agreement on trade in services under - Asean

This agreement does not apply to: (a) services provided in the exercise of governmental authority within the territory of each Party. For purposes of this Agreement:. a) a service provided in the exercise of governmental authority: any service that is neither provided on a commercial basis nor in competition with one or more service providers.

Recognition

Progress in this regard will be reviewed by the Parties in the course of the review of this Agreement pursuant to Article 27 (Review). Where harmonization, agreement or arrangement as provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article does not exist, each Party shall leave any consideration of mutual recognition or licensing to relevant professional bodies or professional regulatory authorities in its territory in accordance with domestic laws and regulations of the host country. Each Party shall ensure that any monopoly provider of a service in its territory does not, in providing the monopoly service in the relevant market, act in a manner inconsistent with that Party's obligations under specific obligations.

When a supplier competes with a party's monopoly, either directly or through an affiliate, in the provision of a. service beyond the scope of its monopoly rights and subject to that party's specific commitments, the party shall ensure that that such supplier does not abuse its monopoly position to act in its territory in a manner inconsistent with such commitments. If a Party has reason to believe that a monopoly provider of a service of another Party is acting in a manner inconsistent with paragraphs 1 or 2 of this Article, that Party may, in maintains or authorizes to provide specific information about the relevant acts. The provisions of this Article also apply to cases of exclusive service providers, where a party, whether formally or in fact, a) authorizes or establishes a small number of service providers; And.

Business Practices

Safeguards

Except in the circumstances set forth in Article 11 (Restrictions for Balance of Payments Protection), a Party shall not apply restrictions to international transfers and payments for current transactions related to its specific commitments. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights and obligations of any party that is a member of the International Monetary Fund under the Articles of Association of the Fund, including the use of exchanges consistent with the Articles of Association of the Fund, provided that a party shall not impose restrictions on capital transactions inconsistent with its specific commitments in respect of such transactions, except pursuant to Article 11 (Balance of Payments Protection Restrictions) or at the request of the Fund. Balance of Payments Protection Restrictions When a Party is or is threatened with serious balance of payments and external financial difficulties, it may adopt or maintain restrictions on trade in services in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article XII of the GATS .

General Exceptions

Restrictions to protect the balance of payments When a Party has serious balance of payments and external financial problems or threatens to have such problems, it may adopt or maintain restrictions on trade in services in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article XII of the GATS. be construed so as to prevent any Party from adopting or enforcing measures:. a) necessary for the protection of public morality or the maintenance of public order; 5. b) necessary to protect the life or health of people, animals or plants; 5. The public order exception can only be invoked if there is a real and sufficiently serious threat to one of the company's fundamental interests. 6 Measures intended to ensure the fair or efficient imposition or collection of direct taxes include measures adopted by a Contracting Party within its tax system which: i) apply to non-resident suppliers of services, recognizing the fact that the tax liability of non-residents is determined according to taxable items originating or located in the territory of the Contracting Party; or ii) applies to non-residents to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes in the territory of the Contracting Party; or iii) apply to non-residents or residents to prevent tax avoidance or evasion, including compliance measures; or iv) apply to consumers of services supplied to or from the territory of the other Party in order to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes on such consumers arising from sources in the territory of the Party; or or collection of direct taxes in relation to services or service providers of other parties;. e) which results in different treatment, provided that the different treatment is the result of a double taxation agreement or provisions for the avoidance of double taxation in any other international agreement or arrangement binding on the Contracting Party.

Security Exceptions

Each Contracting Party shall, to the maximum extent possible, notify the other Contracting Parties of the measures taken in accordance with paragraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of this Article and of their suspension. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to require a Party to grant the benefits of this Agreement to a Service Provider of the other Party if that Party adopts or maintains measures in any law or regulation that it deems necessary to protect its essential security interests. interests with respect to a non-contractor or non-contractor service provider that would be violated or circumvented if the benefits of this Agreement were granted to such service provider.

Subsidies

Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to require a Party to grant the benefits of this Agreement to a service supplier of the other Party when a Party adopts or maintains measures in any legislation or regulation that it considers necessary to protect the interest its essential security with respect to a non-party or a service supplier of a non-party that would be breached or circumvented if the benefits of this Agreement were provided to such service supplier. of such subsidies or grants, regardless of whether such subsidies or grants are provided exclusively to domestic services, consumers of services or suppliers of services. If such subsidies or grants significantly affect trade in services performed under this Agreement, either Party may request consultations with a view to an amicable settlement of the matter. The provisions of the ASEAN-India DSM Agreement shall not apply to any request made or consultation conducted under the provisions of this Article or to any dispute that may arise between the Parties under the provisions of this Article.

Cooperation

The increasing participation of Cambodia, the Lao People's Republic, Myanmar and Vietnam in this agreement is facilitated by specific commitments from the negotiations regarding: a) strengthening domestic service capacity and their efficiency and competitiveness, including through access to technology on a commercial basis;. Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam are granted adequate flexibility for gradual liberalization in terms of specific commitments made according to their level of development.

SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS ARTICLE 17

National Treatment

Formally identical or formally different treatment is considered less favorable if it changes the conditions of competition in favor of services or service providers of the Party compared to similar services or service providers of another Party. 9 Specific commitments entered into pursuant to this Article shall not be construed as requiring a Party to compensate for any inherent competitive disadvantages arising from the foreign character of the relevant services or service providers. The Schedules of Specific Commitments of the Parties shall be attached to this Agreement upon completion of the negotiations and shall form an integral part thereof.

Each ASEAN Member State makes its individual schedule of specific commitments under Article 20 (Schedules of Specific Commitments) and shall apply this Annex to India and the rest of the ASEAN Member States. The modifying Party may not modify or withdraw its commitment until it has made compensatory adjustments in accordance with the findings of the arbitration. If the modifying party implements its proposed modification or withdrawal and does not comply with the findings of the arbitration, any Party that participated in the arbitration may modify or withdraw substantially equivalent benefits in accordance with those findings.