India MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement

 

 

India - MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement

 

 

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PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN

MERCOSUR AND THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA

 

The Argentine Republic, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of

Paraguay and the República Oriental del Uruguay, States Parties to the

MERCOSUR, and the Republic of India:

CONSIDERING

That the Framework Agreement for the creation of a Free Trade Area between

MERCOSUR and the Republic of India provides for a first stage of action

aimed at increasing trade, including the mutual granting of tariff preferences;

That implementation of an instrument providing for the granting of fixed tariff

preferences during said first stage would facilitate subsequent negotiations for

the creation of a Free Trade Area;

That the negotiations needed to implement the granting of fixed tariff

preferences and to establish trade disciplines between the Parties have been

conducted;

That regional integration and trade among developing countries, including

through the creation of free trade areas, are compatible with the multilateral

trading system, and contribute to the expansion of world trade, to the

integration of their economies into the global economy, and to the social and

economic development of their peoples;

That the process of integrating their economies includes the gradual and

reciprocal liberalization of trade and the strengthening of economic cooperation

amongst them;

That Article 27 of the Treaty of Montevideo 1980, of which the MERCOSUR

Member States are signatory Parties, authorizes the conclusion of Partial Scope

Agreements with other developing countries and economic integration areas

outside Latin America;

HEREBY AGREE AS FOLLOWS:

Chapter I

Purpose of the Agreement

Article 1

For the purposes of this Agreement, the ‘Contracting Parties’, hereinafter

referred to as ‘Parties’, are MERCOSUR and the Republic of India. The

‘Signatory Parties’ are the Argentine Republic, the Federative Republic of

Brazil, the Republic of Paraguay, the República Oriental del Uruguay and the

Republic of India.

Article 2

The Parties hereby agree to conclude this Preferential Trade Agreement as a

first step towards the creation of a Free Trade Area between MERCOSUR and

the Republic of India.

Chapter II

Trade Liberalisation

Article 3

Annexes I and II to this Agreement contain the products on which tariff

preferences and other conditions are agreed for the importation from the

respective territories of the Signatory Parties.

a) Annex I sets forth the products on which tariff preferences are granted by

MERCOSUR to the Republic of India.

b) Annex II sets forth the products on which tariff preferences are granted by

the Republic of India to MERCOSUR.

Article 4

The products included in Annexes I and II are classified in accordance with the

Harmonised System (HS).

Article 5

Tariff preferences will be applied to all customs duties in force in each

Signatory Party at the time of importing the relevant product.

Article 6

A ‘customs duty’ includes duties and charges of any kind imposed in

connection with the importation of a good, but does not include:

a) internal taxes or other internal charges imposed consistently with Article III of

the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994;

b) antidumping or countervailing duty in accordance with Articles VI and XVI

of GATT 1994, the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of

GATT 1994, and the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing

Measures;

c) other duties or charges imposed consistently with Article VIII of GATT 1994

and the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article II:1 (b) of the GATT

1994.

Article 7

Except otherwise provided for in this Agreement or in GATT 1994, the Parties

shall not apply non-tariff barriers to the products included in the Annexes to this

Agreement. Non-tariff barriers shall refer to any administrative, financial,

exchange-related or other measure whereby a Party prevents or hinders mutual

trade by virtue of a unilateral decision.

Article 8

If a Contracting Party concludes a preferential agreement with a non Party, it

shall upon request from the other Contracting Party, afford adequate

opportunity for consultations on any additional benefits as granted therein.

Chapter III

General Exceptions

Article 9

Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent any Signatory Party from taking

actions and adopting measures consistent with the Articles XX and XXI of the

GATT 1994.

Chapter IV

State Trading Enterprises

Article 10

Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Signatory Party from maintaining or

establishing a state trading enterprise as understood in Article XVII of GATT

1994.

Article 11

Each Signatory Party shall ensure that any state trading enterprise that it

maintains or establishes acts in a manner that is consistent with the obligations

of the Signatory Parties under this Agreement and accords non-discriminatory

treatment in the import from and export to the other Signatory Parties.

Chapter V

Rules of Origin

Article 12

The products included in Annexes I and II of this Agreement shall meet the

rules of origin in accordance with Annex III of this Agreement in order to

qualify for tariff preferences.

Chapter VI

National Treatment

Article 13

On matters relating to taxes, fees or any other domestic duties, the products

originating from the territory of any of the Signatory Parties shall receive in the

territory of the other Signatory Parties the same treatment as applied to the

national products, in accordance with Article III of GATT 1994.

Chapter VII

Customs Valuation

Article 14

On matters related to customs valuation, the Signatory Parties shall be governed

by Article VII of GATT 1994 and the WTO Agreement on the Implementation

of Article VII of GATT 1994.

Chapter VIII

Safeguard Measures

Article 15

The implementation of preferential safeguard measures concerning the

imported products which have been accorded tariff preferences established in

Annexes I and II shall be carried out according to the rules agreed upon in the

Annex IV of this Agreement.

Article 16

The Signatory Parties shall maintain their rights and obligations to apply

safeguard measures consistent with Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the WTO

Agreement on Safeguards.


Chapter IX

Antidumping and Countervailing Measures

Article 17

In applying antidumping and countervailing measures, the Signatory Parties

shall be governed by their respective legislation, which shall be consistent with

Articles VI and XVI of GATT 1994, the Agreement on Implementation of

Article VI of GATT 1994, and the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and

Countervailing Measures.

Chapter X

Technical Barriers to Trade

Article 18

The Signatory Parties shall abide by the rights and obligations set out in the

WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

Article 19

The Signatory Parties shall co-operate in the area of standards, technical

regulations and conformity assessment procedures with the objective of

facilitating trade.

Article 20

The Signatory Parties shall endeavour to conclude mutual equivalence

agreements.

Chapter XI

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures

Article 21

The Signatory Parties shall abide by the rights and obligations set out in the

WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

Article 22

The Signatory Parties agree to co-operate in the areas of animal health and plant

protection, food safety and mutual recognition of sanitary and phytosanitary

measures, through their respective competent authorities, including, inter-alia,

by means of equivalence agreements and mutual recognition agreements to be

concluded taking into account relevant international criteria.

Chapter XII

Administration of the Agreement

Article 23

The Parties agree to create a Joint Administration Committee composed by the

MERCOSUR`s Common Market Group or its representatives and by India’s

Secretary of Commerce or its representatives.

Article 24

The Joint Administration Committee shall hold its first meeting within sixty

days of the entry into force of this Agreement, when it shall establish its

working procedures.

Article 25

The Joint Administration Committee shall meet ordinarily at least once every

year, at such venues as shall be agreed by the Parties, and extraordinarily at any

time, at the request of a Party.

Article 26

The Joint Administration Committee shall adopt its decisions by consensus and

shall have the following functions, inter alia:

1) To ensure the proper functioning and implementation of this Agreement, its

Annexes and additional Protocols, and continuation of the dialogue between

the Parties.

2) To consider and submit to the Parties any modifications and amendments to

this Agreement.

3) To evaluate the process of trade liberalisation established under this

Agreement, study the development of trade between the Parties and

recommend further steps to create a Free Trade Area in accordance with

Article 2.

4) To perform other functions that may arise from the provisions of this

Agreement, its Annexes and any additional Protocols.

5) To establish mechanisms to encourage the active participation of the private

sectors in areas covered by this Agreement between the Parties.

6) To exchange opinions and make suggestions on any issue of mutual interest

relating to areas covered by this Agreement, including future actions.

7) The creation of subsidiary bodies as may be necessary, inter alia on Customs,

Trade Facilitation and Technical Barriers to Trade, and Sanitary and

Phytosanitary Measures.


Chapter XIII

Amendments and Modifications

Article 27

Any Party may initiate a proposal to amend or modify the provisions of this

Agreement by submitting such proposal to the Joint Administration Committee.

The decision to amend shall be taken by mutual consent of the Parties.

Article 28

The amendments or modifications to the present Agreement shall be adopted by

means of additional Protocols thereto.

Chapter XIV

Settlement of Disputes

Article 29

Any dispute arising in connection with the application of, interpretation of, or

non compliance with any provision of this Agreement shall be settled in

accordance with the rules established in the Annex V of this Agreement.

Chapter XV

Entry into Force

Article 30

This Agreement shall enter into force thirty days after all Signatory Parties have

formally notified, through diplomatic channels, the completion of the internal

procedures necessary to that effect.

Article 31

This Agreement shall remain in force until the date of entry into force of the

Agreement for the creation of a Free Trade Area between MERCOSUR and the

Republic of India unless terminated in accordance with Article 32 below.

Chapter XVI

Withdrawal

Article 32

Should any of the Contracting Parties wish to withdraw from this Agreement, it

shall give formal notice of its intention to the other Party at least sixty days in

advance. Once withdrawn the rights and obligations assumed by the Party

concerned shall cease to apply, but it shall be bound to comply with obligations

in connection with the tariff preferences established in Annexes I and II of this

Agreement for a term of one year, unless otherwise agreed upon.

Chapter XVII

Depositary

Article 33

The Government of the Republic of Paraguay shall be the Depositary of this

Agreement for the MERCOSUR.

Article 34

In fulfilment of the Depositary functions assigned in the above Article, the

Government of the Republic of Paraguay shall notify the other Member States

of MERCOSUR the date on which this Agreement shall enter into force.

Chapter XVIII

Transitory Provision

Article 35

Annexes I to V referred to in this Agreement shall be negotiated expeditiously

with a view to early implementation of this Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned being duly authorized thereto by

their respective Governments have signed this Agreement.

Done in the city of New Delhi, on this the 25th day of January 2004, in two

originals each in the Spanish, Portuguese and English languages, all texts being

equally authentic. In case of doubt or divergence of interpretation, however, the

English text shall prevail.

(Arun Jaitley)

Commerce and Industry

Minister,

Government of India,

New Delhi.

(Eduardo Alberto Sigal)

Under Secretary for American

Economic Integration and MERCOSUR

of the Argentine Republic

(Celso Amorim)

Minister of External Relations of the

Federative Republic of Brazil

(Leila Rachid)

Minister of External Relations of the

Republic of Paraguay

(Gustavo Vanerio)

Director General of Integration and

MERCOSUR of the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs of the República Oriental del

Uruguay

 

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