1.   The Parties affirm their rights and obligations with respect to each other under the WTO Agreement and any other agreements to which they are both party.

2.   Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as requiring either Party to act in a manner inconsistent with its obligations under the WTO Agreement.

1.   Any reference in this Title to laws and regulations, either generally or by reference to a specific statute, regulation or directive, shall be construed as a reference to the law and regulations as amended, unless otherwise indicated.

2.   Any reference, or incorporation by means of a reference, in this Title to other agreements or legal instruments in whole or in part, shall be construed, unless otherwise indicated, as including:

1.   When the Cooperation Council performs any of the tasks conferred upon it relating to this Title, it shall be composed of representatives of the Parties with responsibility of trade-related matters, in accordance with the Parties' respective legal frameworks, or by their designees.

2.   The Cooperation Council acting in its trade configuration:

3.   The Cooperation Council acting in its trade configuration shall adopt decisions and make appropriate recommendations following the completion of the Parties' respective internal procedures, as provided for in their legislation.

4.   When meetings of the Cooperation Council are not available, the decisions referred to in paragraph 2 may be adopted by written procedure.

1.   When the Cooperation Committee performs any of the tasks conferred upon it in this Title, it shall be composed of representatives of the Parties with responsibility for trade-related matters, or their designees.

2.   The Cooperation Committee acting in its trade configuration shall have, in particular, the following tasks:

3.   In the performance of its tasks under paragraph 2 of this Article, the Cooperation Committee may submit proposals on the necessity to adopt the decisions to make updates or amendments as referred to in point (a) of Article 27(2) or to issue interpretations as referred to in point (b) of Article 27(2) when meetings of the Cooperation Council are not available.

4.   The Cooperation Committee, acting in its trade configuration shall take decisions and make appropriate recommendations following the completion of the Parties' respective internal procedures, as provided in their legislation.

1.   The European Union and the Kyrgyz Republic shall each appoint a coordinator for this Title, within 60 days after the entry into force of this Agreement, and notify each other of the contact details of the coordinators.

2.   The coordinators shall jointly establish the agenda and conduct all other necessary preparations for the meetings of the Cooperation Council and the Cooperation Committee in accordance with this Chapter, and shall follow up on the decisions of such bodies, where appropriate.

1.   The subcommittees shall be composed of representatives of the European Union, on the one part, and of representatives of the Kyrgyz Republic, on the other part.

2.   The subcommittees shall meet within a year of the date of entry into force of this Agreement and, thereafter, once per year or at the request of either Party or of the Cooperation Committee, at an appropriate level. When in person, meetings shall be held alternately in Brussels or Bishkek. Meetings may also be held by any technological means available to the Parties.

3.   The subcommittees shall be co-chaired by representatives of the Parties.

1.   Each Party shall accord most-favoured-nation treatment to goods of the other Party in accordance with Article I of GATT 1994, including its Notes and Supplementary Provisions, which are incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.

2.   Paragraph 1 shall not apply in respect of preferential treatment accorded by either Party to goods of a third country in accordance with the WTO Agreement.

1.   Neither Party shall introduce or maintain any duty, tax or other charge of any kind imposed on, or in connection with, the exportation of a good to the other Party or any other measures having an equivalent effect other than for goods in accordance with the Schedule set out in Annex 2 to this Agreement. This provision does not apply to goods in transit across the territory of a Party within the meaning of Article V of GATT 1994, or to goods which, in accordance with an international agreement between the Kyrgyz Republic and a third party, have been imported into the Kyrgyz Republic without the imposition of export duties which could otherwise have been imposed by that third party on export to the European Union in accordance, where relevant, with that third party's Schedule of concessions annexed to GATT 1994 or any bilateral commitments with the European Union.

2.   Nothing in this Article shall prevent a Party from imposing on the exportation of a good to the other Party a fee or charge that is permitted under Article 38.

1.   Article VIII of GATT 1994 and its interpretative notes as well as any exception and exemption to the obligations, and waivers thereof, set out in Article VIII of GATT 1994 applicable under the WTO Agreement are incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.

2.   Each Party shall promptly publish all fees and charges it imposes in connection with importation or exportation in such a manner as to enable governments, traders and other interested parties, to become acquainted with them.

3.   Each Party shall periodically review the fees and charges it imposes with a view to reducing their number and diversity, where practicable.

4.   Neither Party shall require consular transactions, including related fees and charges, in connection with the importation of any good of the other Party.

1.   A Party shall endeavour to accord to remanufactured goods of the other Party a treatment that is not less favourable than that it accords to equivalent goods in new condition.

2.   If a Party adopts or maintains import and export prohibitions or restrictions to used goods, it shall endeavour not to apply those measures to remanufactured goods.

3.   A Party may require that remanufactured goods be identified as such for distribution or sale in its territory and that they meet all applicable technical requirements that apply to equivalent goods in new condition.

1.   Where the Kyrgyz Republic requires a mark of origin on the importation of goods of the European Union, it shall accept the ‘Made in EU’ origin marking or the equivalent in a language in accordance with the Kyrgyz Republic origin marking requirements under conditions that are no less favourable than those applied to marks of origin of Member States of the European Union.

2.   For the purposes of the origin mark ‘Made in EU’, the Kyrgyz Republic shall treat the European Union as a single territory.

1.   Each Party, in accordance with its competencies (6), shall ensure transparency with regard to export licensing procedures and publish any new export licensing procedure, or any modification to an existing export licensing procedure in such a manner as to enable governments, traders and other interested parties to become acquainted with them. Such publication shall take place, whenever practicable, no later than 30 days before any new export licencing procedure or any modification of any existing export licencing procedure takes effect, and in any event no later than the date when such procedure or modification takes effect.

2.   The publication of export licensing procedures shall include the following information:

3.   Within 45 days after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, each Party shall notify the other Party of its existing export licensing procedures. A Party that adopts a new export licensing procedure, or modifies any existing export licensing procedure, shall notify to the other Party the procedure or modification within 60 days of publication. The notification shall include the reference to the source(s) where the information required pursuant to paragraph 2 is published and include, where appropriate, the address of the relevant official website.

1.   Parties agree that trade defence instruments (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and global safeguards) should be used in full compliance with the relevant WTO requirements and on the basis of a fair and transparent system.

2.   Before a final determination on anti-dumping or countervailing measures is made, the Parties shall ensure the disclosure of all essential facts under consideration which form the basis for the decision to apply measures, without prejudice to Article 6.5 of the Anti-Dumping Agreement and Article 12.4 of the SCM Agreement. Disclosures shall allow interested parties sufficient time to make their comments.

3.   Each interested party shall be given an opportunity to express its views during anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, provided that this does not unnecessarily delay the conduct of the investigations.

4.   This Article shall not be subject to Chapter 14 of this Title.

1.   The Parties shall strengthen cooperation in the area of customs in order to ensure a transparent trade environment, facilitate trade, enhance supply chain security, promote consumer safety, prevent the flows of goods infringing intellectual property rights and fight smuggling and fraud.

2.   In order to implement the objectives referred to in paragraph 1 and within the limits of available resources, the Parties shall cooperate with a view to, inter alia:

1.   Articles 1-17 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement, shall govern the customs valuation of goods in the trade between the Parties. These provisions are hereby incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.

2.   The Parties shall cooperate with a view to reaching a common approach to issues relating to customs valuation.

1.   This Chapter applies to the preparation, adoption and application of all standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures defined in the TBT Agreement which may affect trade in goods between the Parties.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, this Chapter does not apply to:

1.   Each Party shall carry out, in accordance with the rules and procedures applicable to that Party, a regulatory impact assessment of planned technical regulations taking into account the available regulatory and non-regulatory alternatives to the proposed technical regulation that may fulfil the Party's legitimate objectives in accordance with Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement.

2.   Each Party shall use relevant international standards as a basis for its technical regulations unless it can demonstrate that such international standards would be an ineffective or inappropriate means for the fulfilment of the legitimate objectives pursued.

3.   If a Party has not used international standards as a basis for its technical regulations, it shall, on the request of the other Party, take measures to ensure that any substantial deviation from the relevant international standard is identified and explain the reasons why such standards were considered to be inappropriate or ineffective for the aim pursued.

4.   Each Party shall review its technical regulations to increase their convergence with relevant international standards, taking into account, inter alia, any new development in the relevant international standards or any change in the circumstances that have given rise to divergences from any relevant international standard.

5.   When developing major technical regulations which may have a significant effect on trade, each Party shall take measures to ensure, in accordance with its respective rules and procedures, that procedures exist that allow persons to provide input through a public discussion, except where urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security arise or threaten to arise, and that the results of such discussions are made public.

1.   With a view to harmonising standards on as wide a basis as possible, each Party shall encourage the standardising bodies established within its territory and the regional standardising bodies of which it or the standardising bodies established in its territory are members to:

2.   The Parties should exchange information on their respective standardisation processes, and the extent of use of international, regional or sub-regional standards as a basis for their national standards.

3.   If requirements of standards are rendered mandatory in a draft technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure, the transparency obligations set out in Article 58 of this Agreement and in Article 2 or 5 of the TBT Agreement shall be fulfilled.

4.   International standards adopted by the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission, the International Telecommunication Union, the Codex Alimentarius Commission established by the Food and Agriculture Organization shall be considered to be the relevant international standards within the meaning of Articles 2 and 5 of the TBT Agreement and of Annex 3 thereto, not precluding the use of other international standards.

5.   A standard developed by other international organisations could also be considered to be relevant international standard within the meaning of Articles 2 and 5 of the TBT Agreement and of Annex 3 thereto, provided that it has been developed:

1.   The provisions set out in Article 52 with respect to the preparation, adoption and application of technical regulations shall apply to conformity assessment procedures mutatis mutandis.

2.   If a Party requires conformity assessment as a positive assurance that a product conforms with a technical regulation, it shall select conformity assessment procedures (7) proportionate to the risks involved as determined on the basis of risk assessment, including, where appropriate, the use of the supplier's declaration of conformity.

3.   If a Party requires third-party conformity assessment as a positive assurance that a product conforms with a technical regulation, and it has not reserved this task to a government authority as specified in paragraph 4, it shall:

4.   Nothing in point (f) of paragraph 3 shall be construed to prohibit a Party from requiring subcontractors to meet the same requirements that the conformity assessment body to which it is contracted would be required to meet in order to perform the contracted tests or inspection itself.

5.   Nothing in this Article shall preclude a Party from requiring that conformity assessment in relation to specific products be performed by specified government authorities. In such cases, the Party shall:

6.   Three years after the entry into force of this Agreement, the Parties shall start discussions on the acceptance of a supplier's declaration of conformity as proof of compliance with existing technical regulations, in particular in the following fields:

1.   The Parties shall strengthen their cooperation with regard to standards, technical regulations, metrology, market surveillance, accreditation and conformity assessment procedures with a view to increasing the mutual understanding of their respective systems and facilitating access to their respective markets. To that end, the Parties shall seek to identify and develop cooperation mechanisms and initiatives appropriate for the particular issues or sectors, including:

2.   In order to promote trade between them, the Parties shall:

1.   Upon transmitting a proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure to the WTO Central Registry of Notifications a Party shall allow for a period of at least 60 days for the other Party to provide written comments, except where urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security arise or threaten to arise. A Party shall give consideration to a reasonable request to extend the period for comments.

2.   If a Party receives written comments on its proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure from the other Party, it shall:

3.   Each Party shall publish on a website its responses to comments it receives following the notification referred to in paragraph 1 no later than on the date of publication of the adopted technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure.

4.   Each Party shall, if requested by the other Party, provide information regarding the objectives of, and legal basis and rationale for, a technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure that the Party has adopted or is proposing to adopt.

5.   Each Party shall ensure that the technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures it has adopted are published on a website free of charge.

6.   Each Party shall provide information on the adoption and the entry into force of the technical regulation and conformity assessment procedure and the adopted final text through an addendum to the original notification to the WTO.

7.   There shall be a reasonable interval between the publication of technical regulations and their entry into force in order to allow economic operators of the other Party to adapt. The phrase ‘reasonable interval’ shall be understood to mean a period of not less than six months, except in cases where this would be an ineffective means for the fulfilment of the legitimate objectives pursued.

8.   A Party shall give positive consideration to a reasonable request from the other Party, received prior to the end of the comment period following the transmission of a proposed technical regulation to the WTO as referred to in paragraph 1, to extend the period of time between the adoption of the technical regulation and its entry into force, except in cases where the delay would be an ineffective means for the fulfilment of the legitimate objectives pursued.

1.   The Parties agree that a technical regulation may include or exclusively address marking or labelling requirements. In such cases, the Parties shall apply the principles of Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement.

2.   If a Party requires mandatory marking or labelling of products:

1.   A Party may request consultations with the other Party regarding any matter arising under this Chapter by delivering a written request to the TBT Chapter coordinator of the other Party. The Parties shall make every attempt to resolve the matter in a mutually satisfactory manner and may convene the Cooperation Committee for that purpose.

2.   For greater certainty, this Article is without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the Parties under Chapter 14.

1.   Each Party shall nominate a TBT Chapter coordinator and inform the other Party if it changes. The TBT Chapter coordinators shall work jointly to facilitate the implementation of this Chapter and the cooperation between the Parties in all matters related to the TBT Agreement.

2.   The functions of each TBT Chapter coordinator shall include:

3.   The TBT Chapter coordinators shall communicate with one another by any agreed method that is appropriate to carry out their functions.

1.   The Parties shall ensure that SPS measures are developed and applied on the basis of the principles of proportionality, transparency, non-discrimination and scientific justification and taking into account the international standards (the International Plant Protection Convention, signed in Rome on 6 December 1951 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘IPPC’), the World Organisation for Animal Health (hereinafter referred to as the ‘OIE’), and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Codex Alimentarius’)).

2.   Each Party shall ensure that its SPS measures do not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between its own territory and the territory of the other Party to the extent that identical or similar conditions prevail. SPS measures shall not be applied in a manner which would constitute a disguised restriction on trade between the Parties.

3.   Each Party shall ensure that SPS measures, procedures or controls are implemented and that requests for information received from a competent authority of the other Party are addressed without undue delay and in a manner no less favourable to imported products than to like domestic products.

1.   The import requirements of the importing Party shall be applicable to the entire territory of the exporting Party, subject to Article 64.

2.   The import requirements set out in certificates that may be required for trading food and agricultural goods between the Parties are based on IPPC, OIE and Codex Alimentarius principles and their relevant standards, unless the import requirements are supported by a science-based risk assessment conducted in accordance with the applicable international rules provided for in the SPS Agreement.

3.   The requirements set out in import permits as issued by the Kyrgyz Republic shall not contain sanitary and veterinary conditions that are more stringent than those laid down in the certificates referred to in paragraph 2. Each Party should apply harmonised import certificates that are managed at central level and that are applicable to the whole territory of the exporting Party.

1.   The Parties shall discuss and exchange information on existing SPS and animal welfare measures and on their development and implementation. Such discussions and exchange of information shall, as appropriate, take into account the SPS Agreement and the standards, guidelines or recommendations of the IPPC, the OIE and the Codex Alimentarius.

2.   The Parties agree to cooperate on matters relating to food safety, animal health, animal welfare, plant health, the protection of plants and antimicrobial resistance through the exchange of information, expertise and experience with the objective of building up capacity in those fields. Such cooperation may include technical assistance.

3.   Upon request by either Party, the Parties shall establish a timely dialogue on SPS issues to consider matters relating to SPS and other urgent issues covered by this Chapter. The Cooperation Committee may adopt rules for the conduct of such dialogues.

4.   The Parties shall designate and regularly update contact points for communication on matters covered by this Chapter.

1.   The Parties, affirming their respective commitments under the WTO Agreement, hereby lay down the necessary arrangements with a view to improving reciprocal conditions for trade in services and investment.

2.   Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as imposing any obligation with respect to government procurement subject to Chapter 9.

3.   This Chapter shall not apply to subsidies granted by either Party.

4.   The Parties reaffirm the right to regulate within their respective territory to achieve legitimate policy objectives, such as the protection of public health, social services, public education, safety, the environment, including climate change, public morals, social or consumer protection, privacy and data protection, and the promotion and protection of cultural diversity.

5.   This Chapter shall not apply to measures affecting natural persons seeking access to the employment market of the Parties or to measures regarding citizenship, residence or employment on a permanent basis.

6.   This Chapter shall not prevent a Party from applying measures to regulate the entry of natural persons into, or their temporary stay in, its territory, including measures necessary to protect the integrity of, and to ensure the orderly movement of natural persons across, its borders, provided that such measures are not applied in such a manner as to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to the other Party under this Chapter. The sole fact of requiring a visa for natural persons of a certain country and not for those of others shall not be regarded as nullifying or impairing benefits accrued under this Chapter.

7.   For the purposes of this Chapter, no account shall be taken of treatment accorded by a Party:

8.   This Chapter does not apply to the audio-visual sector.

1.   With respect to the establishment and operations of an enterprise to perform economic activities in its territory, the European Union shall accord to investors of the Kyrgyz Republic and their enterprises treatment no less favourable than that accorded to investors of any third country and their enterprises.

2.   With respect to the establishment and operations of an enterprise to perform economic activities in its territory, the Kyrgyz Republic shall accord to investors of the European Union and their enterprises treatment no less favourable than that accorded to its own investors and their enterprises or to the investors of any third country and their enterprises, whichever is the better.

3.   For greater certainty, the treatment referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 does not include investor-to-state dispute-settlement procedures provided for in other international agreements. Substantive provisions in other international agreements concluded by a Party with a third party do not in themselves constitute treatment under this Article. Measures of a Party pursuant to such provisions (11) may constitute treatment as referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, and thus may give rise to a breach of this Article.

4.   Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall not apply to air transport, inland waterways or maritime transport.

1.   Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, a Party should not be required to accord, in respect of sectors or measures covered by the GATS, treatment which is more favourable than that which that Party is required to accord under the GATS and this in respect of each services sector and sub-sector and mode of supply.

2.   For greater certainty, in respect of services, the GATS schedules of specific commitments of the Parties, including the reservations and, for the European Union, its Annex on Article II exemptions (list of MFN exceptions), shall be incorporated into and made part of this Agreement and shall apply.

1.   Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining measures for prudential reasons, such as the protection of investors, depositors, policyholders or persons to whom a fiduciary duty is owed by a financial service supplier, or ensuring the integrity and stability of the financial system. Where such measures do not conform with this Agreement, they shall not be used as a means of avoiding the Party's commitments or obligations under this Agreement.

2.   Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to require a Party to disclose information relating to the affairs and accounts of individual customers or any confidential or proprietary information in the possession of public entities.

1.   Each Party shall allow investors of the other Party to employ in their enterprises natural persons of that other Party provided that such employees are intra-corporate transferees.

2.   The entry and temporary stay of the natural persons referred to in paragraph 1 shall be for the following periods:

3.   All requirements pursuant to the laws and regulations of the Parties regarding entry, stay, work and social security measures continue to apply, including regulations concerning period of stay, minimum wages and collective wage agreements.

4.   This Article does not apply in cases where the intent or effect of the temporary presence of an intra-corporate transferee is to interfere with, or otherwise affect the outcome of, any labour or management dispute or negotiation.

1.   Each Party shall use its best endeavours to avoid taking any measures or actions which render the conditions for the establishment and operations of enterprises in its territory of each other's investors more restrictive than the situation existing on the day preceding the date of signature of this Agreement.

2.   Acting in the spirit of partnership and cooperation and in the light of Chapter 13, the Kyrgyz Republic shall inform the European Union of its intention to adopt new laws or regulations which may render the conditions for the establishment or operations of enterprises in the Kyrgyz Republic of investors of the European Union more restrictive than the situation existing on the day preceding the date of signature of this Agreement.

3.   The European Union may request the Kyrgyz Republic to communicate the drafts of new laws or regulations as referred to in paragraph 2 and to enter into consultations about such drafts.

4.   Where new laws or regulations introduced in the Kyrgyz Republic would result in rendering the conditions for the operations of enterprises of investors of the European Union more restrictive than the situation existing on the date of signature of this Agreement, such laws or regulations shall not apply for three years following their entry into force to those enterprises already established in the Kyrgyz Republic at the time of their entry into force.

5.   For greater certainty, tax measures applied by the Kyrgyz Republic in a non-discriminatory manner shall not be considered to be more restrictive within the meaning of paragraph 4.

1.   The Parties undertake in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter to take the necessary steps to allow progressively the cross-border supply of services between the Parties, taking into account the development of their respective service sectors.

2.   The Cooperation Council shall make recommendations for the implementation of this Article.

1.   The Parties shall apply the principle of unrestricted access to the international maritime markets and trade on a commercial and non-discriminatory basis.

2.   In applying the principle referred to in paragraph 1, the Parties shall:

1.   With regard to transactions on the capital and financial account of the balance of payments, from the date of entry into force of this Agreement, each Party shall ensure the free movement of capital related to direct investments made in accordance with the law applicable in its territory and Chapter 6, as well as the liquidation or repatriation of such invested capital and any profit stemming therefrom.

2.   Without prejudice to other provisions of this Agreement, neither Party shall introduce any new restrictions on the movement of capital and current payments between residents of the Member States of the European Union and the Kyrgyz Republic and shall not make the existing arrangements more restrictive.

3.   The Parties shall consult each other with a view to facilitating the movement of capital between them in order to promote trade and investment.

1.   Articles 83 and 84 shall not preclude a Party from applying its laws and regulations relating to:

2.   The laws and regulations referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be applied in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner or in a manner which otherwise constitutes a disguised restriction on capital movements, payments or transfers.

1.   In exceptional circumstances of serious difficulties, or threat thereof, for the operation of monetary and exchange rate policy, in the case of the Kyrgyz Republic or a Member State of the European Union whose currency is not the euro, or for the operation of the economic and monetary union, in the case of the European Union, safeguard measures may be adopted or maintained by the concerned Party with regard to capital movements, payments or transfers for a period not exceeding six months.

2.   The measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be limited to the extent they are strictly necessary.

1.   Where a Party experiences serious balance-of-payments or external financial difficulties, or the threat thereof, it may adopt or maintain restrictive measures with regard to capital movements, payments or transfers (12).

2.   The measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall:

3.   In the case of trade in goods, each Party may adopt restrictive measures in order to safeguard its external financial position or balance of payments. Such measures shall be in accordance with GATT 1994 and the Understanding on the Balance-of-Payments Provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.

4.   In the case of trade in services, each Party may adopt restrictive measures in order to safeguard its external financial position or balance of payments. Such measures shall be in accordance with Article XII of GATS.

5.   A Party maintaining or having adopted measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall promptly notify them to the other Party.

6.   Where restrictions are adopted or maintained under this Article, consultations shall be held promptly in the Cooperation Committee unless consultations are held in other fora. The consultations shall assess the balance-of-payments or external financial difficulty that led to the respective measures, taking into account, inter alia, such factors as:

7.   The consultations referred to in paragraph 6 shall address the compliance of any restrictive measure with paragraphs 1 and 2. All relevant findings of a statistical or factual nature presented by the International Monetary Fund, where available, shall be accepted and conclusions shall take into account the assessment by the International Monetary Fund of the balance of payments and the external financial situation of the Party concerned.

1.   This Chapter applies to any measure relating to a covered procurement, whether or not it is conducted exclusively or partially by electronic means.

2.   For the purposes of this Chapter, ‘covered procurement’ means procurement for governmental purposes:

3.   Except as otherwise provided for in Annex 9, this Chapter does not apply to:

4.   The commitments of each Party on covered procurement and the related access to information are set out in Annex 9 as follows:

5.   If a procuring entity, in the context of covered procurement, requires a person not covered under the relevant Party's Sub-Section of Section 1, 2 or 3 of Annex 9 to procure in accordance with particular requirements, paragraph 4 of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to such requirements.

Valuation

6.   In estimating the value of a procurement for the purpose of ascertaining whether it is a covered procurement, a procuring entity shall:

7.   If an individual requirement for a procurement results in the award of more than one contract or in the award of contracts in separate parts (hereinafter referred to as ‘recurring contracts’) the calculation of the estimated maximum total value shall be based on:

8.   In the case of procurement by lease, rental or hire purchase of a good or a service, or procurement for which a total price is not specified, the basis for valuation shall be:

1.   Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to prevent a Party from taking any action or from not disclosing any information that it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests relating to the procurement:

2.   Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner that would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between the Parties where the same conditions prevail or a disguised restriction on trade between the Parties, nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to prevent a Party from imposing or enforcing measures:

1.   With respect to any measure regarding covered procurement, a Party, including its procuring entities, shall accord immediately and unconditionally to the goods and services of the other Party and to the suppliers of the other Party offering such goods or services, treatment no less favourable than the treatment the Party, including its procuring entities, accords to its own goods, services and suppliers.

2.   With respect to any measure regarding covered procurement, a Party, including its procuring entities, shall not:

3.   Each Party shall ensure that the suppliers of the other Party that have established a commercial presence in its territory through the constitution, acquisition or maintenance of a legal person are accorded, with regard to any government procurement of the Party in its territory, treatment no less favourable than the treatment accorded to its domestic suppliers in accordance with national laws and regulations.

The general exceptions set forth in Article 157 shall apply.

4.   When conducting covered procurement by electronic means, a procuring entity shall:

5.   A procuring entity shall conduct covered procurement in a transparent and impartial manner that:

6.   For the purposes of covered procurement, a Party shall not apply rules of origin to imports or supplies of goods or services from the other Party that are different from the rules of origin the Party applies at the same time in the normal course of trade to imports or supplies of the same goods or services.

7.   With regard to covered procurement, a Party, including its procuring entities, shall not seek, take account of, impose or enforce any offset.

8.   Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to:

9.   Each Party shall ensure that it has appropriate measures in place to address corruption in its government procurement. Those measures may include procedures to render ineligible for participation in the Party's procurements, either indefinitely or for a stated period of time, suppliers that the judicial authorities or competent State authorities of that Party have determined by final decision to have engaged in fraudulent or other illegal actions in relation to government procurement in the territory of that Party. Each Party shall also ensure that it has in place policies and procedures to eliminate to the extent possible or manage any potential conflict of interest of persons engaged in or having influence over procurement.

1.   Each Party shall:

2.   Each Party shall list in Section 6 of Annex 9:

3.   A Party shall promptly notify the Cooperation Committee of any modification to the information listed, pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article, in Section 6 of Annex 9.

1.   All notices referred to in this Article (notice of intended procurement, summary notice and notice of planned procurement) shall be directly accessible by electronic means free of charge through a single online point of access. In addition, the notices may also be published in an appropriate paper medium which is widely disseminated and shall remain readily accessible to the public, at least until expiration of the time period indicated in the notice.

2.   For each covered procurement, a procuring entity shall publish a notice of intended procurement, except in the circumstances described in Article 166.

3.   Except as otherwise provided for in this Chapter, each notice of intended procurement shall include:

4.   For each case of intended procurement, a procuring entity shall publish a summary notice that is readily accessible, at the same time as the publication of the notice of intended procurement, in one of the languages of the WTO. The summary notice shall contain at least the following information:

5.   Procuring entities are encouraged to publish in the appropriate electronic and, if available, paper medium listed in Section 6 of Annex 9 as early as possible in each fiscal year a notice regarding their future procurement plans (hereinafter referred to as ‘notice of planned procurement’). The notice of planned procurement shall also be published in the single point of access website listed in Section 6 of Annex 9, subject to paragraph 3 of this Article. The notice of planned procurement should include the subject matter of the procurement and the planned date of the publication of the notice of intended procurement.

6.   A procuring entity covered under Sections B or C may use a notice of planned procurement as a notice of intended procurement provided that the notice of planned procurement includes as much of the information referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article as is available to the procuring entity and a statement that interested suppliers should express their interest in the procurement to the procuring entity.

1.   A procuring entity shall limit any conditions for participation in a procurement to those that are essential to ensure that a supplier has the legal and financial capacities and the commercial and technical abilities to undertake the relevant procurement.

2.   In establishing the conditions for participation, a procuring entity:

3.   In assessing whether a supplier satisfies the conditions for participation, a procuring entity shall:

4.   If there is supporting evidence, a Party, including its procuring entities, may exclude a supplier from participation in a procurement on grounds such as:

1.   A Party, including its procuring entities, may maintain a supplier registration system under which interested suppliers are required to register and provide certain information. In this case, the Party shall ensure that interested suppliers have access to information on the registration system to the extent possible, through electronic means, and that they may request registration at any time. The procuring entity shall inform them within a reasonable period of time of the decision to grant or reject this request. If the request is rejected, the decision shall be duly motivated.

2.   Each Party shall ensure that:

3.   A Party, including its procuring entities, shall not adopt or apply a registration system or qualification procedure with the purpose or the effect of creating unnecessary obstacles to the participation of suppliers of the other Party in its procurement.

4.   If a procuring entity intends to use selective tendering, it shall:

5.   A procuring entity shall allow all qualified suppliers to participate in a particular procurement, unless the procuring entity states in the notice of intended procurement any limitation on the number of qualified suppliers permitted to tender and the criteria for selecting the limited number of suppliers. An invitation to submit a tender shall be addressed to a number of qualified suppliers necessary to ensure effective competition.

6.   If the tender documentation is not made publicly available from the date of publication of the notice referred to in point (a) of paragraph 4, a procuring entity shall ensure that the documentation is made available at the same time to all the qualified suppliers selected in accordance with paragraph 5.

7.   A procuring entity may maintain a multi-use list, provided that a notice inviting interested suppliers to apply for inclusion on the list is:

8.   The notice provided for in paragraph 7 shall include:

9.   Notwithstanding paragraph 7, if a multi-use list will be valid for three years or less, a procuring entity may publish the notice referred to in paragraph 7 only once, at the beginning of the period of validity of the list, provided that the notice:

10.   A procuring entity shall allow suppliers to apply at any time for inclusion on a multi-use list and shall include on the list all qualified suppliers within a reasonably short time.

11.   If a supplier that is not included on a multi-use list submits a request for participation in a procurement based on a multi-use list and all required documents, within the time period provided for in Article 164(2), a procuring entity shall examine the request. The procuring entity shall not exclude the supplier from consideration in respect of the procurement on the grounds that the procuring entity does not have sufficient time to examine the request, unless, in exceptional cases, due to the complexity of the procurement, the procuring entity is not able to complete the examination of the request within the time period allowed for the submission of tenders.

12.   A procuring entity covered under Sections 2 and 3 of Annex 9 may use a notice inviting interested suppliers to apply for inclusion on a multi-use list as a notice of intended procurement, provided that:

13.   A procuring entity covered under Section 2 or 3 of Annex 9 may allow a supplier that has applied for inclusion on a multi-use list to tender in a given procurement, if there is sufficient time for the procuring entity to examine whether the supplier satisfies the conditions for participation.

14.   A procuring entity shall promptly inform any supplier that submits a request for participation in a procurement or application for inclusion on a multi-use list of the procuring entity's decision with respect to the request or application.

15.   If a procuring entity rejects a supplier's request for participation in a procurement or application for inclusion on a multi-use list, ceases to recognise a supplier as a qualified supplier, or removes a supplier from a multi-use list, the procuring entity shall promptly inform the supplier and, on request of the supplier, promptly provide the supplier with a written explanation of the reasons for its decision.

1.   A Party including its procuring entities shall not prepare, adopt or apply any technical specification or set out any conformity assessment procedure with the purpose or the effect of creating unnecessary obstacles to trade between the Parties.

2.   In setting out the technical specifications for the goods or services being procured, a procuring entity shall, if appropriate:

3.   If design or descriptive characteristics are set out in the technical specifications, a procuring entity should indicate, if appropriate, that it will consider tenders of equivalent goods or services that demonstrably fulfil the requirements of the procurement by including words such as ‘or equivalent’ in the tender documentation.

4.   A procuring entity shall not set out technical specifications that require or refer to a particular trademark or trade name, patent, copyright, design, type, specific origin, producer or supplier, unless there is no other sufficiently precise or intelligible way of describing the procurement requirements and provided that the procuring entity includes words such as ‘or equivalent’ in the tender documentation.

5.   A procuring entity shall not seek or accept, in a manner that would have the effect of precluding competition, advice that may be used in the preparation or adoption of any technical specification for a specific procurement from a person that may have a commercial interest in the procurement.

6.   A Party, including its procuring entities, may prepare, adopt or apply technical specifications to promote the conservation of natural resources or protect the environment, provided that it does so in accordance with this Article.

A Party may:

7.   A procuring entity shall make available to suppliers tender documentation that includes all information necessary to permit suppliers to prepare and submit responsive tenders. Unless already provided in the notice of intended procurement, such documentation shall include a complete description of:

8.   In setting any date for the delivery of goods or the supply of services being procured, a procuring entity shall take into account such factors as the complexity of the procurement, the extent of subcontracting anticipated and the realistic time required for production, destocking and transport of goods from the point of supply or for supply of services.

9.   The evaluation criteria set out in the tender documentation may include, among others, price and other cost factors, quality, technical merit, environmental characteristics and terms of delivery.

10.   A procuring entity shall promptly:

11.   If, prior to the award of a contract, a procuring entity modifies the criteria or requirements set out in the notice of intended procurement or tender documentation made available to participating suppliers, or amends or reissues the notice or tender documentation, it shall transmit in writing all such modifications or the amended or re-issued notice or tender documentation:

1.   A procuring entity shall, in accordance with its own reasonable needs, provide sufficient time periods for suppliers to prepare and submit requests for participation and responsive tenders, taking into account such factors as:

These time periods, including any extension thereof, shall be the same for all interested or participating suppliers.

2.   A procuring entity that uses selective tendering shall establish that the final date for the submission of requests for participation is, in principle, to be at least 25 days after the date of publication of the notice of intended procurement. If a state of urgency duly substantiated by the procuring entity renders this time period impracticable, the time period may be reduced to not less than 10 days.

3.   Except as provided for in paragraphs 4, 5, 7 and 8, a procuring entity shall establish that the final date for the submission of tenders is to be at least 40 days after the date on which:

4.   A procuring entity may reduce the time period for tendering established in accordance with paragraph 3 to not less than 10 days if:

5.   A procuring entity may reduce the time period for tendering established in accordance with paragraph 3 by five days for each one of the following circumstances:

6.   The use of paragraph 5, in conjunction with paragraph 4, shall in no case result in the reduction of the time period for tendering established in accordance with paragraph 3 to less than 10 days from the date on which the notice of intended procurement is published.

7.   Notwithstanding any other provision in this Article, a procuring entity purchasing commercial goods or services, or any combination thereof, may reduce the time period for tendering established in accordance with paragraph 3 to not less than 13 days, provided that it publishes by electronic means, at the same time, both the notice of intended procurement and the tender documentation. In addition, if the procuring entity accepts tenders for commercial goods or services by electronic means, it may reduce the time period established in accordance with paragraph 3 to not less than 10 days.

8.   A procuring entity covered under Section 2 or 3 of Annex 9 that has selected all or a limited number of qualified suppliers may determine the time period for tendering by mutual agreement between the procuring entity and the selected suppliers. In the absence of agreement, the time period shall not be less than 10 days.

1.   A Party may provide for its procuring entities to conduct negotiations with suppliers if:

2.   A procuring entity shall:

1.   Provided that it does not use this provision for the purpose of avoiding competition among suppliers or in a manner that discriminates against suppliers of the other Party or protects domestic suppliers, a procuring entity may use limited tendering and may choose not to apply Articles 160, 161 and 162, Article 163(7) to (11), and Articles 164 to 167 under any of the following circumstances:

2.   A procuring entity shall prepare a report in writing on each contract awarded under paragraph 1. The report shall include the name of the procuring entity, the value and kind of goods or services procured and a statement indicating the circumstances and conditions referred to in paragraph 1 that justified the use of limited tendering.