Information Exchange and Discussions
1. A Party may request the other Party to provide information on any matter covered by this Chapter. The other Party shall provide that information within a reasonable period of time.
2. A Party may request the other Party to discuss any concern that arises under this Chapter, including any draft or proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure of the other Party, if it considers that the technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure might have a significant adverse effect on trade between the Parties. The request shall be in writing and identify:
(a) the concern;
(b) the provisions of this Chapter to which the concern relates; and
(c) the reasons for the request, including a description of the requesting Party's concern.
3. For greater certainty, a Party may also request the other Party to discuss any concern that arises under this Chapter with respect to technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures of regional or local governments, as the case may be, on the level directly below that of the central government, and that may have a significant effect on trade.
4. The Parties shall discuss the concern raised within 60 days after the date of the request in person or by video or teleconference and shall endeavour to resolve the concern as expeditiously as possible. If the requesting Party considers that the concern is urgent, it may request that any discussions take place within a shorter timeframe. The responding Party shall give positive consideration to that request. The Parties shall make every attempt to arrive at a mutually satisfactory resolution of the matter.
5. Unless the Parties agree otherwise, the discussions and any information exchanged in the course of the discussions shall be without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the Parties under this Agreement, the WTO Agreement or any other agreement to which both Parties are party.
6. Requests for information or discussions shall be submitted through the respective contact point designated pursuant to Article 9.11.
ARTICLE 9.11
Contact Points
1. Each Party shall designate a contact point to facilitate cooperation and coordination under this Chapter, and notify the other Party of its contact details. The Parties shall promptly notify each other of any changes to those contact details.
2. The contact points shall work jointly to facilitate the implementation of this Chapter and cooperation between the Parties on all TBT matters. The contact points shall in particular be responsible for:
(a) organising information exchange and discussions referred to in Article 9.10.6;
(b) promptly addressing any issue that the other Party raises related to the development, adoption, application or enforcement of standards, technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures;
(c) on request of a Party, arranging discussions on any matter arising under this Chapter;
(d) exchanging information on developments in non-governmental, regional and multilateral fora related to standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures; and
(e) facilitating the identification of possible needs for technical assistance.
ARTICLE 9.12
Sub-Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
The Sub-Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade established pursuant to Article 1.10 (Sub‑Committees and other Bodies of Part III of this Agreement) shall:
(a) monitor the implementation and administration of this Chapter;
(b) enhance cooperation in the development and improvement of standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures;
(c) establish priority areas of mutual interest for future work under this Chapter and consider proposals for new initiatives;
(d) monitor and discuss developments under the TBT Agreement; and
(e) take any other steps that the Parties consider will assist them in implementing this Chapter and the TBT Agreement.
Chapter 10. INVESTMENT
Section A. General Provisions
Article 10.1. Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Chapter:
(a) "covered investment" means an investment which is owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by an investor of a Party in the territory of the other Party, made in accordance with applicable law, and which is in existence at the date of entry into force of this Agreement or is established thereafter;
(b) "economic activity" means an activity of an industrial, commercial or professional character, and an activity of craftsmen, including the supply of services, except an activity performed in the exercise of governmental authority;
(c) "enterprise" means an enterprise as defined in Article 1.3 (Definitions of General Application), or a branch or a representative office thereof 28 ;
(d) "enterprise of the European Union" or "enterprise of Mexico" means an enterprise set up in accordance with the law of the European Union or its Member States, or of Mexico and engaged in substantive business operations 29 in the territory of the European Union or of Mexico, respectively; 30
shipping companies established outside the European Union or Mexico and controlled by nationals of a Member State of the European Union or of Mexico, respectively, shall also be beneficiaries of the provisions of this Chapter, with the exception of Sections C (Investment Protection) and D (Resolution of Investment Disputes), if their vessels are registered in accordance with the law of a Member State of the European Union or of Mexico, as appropriate, and fly the flag of that Member State of the European Union or of Mexico;
(e) "establishment" means the setting up, including the acquisition 31 , of an enterprise in the European Union or in Mexico;
(f) "investor of a Party" means a Party or natural person or an enterprise of a Party, other than a branch or representative office, that seeks to make, is making, or has already made an investment in the territory of the other Party;
(g) "investor of a third country" means an investor that seeks to make, is making, or has made an investment in the territory of a Party, that is not an investor of a Party;
(h) "operation" means the conduct, management, maintenance, use, enjoyment, sale or other disposal of an investment;
(i) "returns" means the amounts yielded by an investment and includes in particular, though not exclusively, profits, interest, dividends, capital gains, royalties, payments in connection with intellectual property rights, payments in kind, management fees and other fees derived from that investment. 32
2. For the purposes of this Chapter "investment" means every kind of asset which is owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by an investor and acquired in the expectation of, or used for the purposes of, economic benefit or other business purposes and that has the characteristics of an investment, including a certain duration, the commitment of capital or other resources, the expectation of gain or profit or the assumption of risk. Forms that an investment may take include:
(a) an enterprise;
(b) shares, stocks and other forms of equity participation in an enterprise;
(c) bonds, debentures, loans and other debt instruments of an enterprise; 33
(d) interests arising from:
(i) concessions, licenses, authorisations, permits and similar rights conferred pursuant to domestic law;
(ii) turnkey, construction, management, production, concession, or revenue-sharing contracts, and other similar contracts;
(e) intellectual property rights;
(f) other tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, property and related property rights, such as leases, liens and pledges; 34 or
(g) claims to money involving the kind of interests set out in subparagraphs (a) to (f), excluding claims to money that arise solely from:
(i) commercial contracts for the sale of goods or services by a natural person or enterprise in the territory of a Party to a natural person or enterprise in the territory of the other Party; or
(ii) the extension of credit in connection with a commercial transaction, such as trade financing, other than a loan under subparagraph (c).
"Investment" does not include an order or judgment entered in a judicial or administrative action.
Any alteration of the form in which assets are invested or reinvested shall not affect their character as investments provided that the form taken by any investment or reinvestment maintains its compliance with the definition of investment.
Article 10.2. Scope
1. This Chapter applies to measures adopted or maintained by: 35
(a) the central, regional or local governments or authorities of that Party; and
(b) any person, including a state enterprise or any other non-governmental body in the exercise of powers delegated by central, regional, or local governments or authorities.
2. This Chapter does not apply to measures of a Party insofar as they are covered by Chapter 18 (Financial Services).
Article 10.3. Right to Regulate
The Parties affirm the right to regulate within their territories to achieve legitimate policy objectives, such as public health, social services, public education, safety, environment, public morals, social or consumer protection, privacy and data protection, the promotion and protection of cultural diversity, or competition.
Article 10.4. Relation to other Chapters
1. If an inconsistency arises between this Chapter and Chapter 18 (Financial Services), the latter shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
2. A requirement by a Party that a service supplier of the other Party post a bond or other form of financial security as a condition for the cross-border supply of a service does not in itself make this Chapter applicable to measures adopted or maintained by the Party relating to that supply of the service. This Chapter applies to measures adopted or maintained by the Party relating to the posted bond or financial security, to the extent that such bond or financial security is a covered investment.
Section B. Liberalisation of Investments
ARTICLE 10.5
Scope
1. This Section applies to measures adopted or maintained by a Party affecting the establishment of an enterprise or the operation of an investment of an investor of the other Party in its territory.
2. This Section does not apply to:
(a) activities performed in the exercise of governmental authority within the territory of the respective Party;
(b) government procurement of a good or service purchased for governmental purposes, and not with a view to commercial resale or use in the production of a good or supply of a service for commercial sale, irrespective of whether that procurement constitutes a covered procurement within the meaning of Article 21.1 (Definitions);
(c) audio-visual services;
(d) national maritime cabotage; 36
(e) air services, or related services in support of air services 37 , other than the following:
(i) aircraft repair and maintenance services during which an aircraft is withdrawn from service;
(ii) selling and marketing of air transport services;
(iii) computer reservation system services; and
(iv) ground handling services.
3. Articles 10.6 to 10.8 do not apply to subsidies 38 or grants provided by a Party, including government-supported loans, guarantees and insurance.
4. Articles 10.6 to 10.10 do not apply to new services, as set out in Annex VII (Understanding on New Services Not Classified in the United Nations Provisional Central Product Classification 1991).
5. Without prejudice to Article 10.54, this Chapter does not bind a Party in relation to any act or fact that took place or any situation that ceased to exist before the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 10.6
Market Access
In the sectors or subsectors where market access commitments are undertaken, a Party shall not adopt or maintain, with respect to market access through establishment or operation by investors of the other Party or by enterprises constituting covered investments, either on the basis of its entire territory or on the basis of a territorial subdivision, a measure 39 that:
(a) limits the number of enterprises that may carry out a specific economic activity, whether in the form of numerical quotas, monopolies, exclusive rights or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(b) limits the total value of transactions or assets in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(c) limits the total number of operations or the total quantity of output expressed in terms of designated numerical units in the form of quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(d) restricts or requires specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which an investor of the other Party may carry out an economic activity; or
(e) limits the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular sector or that an enterprise may employ and who are necessary for, and directly related to, the performance of an economic activity in the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test.
ARTICLE 10.7
National Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord to investors of the other Party and to their enterprises constituting covered investments treatment no less favourable than the treatment it accords, in like situations, to its own investors and to their enterprises, respectively, with respect to their establishment in its territory.
2. Each Party shall accord to investors of the other Party and to their covered investments, treatment no less favourable than the treatment it accords, in like situations, to its own investors and to their investments, respectively, with respect to their operation in its territory.
3. The treatment to be accorded by a Party pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 means, with respect to a regional level of government of Mexico, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment accorded, in like situations, by that regional level of government to investors of Mexico, and to their investments in the territory of that regional government.
4. The treatment to be accorded by a Party pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 means, with respect to a government of or in a Member State of the European Union, treatment no less favourable than the most favourable treatment accorded, in like situations, by that government to its own investors, and to their investments in its territory.
ARTICLE 10.8
Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord to investors of the other Party and to their enterprises constituting covered investments treatment no less favourable than the treatment it accords, in like situations, to investors and enterprises, respectively, of any third country with respect to their establishment in its territory.
2. Each Party shall accord to investors of the other Party and to their covered investments treatment no less favourable than the treatment it accords, in like situations, to investors and investments, respectively, of any third country with respect to the operation of investments in its territory.
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not be construed as obliging a Party to extend to the investors of the other Party the benefit of any treatment resulting from measures providing for recognition, including of the standards or criteria for the authorisation, licencing or certification of a natural person or enterprise to carry out an economic activity, or of prudential measures.
4. For greater certainty, the treatment referred to in this Article does not include treatment accorded to investors of a third country and their investments by provisions concerning the settlement of investment disputes provided for in this Agreement or other international agreements concluded between a Party and a third country. The substantive provisions in other international agreements do not in themselves constitute treatment as referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, and thus cannot give rise to a breach of this Article. Measures applied pursuant to such provisions may constitute treatment under this Article.
ARTICLE 10.9
Performance Requirements
1. A Party shall not, in connection with the establishment of an enterprise or the operation of an investment of an investor of a Party or of a third country in the territory of that Party, impose or enforce any requirement or enforce any commitment or undertaking to: 40
(a) export a given level or percentage of goods or services;
(b) achieve a given level or percentage of domestic content;
(c) purchase, use or accord a preference to goods produced or services provided in its territory, or to purchase goods or services from natural persons or enterprises in its territory;
(d) relate in any way the volume or value of imports to the volume or value of exports or to the amount of foreign exchange inflows associated with such investment;
(e) restrict sales of goods or services in its territory that such investment produces or supplies by relating those sales in any way to the volume or value of its exports or foreign exchange earnings;
(f) provide access to or transfer a particular technology, a production process or other proprietary knowledge to a natural person or enterprise in its territory;
(g) supply exclusively from the territory of the Party to a specific regional or the world market, goods or services that such investment produces;
(h) locate the headquarters of that investor for a specific regional or the world market in its territory; or
(k) restrict the exportation or sale for export.
2. A Party shall not condition the receipt or continued receipt of an advantage, in connection with the establishment of an enterprise or the operation of an investment of an investor of a Party or of a third country in its territory, on compliance with any requirement to:
(a) achieve a given level or percentage of domestic content;
(b) purchase, use or accord a preference to goods produced or services provided in its territory, or to purchase goods from natural persons or enterprises in its territory;
(c) relate in any way the volume or value of imports to the volume or value of exports or to the amount of foreign exchange inflows associated with such investment;
(d) restrict sales of goods or services in its territory that such investment produces or supplies by relating those sales in any way to the volume or value of its exports or foreign exchange earnings; or
(e) restrict the exportation or sale for export.
3. Nothing in paragraph 2 shall be construed as preventing a Party from conditioning the receipt or continued receipt of an advantage, in connection with an investment of an investor of a Party or of a third country, on compliance with a requirement to locate production, supply a service, train or employ workers, construct or expand particular facilities, or carry out research and development, in its territory.
4. Subparagraph 1(f) does not apply if:
(a) the requirement is imposed or the commitment or undertaking is enforced by a court, administrative tribunal or competition authority to remedy a practice determined after a judicial or administrative process to be a violation of the Party's competition law; or
(b) a Party authorises use of an intellectual property right in accordance with Articles 31 and 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement, or to measures requiring the disclosure of proprietary information that fall within the scope of, and are consistent with, Article 39 of the TRIPS Agreement.
5. Subparagraphs 1(a), (b) and (c) and 2(a) and (b), do not apply to qualification requirements for goods or services with respect to participation in export promotion and foreign aid programmes.
6. Subparagraphs 2(a) and (b) do not apply to requirements imposed by an importing Party relating to the content of goods necessary to qualify for preferential tariffs or preferential quotas.
7. For greater certainty, paragraphs 1 and 2 do not apply to any commitment, undertaking or requirement other than those set out in those paragraphs.
8. This Article does not preclude enforcement of any commitment, undertaking or requirement between private parties other than a Party, where a Party did not impose or require the commitment, undertaking or requirement.
9. This Article is without prejudice to commitments of a Party made under the WTO Agreement.
ARTICLE 10.10
Senior Management and Board of Directors
1. A Party shall not require that an enterprise of that Party that is a covered investment appoint natural persons of any particular nationality to senior management positions.
2. A Party shall not require that the board of directors of an enterprise of the other Party that is a covered investment be composed of nationals or residents in the territory of the Party, or a combination thereof.
ARTICLE 10.11
Formal Requirements
Notwithstanding Articles 10.7 and 10.8, a Party may require an investor of the other Party or its covered investment to provide routine information concerning that investment solely for informational or statistical purposes. The Party shall protect that information which is confidential from any disclosure that would prejudice the competitive position of the investor or the covered investment. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as preventing a Party from otherwise obtaining or disclosing information in connection with the equitable and good faith application of its law.
ARTICLE 10.12
Non-Conforming Measures and Exceptions
1. Articles 10.7 to 10.10 do not apply to:
(a) an existing non-conforming measure that is maintained by a Party at the level of:
(i) the European Union, as set out in its List to Annex I (Reservations for Existing Measures);
(ii) a central government, as set out by that Party in its List to Annex I (Reservations for Existing Measures);
(iii) a regional government, as set out by that Party in its List to Annex I (Reservations for Existing Measures); or
(iv) a local government;
(b) the continuation or prompt renewal of a non-conforming measure referred to in subparagraph (a); or
(c) any amendment to a non-conforming measure referred to in subparagraph (a), to the extent that the amendment does not decrease the conformity of the measure, as it existed immediately before the amendment, with Articles 10.7 to 10.10.
2. Articles 10.7 to 10.10 do not apply to a measure that a Party adopts or maintains with respect to sectors, subsectors or activities as set out in its List to Annex II (Reservations for Future Measures).
3. A Party shall not, under a measure adopted after the date of entry into force of this Agreement and covered by its List to Annex II (Reservations for Future Measures), require directly or indirectly an investor of the other Party, by reason of its nationality, to sell or otherwise dispose of an investment existing at the time the measure becomes effective.
4. Article 10.6 does not apply to a measure that a Party adopts or maintains with respect to committed sectors or subsectors as set out in its Schedule to Annex III (Market Access Commitments).
5. Articles 10.7 and 10.8 do not apply to any measure that constitutes an exception, exemption or waiver from Articles 3 or 4 of the TRIPS Agreement, as provided in Articles 3 to 5 of that Agreement.