the customs authorities of the importing Party before the good can be so destroyed.
8. Subject to Chapters Ten (Cross-Border Trade in Services) and Eleven (Investment):
(a) each Party shall allow a container used in international traffic that enters its territory from the territory of the other Party to exit its territory on any route that is reasonably related to the economic and prompt departure of the container;
(b) neither Party may require any bond or impose any penalty or charge solely by reason of any difference between the container's port of entry and its port of departure;
(c) neither Party may condition the release of any obligation, including any bond, that it imposes in respect of the entry of a container into its territory on its exit through any particular port of departure; and
(d) neither Party may require that the carrier bringing a container from the territory of the other Party into its territory be the same carrier that takes the container to the territory of the other Party.
Article 2.6. Goods Re-entered after Repair or Alteration
1. Neither Party may apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, that re-enters its territory after that good has been exported temporarily from its territory to the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration, regardless of whether the repair or alteration could be performed in its territory.
2. Neither Party may apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, imported temporarily from the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration.
3. For the purposes of this Article:
(a) the repairs or alterations shall not destroy the essential characteristics of the good, or change it into a different commercial item;
(b) operations carried out to transform unfinished goods into finished goods shall not be considered repairs or alterations; and
(c) parts or pieces of the goods may be subject to repairs or alterations.
Article 2.7. Duty-free Entry of Commercial Samples of Negligible Value and Printed Advertising Materials
Each Party shall grant duty-free entry to commercial samples of negligible value, and to printed advertising materials, imported from the territory of the other Party, regardless of their origin, but may require that:
(a) the samples be imported solely for the solicitation of orders for goods of, or services provided from the territory of, the other Party or a non-Party; or
(b) the advertising materials be imported in packets that each contain no more than one copy of each such material and that neither those materials nor packets form part of a larger consignment.
Article 2.8. Waiver of Customs Duties
1. Neither Party may adopt a new waiver of customs duties, or expand with respect to existing recipients or extend to any new recipient the application of an existing waiver of customs duties, where the waiver is conditioned, explicitly or implicitly, on the fulfilment of a performance requirement.
2. Neither Party may condition, explicitly or implicitly, the continuation of any existing waiver of customs duties on the fulfilment of a performance requirement.
3. This Article shall not apply to drawback or duty deferral programs.
Section C. Non-tariff Measures
Article 2.9. Import and Export Restrictions
1. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, neither Party may adopt or maintain any prohibition or restriction on the importation of any good of the other Party or on the exportation or sale for export of any good destined for the territory of the other Party, except in accordance with Article XI of GATT 1994, including its interpretative notes, and to this end Article XI of GATT 1994, including its interpretative notes, is incorporated into and made a part of this Agreement.
2. The Parties understand that the rights and obligations incorporated by paragraph 1 prohibit, in any circumstances in which any other form of restriction is prohibited, import licensing conditioned on the fulfilment of a performance requirement, export price requirements, and, except as permitted in enforcement of countervailing and antidumping orders and undertakings, import price requirements.
3. In the event that a Party adopts or maintains a prohibition or restriction on the importation from or exportation to a non-Party of a good, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as preventing the Party from:
(a) limiting or prohibiting the importation from the territory of the other Party of such good of that non-Party; or
(b) requiring as a condition of export of such good of the Party to the territory of the other Party, that the good not be re-exported to the non-Party, directly or indirectly, without being consumed in the territory of the other Party.
4. Paragraphs 1 through 3 shall not apply to the measures set out in Annex 2-A.
5. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as affecting a Party's rights and obligations under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.
Article 2.10. Administrative Fees and Formalities
1. Each Party shall ensure, in accordance with Article VIII:1 of GATT 1994 and its interpretive notes, that all fees and charges of whatever character (other than customs duties, charges equivalent to an internal tax or other internal charges applied consistently with Article 1:2 of GATT 1994, and antidumping and countervailing duties applied pursuant to a Party's law), imposed on or in connection with importation or exportation, are limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered and do not represent indirect protection of domestic products or a taxation of imports or exports for fiscal purposes.
2. Neither Party may require consular transactions, including related fees and charges, in connection with the importation of any good of the other Party.
3. Each Party shall make available on the Internet a current list of the fees and charges it imposes in connection with importation or exportation.
Article 2.11. Export Taxes
Neither Party may adopt or maintain any duty, tax, or other charge on the export of any good to the territory of the other Party, unless such duty, tax, or charge is adopted or maintained on any such good when destined for consumption in its territory.
Section D. Other Measures
Article 2.12. Merchandise Processing Fee
Neither Party may adopt or maintain a merchandise processing fee on originating goods.
Section E. Institutional Provisions
Article 2.13. Committee on Trade In Goods
1. The Parties hereby establish a Committee on Trade in Goods, comprising representatives of each Party.
2. The Committee shall meet on the request of either Party or the Joint Committee established in Chapter 21 (Institutional Arrangements and Dispute Settlement) to consider any matter arising under this Chapter, Chapter Five (Rules of Origin), or Chapter Six (Customs Administration).
3. The Committee's functions shall include:
(a) promoting trade in goods between the Parties; and
(b) addressing barriers to trade in goods between the Parties, especially those related to the application of non-tariff measures, and, if appropriate, referring such matters to the Joint Committee for its consideration.
Section F. Definitions
Article 2.13. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
1. advertising films and recordings means recorded visual media or audio materials, consisting essentially of images and/or sound, showing the nature or operation of goods or services offered for sale or lease by a person established or resident in the territory of a Party, provided that such materials are of a kind suitable for exhibition to prospective customers but not for broadcast to the general public;