Title
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
Preamble
The Government of the State of Israel ("Israel") and the Government of the Republic of Colombia ("Colombia"), hereinafter referred to as "the Parties", resolved to:
STRENGTHEN the special bonds of friendship and cooperation between them;
CONTRIBUTE to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade by removing obstacles to trade through the creation of a free trade area and by avoiding to create new barriers to trade or investments;
STRENGTHEN their economic relations and to promote economic cooperation, in particular for the development of trade;
CREATE an expanded and secure market for their goods and services and establish clear and mutually advantageous rules in order to foster a predictable environment for their trade and investments;
RECOGNIZE that the promotion and protection of investments of investors of one Party in the territory of the other Party will be conducive to the stimulation of mutually beneficial business activity;
PROMOTE broad-based economic development in order to improve living standards and reduce poverty;
IMPLEMENT this Agreement in a manner consistent with environmental protection and conservation, promotion of sustainable development and with their desire to strengthen their cooperation on environmental matters;
REAFFIRM their membership in the World Trade Organization and their commitment to comply with their respective rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and agreements to which they are both parties;
EXPLORE the possibility of promoting the harmonious development of their trade as well as the expansion and diversification of their mutual cooperation in fields of common interest , including fields not covered by this Agreement; and
HAVING REGARD that Colombia is a member of the Andean Community established by the Cartagena Agreement;
HAVE AGREED, in pursuit of the above, to conclude the following Free Trade Agreement (hereinafter referred to as âthis Agreementâ):
Body
Chapter 1. INITIAL PROVISIONS AND GENERAL DEFINITIONS
Section A. INITIAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.1. ESTABLISHMENT OF a FREE TRADE AREA
The Parties to this Agreement, in accordance with Article XXIV of the WTO General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and Article V of the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services, hereby establish a free trade area.
Article 1.2. RELATION TO OTHER AGREEMENTS
The Parties affirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other in accordance with the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and its successors agreements and other agreements to which both Parties are party.
Article 1.3. OBJECTIVES OF THE AGREEMENT
The objectives of this Agreement, as elaborated more specifically in its provisions are to:
1. Eliminate barriers to trade in goods and services, and facilitate the movement of goods between the Parties;
2. Promote conditions of competition relating to economic relations between the Parties;
3. Substantially increase investment opportunities, as well as cooperation in areas which are of mutual interest to the Parties;
4, Create effective procedures for the application and compliance with this Agreement, and its joint administration; and
5. Promote further bilateral and multilateral cooperation to expand and enhance the benefits of this Agreement.
Article 1.4. EXTENT OF OBLIGATIONS
Each Party shall ensure that necessary measures are taken in order to give Effect to The provisions of this Agreement, including their observance by its regional, municipal and local governments and authorities.
Section B. GENERAL DEFINITIONS
Article 1.5. GENERAL DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified:
Agriculture Agreement means Agreement on Agriculture, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
Antidumping Agreement means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 and its Interpretative Notes, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
Customs Authorities means Customs Authorities as defined in Annex A;
customs duty means 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 in accordance with Article IM:2 of the GATT 1994 and its Interpretative Notes, in respect of like, directly competitive, or substitutable goods of the Party, or in respect of goods from which the imported good has been manufactured or produced in whole or in part,
(b) antidumping or countervailing or safeguard duties that are applied pursuant to Chapter 8 (Trade Remedies) and each Party's law; or
(c) fee or other charge in connection with importation commensurate with the cost of services rendered;
Customs Valuation Agreement means the Agreement on implementation of Article VII of the GATT 1994 contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
days means calendar days;
GATS means the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services contained in Annex 1B to the WTO Agreement;
GATT 1994 means the WTO General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
goods means domestic products as these are understood in the GATT 1994 or such goods as the Parties may agree, and includes originating goods of a Party;
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 with a view to use in the production or supply of goods or services for commercial sale or resale;
Harmonized System (HS) means the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, including its General Rules of Interpretation, Section Notes and Chapter Notes, and its subsequent amendments, as adopted and implemented by the Parties in their respective tariff laws;
IMF Agreement means Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund;
Joint Committee means the Joint Committee established under Article 13.1 (Institutional Provisions);
juridical person means any entity constituted or organized under applicable law, whether or not for profit, and whether privately or governmentally owned or controlled, including any corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture, association or similar organization;
measure covers any measure whether in the form of a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action, practice or any other form;
national means:
(a) with respect to Colombia, Colombians by birth or naturalization, in accordance with Article 96 of the Constitucidn Politica de Colombia; and
(b) with respect to Israel, as provided for, in accordance with its national law; person means a natural person or a juridical person; personal data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. An identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his or her physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity. preferential treatment or preferential tariff treatment means the duty rate applicable under this Agreement to an originating good as defined in Chapter 3 (Rules of Origin) or under Annex 3-A (Product Specific Rules);
Safeguards Agreement means the Agreement on Safeguards contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
sanitary or phytosanitary measure means any measure referred to in Annex A, paragraph 1 of the SPS Agreement;
SPS Agreement means the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
Subsidies Agreement means the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
TBT Agreement means the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;
territory means:
(a) with respect to the Republic of Colombia, its continental and insular territory, internal waters, the territorial sea and the air space and maritime areas over which it exercises sovereignty or sovereign rights or jurisdiction in accordance to its domestic law and international law, including applicable international treaties;
(b) with respect to Israel, for the purposes of trade in goods, the territory where its custom laws are applied;
TRIPS Agreement means the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, contained in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement (1);
WTO means the World Trade Organization; and
WTO Agreement means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done on April 15, 1994.
Chapter 2. MARKET ACCESS FOR GOODS
Section A. COMMON PROVISIONS
Article 2.1. SCOPE OF APPLICATION
Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, this Chapter shall apply to trade in goods between the Parties.
Article 2. CLASSIFICATION AND VALUATION OF GOODS
1. The classification of goods in trade between the Parties shall be that set out in the respective tariff nomenclature of each Party in conformity with the Harmonized System (HS).
2. A Party may introduce new tariff splits, provided that the preferential conditions applied in the new tariff splits are not less preferential than those applied originally.
3. For the purpose of determining the customs value of goods traded between the Parties, provisions of Article VIL of the GATT 1994, its Interpretative Notes, and the Customs Valuation Agreement shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Article 2.3. NATIONAL TREATMENT
1. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, each Party shall accord national treatment to the goods of the other Party in accordance with Article II of the GATT 1994, including its Interpretative Notes. To this end, Article II of the GATT 1994 and its Interpretative Notes, are incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the measures set out in Annex 2-C.
Article 2.4. RESTRICTIONS TO SAFEGUARD THE BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
1. The Parties shall endeavor to avoid the imposition of restrictive measures for balance of payments purposes.
2. A Party in serious balance of payments difficulties, or under imminent threat thereof, may, in accordance with the conditions established under the GATT 1994 and the WTO Understanding on the Balance of Payments Provisions of the GATT 1994 adopt trade restrictive measures, which shall be of limited duration and non-discriminatory, and may not go beyond what is necessary to remedy the balance of payments situation.
Article 2.5. TEMPORARY ADMISSION OF GOODS
1. Each Party shall grant duty-free temporary admission for the following goods, regardless of their origin:
(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 person who qualifies for temporary entry pursuant to the law of the importing Party;
(b) goods intended for display or demonstration;
(c) commercial samples and advertising films and recordings;
2. Each Party shall, upon request of the person concerned and for reasons its Customs Authority considers valid, extend the time limit for temporary admission beyond the period initially fixed.
3. No Party may condition the duty-free temporary admission of a good referred to in paragraph 1, other than to require that the good:
(a) be used solely by or under the personal supervision of a national or resident of the other Party in the exercise of trade, business, professional, or sport activities;
(b) not be sold or leased while in its territory;
(c) be accompanied by a security in an amount no greater than the import duties and other 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 upon 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, or within one year, unless extended;
(f) be admitted in no greater quantity than is reasonable for its intended use; and
(g) be otherwise admissible into the Party's territory under its law.
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 law.
5. Each Party shall adopt and maintain procedures providing for the expeditious release of goods admitted under this Article. To the extent possible, such procedures shall provide that, when such goods accompany a national or resident of the other Party who is seeking temporary entry, the goods 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 port other than that through which it was admitted.
7. Each Party shall provide that the importer or other person responsible for a good admitted under this Article shall not be liable for failure to export the good on presentation of satisfactory proof to the importing Party that the good has been destroyed within the original period fixed for temporary admission or any lawful extension thereof.
8. Subject to Chapters 10 (Investments) and 11 (Trade in Services):
(a) each Party shall allow a vehicle or 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 such vehicle or container;
(b) no Party may require any security or impose any penalty or charge solely by reason of any difference between the port of entry and the port of departure of a vehicle or container;
(c) no Party may condition the release of any obligation, including any security, that it imposes in respect of the entry of a vehicle or container into its territory on its exit through any particular port of departure; and
(d) no Party may require that the vehicle or carrier bringing a container from the territory of the other Party into its territory be the same vehicle or carrier that takes the container to the territory of the other Party.
9. For purposes of paragraph 8, vehicle means a truck, a truck tractor, a tractor, a trailer unit or trailer, a locomotive, or a railway car or other railroad equipment.
Article 2.6. GOODS RE-ENTERED AFTER REPAIR OR ALTERATION
1. Neither Party shall 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 the other Party for repair or alteration, regardless of whether such repair or alteration could be performed in the territory of the Party from which the good was exported for repair or alteration.
2. Neither Party shall apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, imported temporarily from the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration.
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, however, it may require that:
(a) such samples be imported solely for the solicitation of orders for goods, or services provided from the territory, of the other Party or a non-Party; or
(b) such advertising materials be imported in packets that each contain no more than one copy of each such material and that neither such materials nor the packets form part of a larger consignment.
Article 2.8. FEES AND OTHER CHARGES
1. Each Party shall ensure, in accordance with Article VIII of the GATT 1994 and its Interpretative Notes, that all fees and charges of whatever character (other than customs duties and other duties and charges that are excluded from the definition of a customs duty) imposed on, or in connection with, importation or exportation of goods, are limited to the approximate cost of services rendered and do not represent an indirect protection of domestic goods or taxation of imports or exports for fiscal purposes.
2. To the extent possible, each Party shall make available and maintain, preferably through the Internet, updated information regarding all fees and charges imposed in connection with importation or exportation of goods.
Article 2.9. IMPORT LICENSING PROCEDURES
No Party shall adopt or maintain a measure that is inconsistent with the WTO Agreement On Import Licensing Procedures (hereinafter referred to as the "Import Licensing Agreement") which is incorporated into and made an integral part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Article 2.10. RULES OF ORIGIN AND COOPERATION BETWEEN THE CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIONS
The rules of origin applicable between the Parties to goods covered under this Agreement and methods of administrative cooperation are set out in Chapter 3 (Rules of Origin).
Article 2.11. CUSTOMS DUTIES ON EXPORTS
1. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, customs duties on exports and charges having equivalent effect shall be abolished in trade between the Parties upon the date of the entry into force of this Agreement. From the date of the entry into force of this Agreement no new customs duties on exports or charges having equivalent effect shall be introduced in trade between the Parties.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the measures set out in Annex 2-C.
Article 2. 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 the GATT 1994 and its Interpretative Notes; and to this end, Article XI of the GATT 1994 and its Interpretative Notes are incorporated into and made a part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the measures set out in Annex 2-C.
3. The Parties understand that the GATT 1994 rights and obligations incorporated by paragraph 1 prohibit, in any circumstances in which any other form of restriction is prohibited, a Party from adopting or maintaining:
(a) export and import price requirements, except as permitted in enforcement of countervailing and antidumping duty orders and undertakings; or
(b) import licensing conditioned on the fulfillment of a performance requirement, except as provided in a Party's schedule in Annex 2-A.
For the purposes of this Article, performance requirement means a requirement that:
(a) a given level or percentage of goods or services be exported;
(b) domestic goods or services of the Party granting a waiver of customs duties or an import license be substituted for imported goods;
(c) a person benefiting from a waiver of customs duties or an import license purchase other goods or services in the territory of the Party granting the waiver of customs duties or the import license, or accord a preference to domestically produced goods;
(d) a person benefiting from a waiver of customs duties or an import license produce goods or supply services, in the territory of the Party granting the waiver of customs duties or the import license, with a given level or percentage of domestic content; or
(e) relates in any way the volume or value of imports to the volume or value of exports or to the amount of foreign exchange inflows;
but does not include a requirement that an imported good be:
(f) subsequently exported;
(g) used as a material in the production of another good that is subsequently exported;
(h) substituted by an identical or similar good used as a material in the production of another good that is subsequently exported; or
(i) substituted by an identical or similar good that is subsequently exported.
Article 2. SUBCOMMITTEE ON MARKET ACCESS
1. The Parties hereby establish a Subcommittee on Market Access comprising representatives of each Party.
2. The Subcommittee shall meet upon request of a Party or of the Joint Committee to consider any matter not covered by another Subcommittee arising under this Chapter.
3. The functions of the Subcommittee shall include, inter alia:
(a) promoting trade in goods between the Parties, including through consultations on accelerating and broadening the scope of preferential treatment for agricultural goods or tariff elimination under this Agreement and other issues as appropriate;
(b) addressing any non-tariff measure which may restrict trade in goods between the Parties and, if appropriate, referring such matters to the Joint Committee for its consideration;
(c) providing advice and recommendations to the Joint Committee on cooperation needs regarding market access matters;
(d) reviewing the amendments to the Harmonized System (HS) to ensure that each Party's obligations under this Agreement are not altered, and consulting to resolve any conflicts between:
(i) such amendments to the Harmonized System (HS) and Annex 2-A or Annex 2-B; or
(ii) Annex 2-A or Annex 2-B and national nomenclatures; and consulting on and endeavoring to resolve any difference that may arise among the Parties on matters related to the classification of goods under the Harmonized System (HS).
4. The Parties hereby establish an ad-hoc Working Group on Trade in Agricultural Goods. In order to address any obstacle to the trade of agricultural goods between the Parties, the ad-hoc Working Group shall meet upon request of a Party. The ad-hoc Working Group shall report to the Subcommittee on Market Access.