for the European Union, to the territories in which the Treaty on European Union and the TFEU apply under the conditions laid down in those treaties; and

for Japan, to its territory.

‘residence’ means residence for tax purposes;

‘tax agreement’ means an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation or any other international agreement or arrangement relating wholly or mainly to taxation to which the European Union or its Member States or Japan is party; and

‘taxation measure’ means a measure in application of the tax legislation of the European Union, of its Member States or of Japan.

distinguishing between taxpayers who are not in the same situation, in particular with regard to their place of residence or the place where their capital is invested; or

preventing the avoidance or evasion of taxes pursuant to the provisions of any tax agreement or domestic tax legislation.

as requiring a Party to provide any information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests;

as preventing a Party from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:

as preventing a Party from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.

for the purposes of Chapter 10, Article III of the GPA applies; and

for the purposes of Chapter 14, Article 14.54 applies.

public morals;

human, animal or plant life or health;

national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value; or

the environment.

of urgent circumstances;

of minor changes to such laws, regulations or general administrative procedures;

the effectiveness of such laws and regulations or their enforcement is undermined as a result of prior publication; or

of measures having relieving effects.

are consistent with international standards and recommended practices applicable to each Party in the area of customs procedures such as those made under the auspices of the World Customs Organization ( 14 ) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the WCO’), including the substantive elements of the Protocol of Amendment to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures, done at Brussels on 26 June 1999, the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, done at Brussels on 14 June 1983, and the Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade of the WCO (hereinafter referred to as ‘the SAFE Framework’);

aim at facilitating legitimate trade, taking into account the evolution of trade practices, while securing compliance with its laws and regulations;

provide for effective enforcement in case of breaches of its laws and regulations concerning customs procedures, including duty evasion and smuggling; and

do not include mandatory use of customs brokers or preshipment inspections.

an administrative appeal to or review by an administrative authority higher than or independent of the official or office that issued the decision; or

a judicial appeal or review of the decision.

cooperation on further simplification of customs procedures, taking into account the evolution of trade practices;

cooperation on harmonisation of data requirements for customs purposes, in line with applicable international standards such as the WCO standards;

cooperation on further development of the customs-related aspects of securing and facilitating the international trade supply chain in accordance with the SAFE Framework;

cooperation on improvement of their risk management techniques, including sharing best practices and, if appropriate, risk information and control results;

cooperation with a view to further developing the measures referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 4.4 and paragraph 2 of Article 4.6 or the programmes referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 4.6, including the possibility of cooperation with a view to allowing traders or operators of a Party to benefit from the measures or the programmes of the other Party;

cooperation and coordination in international organisations such as the WTO and the WCO, on matters of common interest, including tariff classification, customs valuation and origin, with a view to establishing, if possible, common positions; and

cooperation on enforcement against the trafficking of prohibited goods.

addressing all issues arising from the implementation and operation of the provisions referred to in paragraph 1;

identifying areas for improvement in the implementation and operation of the provisions referred to in paragraph 1;

functioning as a mechanism to expeditiously reach mutually agreed solutions with regard to any matters covered by the provisions referred to in paragraph 1;

formulating resolutions, recommendations or opinions regarding actions or measures which it considers necessary for the attainment of the objectives and effective functioning of this Chapter;

deciding on the actions to be taken or the measures to be implemented by a Party or the Parties, in the areas referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 4.12, which it considers necessary for the attainment of the objectives and effective functioning of this Chapter; and

carrying out other functions as may be delegated by the Joint Committee pursuant to subparagraph 5(b) of Article 22.1.

‘import conditions’ means any sanitary or phytosanitary measures that are required to be fulfilled for the import of products; and

‘protected zone’ means an officially defined geographical part of the territory of each Party in which a specific regulated pest is not established in spite of favourable conditions for its establishment and its presence in other parts of the territory of the Party.

such procedures are simplified, expedited and completed without undue delay, in accordance with the SPS Agreement;

such procedures are not applied in a manner which would constitute an arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination against the other Party;

the standard processing period of each procedure is published or that the anticipated processing period is communicated to the applicant upon request; and

information requirements are limited to what is necessary for appropriate control, inspection and approval procedures, including for the approval of the use of additives or for the establishment of tolerances for contaminants in food, beverages or feedstuffs.

the quarantine pests not known to occur within any part of its territory;

the quarantine pests which are known to occur within any part of its territory but are not widely distributed and under official control; and

any other regulated pest for which phytosanitary measures may be taken.

the importing Party shall take all necessary steps to allow the import of the products concerned without undue delay;

the exporting Party shall:

all or parts of the exporting Party's inspection and certification system; and

the results of the controls carried out under the exporting Party's inspection and certification system.

ensure transparency as regards:

enhance mutual understanding of each Party's sanitary and phytosanitary measures and their application; and

on a reasonable request of the other Party and as soon as possible, provide information on its sanitary and phytosanitary measures and their application, including:

immediately notify the competent authorities of the other Party of such emergency measures;

allow the other Party to submit comments in writing;

engage, if necessary, in technical consultations as referred to in Article 6.12; and

take into account the comments referred to in subparagraph (b) and the results of technical consultations referred to in subparagraph (c).

enhance each Party's implementation of this Chapter;

consider sanitary and phytosanitary matters of mutual interest; and

enhance communication and cooperation on sanitary and phytosanitary matters of mutual interest.

shall provide a forum to improve the Parties' understanding of sanitary and phytosanitary matters that relate to the implementation of the SPS Agreement;

shall provide a forum to enhance mutual understanding of each Party's sanitary and phytosanitary measures and the related regulatory processes;

shall monitor, review and exchange information on the implementation and operation of this Chapter;

shall serve as a forum to address the concerns referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 6.12 with a view to reaching mutually acceptable solutions provided that the Parties have first attempted to address them through the technical consultations pursuant to Article 6.12 and other topics agreed by the Parties;

shall determine the appropriate means, which may include ad hoc working groups, to undertake specific tasks related to the functions of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures;

may identify and consider technical cooperation projects between the Parties in relation to the development, implementation, and application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures; and

may consult on matters and positions for the meetings of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and meetings held under the auspices of the Codex Alimentarius, OIE and IPPC.

purchasing specifications prepared by a governmental body for its production or consumption requirements; or

sanitary and phytosanitary measures as defined in Annex A to the SPS Agreement.

when developing a technical regulation:

review, without prejudice to paragraph 3 of Article 2 of the TBT Agreement, adopted technical regulations at appropriate intervals, preferably not exceeding five years, in particular with a view to increasing their convergence with relevant international standards. In undertaking this review, each Party shall, inter alia, take into account any new development in the relevant international standards and whether the circumstances giving rise to divergences of that Party's technical regulations from any relevant international standard continue to exist. The outcome of this review shall be communicated and explained to the other Party on its request.

play a full part, within the limits of their resources, in the preparation by relevant international standardising bodies of international standards;

use relevant international standards as a basis for the standards they develop, except where such international standards would be ineffective or inappropriate, for instance because of an insufficient level of protection or fundamental climatic or geographical factors or fundamental technological problems;

avoid duplication of, or overlap with, the work of international standardising bodies; and

review their standards which are not based on relevant international standards at appropriate intervals, preferably not exceeding five years, with a view to increasing their convergence with relevant international standards.

each Party shall use relevant international standards, guides or recommendations, or the relevant parts of them, to the extent provided for in paragraph 4 of Article 2 and in paragraph 4 of Article 5 of the TBT Agreement, as a basis for its technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures and avoid deviations from the relevant international standards or additional requirements when compared to those standards, except when the Party developing the technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure can demonstrate, based on relevant information, including available scientific or technical evidence, that such international standards would be ineffective or inappropriate for the fulfilment of legitimate objectives pursued, as referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 2 and paragraph 4 of Article 5 of the TBT Agreement; and

if a Party does not use relevant international standards, guides or recommendations, or the relevant parts of them, as referred to in paragraph 1, as a basis for its technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures, that Party shall, on request of the other Party, explain the reasons why it considers such international standards to be ineffective or inappropriate for the fulfilment of legitimate objectives pursued, as referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 2 and paragraph 4 of Article 5 of the TBT Agreement, and provide the relevant information, including available scientific or technical evidence on which this assessment is based, as well as identify the parts of the technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure concerned which in substance deviate from the relevant international standards, guides or recommendations.

each Party's use of standards in support of demonstrating or facilitating compliance with technical regulations;

their standard setting processes, in particular the manner and extent to which international or regional standards are used as a basis for their regional or national standards; and

cooperation agreements or arrangements on standardisation with third parties or international organisations.

mutual recognition agreements for the results of conformity assessment procedures with respect to specific technical regulations conducted by bodies located in the territory of the other Party;

cooperative and voluntary arrangements between conformity assessment bodies located in the territories of the Parties;

plurilateral and multilateral recognition agreements or arrangements to which both Parties are participants;

the use of accreditation to qualify conformity assessment bodies;

government designation of conformity assessment bodies, including conformity assessment bodies located in the other Party;

recognition by a Party of results of conformity assessment procedures conducted in the territory of the other Party; and

manufacturer's or supplier's declaration of conformity.

the mechanisms referred to in paragraph 3 and similar mechanisms with a view to facilitating the acceptance of the results of conformity assessment procedures;

factors, including assessment and management of risk, considered when selecting appropriate conformity assessment procedures for specific products; and

accreditation policy, including on international standards for accreditation, and international agreements and arrangements in the field of accreditation, including those of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), to the extent possible and used by a Party in a specific area.

use, whenever possible and in accordance with its laws and regulations, a supplier's declaration of conformity as assurance of conformity with the applicable technical regulations;

use accreditation with authority derived from government or performed by government, as appropriate, as a means to demonstrate technical competence to qualify conformity assessment bodies;

if accreditation is established by law as a necessary separate step to qualify conformity assessment bodies, ensure that accreditation activities are independent from conformity assessment activities and that there are no conflicts of interest between accreditation bodies and the conformity assessment bodies they accredit; the Parties may comply with this obligation by means of the separation of conformity assessment bodies from accreditation bodies; ( 23 )

consider joining or, as applicable, not prohibit testing, inspection and certification bodies from joining, international agreements or arrangements for the facilitation of acceptance of conformity assessment results; and

if two or more conformity assessment bodies are authorised by a Party to carry out conformity assessment procedures required for placing a product on the market, not prohibit economic operators from choosing among conformity assessment bodies.

carry out consultation procedures, subject to its laws and regulations, which are available to the general public and make the results of such consultation procedures and any existing impact assessments publicly available;

allow persons of the other Party to participate in consultation procedures which are available to the general public on terms no less favourable than those accorded to its own persons;

take into account the other Party's views when carrying out consultation procedures which are available to the general public and, on request of the other Party, provide written responses in a timely manner to the comments made by that Party;

in addition to subparagraph 1(a)(ii) of Article 7.5, make publicly available the results of the impact assessment on a proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure, if carried out, including of the impact on trade; and

endeavour to provide, on request of the other Party, a summary in English of the impact assessment referred to in subparagraph (d).

allow in principle at least 60 days from the date of notification for the other Party to provide written comments to the proposal, except where urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security arise or threaten to arise and, where practicable, give appropriate consideration to reasonable requests for extending the comment period;

provide the electronic version of the full notified text together with the notification;

provide, in case the notified text is not in one of the official WTO languages, a detailed and comprehensive description of the content of the measure in the notification format, as well as, if already available, a translation of the notified text in one of the official WTO languages;

reply in writing to written comments received from the other Party on the proposal, no later than the date of publication of the final technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure;

provide information on the adopted final text through an addendum to the original notification;

allow a reasonable interval ( 24 ) between the publication of technical regulations and their entry into force for economic operators of the other Party to adapt; and

ensure that the enquiry points established in accordance with Article 10 of the TBT Agreement provide information and answers in one of the official WTO languages to reasonable enquiries from the other Party or from interested persons of the other Party on adopted technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.

exchange information with the other Party on market surveillance and enforcement activities, for example on the authorities responsible for market surveillance and enforcement, or on measures taken against dangerous products;

ensure the independence of market surveillance functions from conformity assessment functions with a view to avoiding conflicts of interest; ( 25 ) and

ensure that there are no conflicts of interest between market surveillance authorities and the persons concerned, subject to control or supervision, including the manufacturer, the importer and the distributor.

information required for such marking or labelling of products shall be limited to what is relevant for persons concerned, including consumers, users of the product or authorities, for indicating the product's compliance with regulatory requirements;

a Party shall not require any prior approval, registration or certification of markings or the labels of products as a precondition for placing on its market products that otherwise comply with its mandatory technical requirements, unless necessary to fulfil its legitimate objective;

if that Party requires the use of a unique identification number for marking or labelling of products, it shall issue such number to the persons concerned, including the manufacturer, the importer and the distributor, without undue delay and on a non-discriminatory basis;

provided that it is not misleading, contradictory or confusing, or that the Party's legitimate objectives are not compromised, the Party shall permit the following in relation to the information required in the country of destination of the goods:

the Party shall accept that labelling and corrections to labelling take place in customs warehouses at the point of import as an alternative to labelling in the exporting Party unless such labelling is required to be carried out by approved persons for reasons of public health or safety; and

the Party shall, unless it considers that legitimate objectives under the TBT Agreement are compromised thereby, endeavour to accept non-permanent or detachable labels, or marking or labelling in the accompanying documentation rather than physically attached to the product.

improving the quality and effectiveness of their respective technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures, and promoting good regulatory practices through regulatory cooperation between the Parties, including the exchange of information, experience and data;

where appropriate, simplifying their respective technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures;

increasing the convergence of their respective technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures with relevant international standards, guides or recommendations;

ensuring efficient interaction and cooperation of their respective regulatory authorities at international, regional or national level;

promoting or enhancing cooperation between organisations in the Parties in charge of standardisation, accreditation and conformity assessment procedures; and

exchanging information, to the extent possible, about international agreements and arrangements regarding technical barriers to trade to which one or both Parties are party.

reviewing the implementation and operation of this Chapter;

reviewing the cooperation in the development and improvement of technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures as provided for in Article 7.12;

reviewing this Chapter in light of any developments under the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade established under Article 13 of the TBT Agreement, and if necessary, developing recommendations for amendments to this Chapter;

taking any steps which the Parties may consider to be of assistance in their implementation of this Chapter and the TBT Agreement and in facilitating trade between the Parties;

discussing any matter covered by this Chapter, on request of a Party;

promptly addressing any issue that a Party raises related to the development, adoption or application of technical regulations, standards or conformity assessment procedures of the other Party under this Chapter and the TBT Agreement;

establishing, if necessary to achieve the objectives of this Chapter, ad hoc technical working groups to deal with specific issues or sectors with a view to identifying a solution;

exchanging information on the work in regional and multilateral fora engaged in activities relating to technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures and on the implementation and operation of this Chapter;

carrying out other functions as may be delegated by the Joint Committee pursuant to subparagraph 5(b) of Article 22.1; and

reporting to the Joint Committee, as it considers appropriate, on the implementation and operation of this Chapter.

for the European Union, the European Commission; and

for Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

exchanging information on technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures of each Party or any other matters covered by this Chapter;

providing any information or explanation requested by a Party pursuant to this Chapter, in print or electronically, within a reasonable period of time agreed between the Parties and, if possible, within 60 days of the date of receipt of the request; and

promptly clarifying and addressing, where possible, any issue that a Party raises relating to the development, adoption or application of technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures under this Chapter and the TBT Agreement.

bankruptcy, insolvency or the protection of the rights of creditors;

issuing, trading or dealing in securities, or futures, options and other derivatives;

financial reporting or record keeping of capital movements, payments or transfers where necessary to assist law enforcement or financial regulatory authorities;

criminal or penal offences, or deceptive or fraudulent practices;

ensuring compliance with orders or judgments in adjudicatory proceedings; or

social security, public retirement or compulsory savings schemes.

in the event of serious balance of payments or external financial difficulties, or threat thereof; ( 66 ) or

if, in exceptional circumstances, capital movements, payments or transfers cause or threaten to cause serious macroeconomic difficulties related to monetary and exchange rate policies.

be consistent with the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, as applicable;

not exceed those necessary to deal with the situations described in paragraph 2;

be temporary and be phased out progressively as the situation described in paragraph 2 improves;

avoid unnecessary damage to the commercial, economic and financial interests of the other Party; and

be non-discriminatory compared to third countries in like situations.

the nature and extent of the difficulties;

the external economic and trading environment; and

alternative corrective measures which may be available.

a natural person; or

a legal person.

assess in a non-discriminatory manner and, where appropriate, recognise as equivalent to those in Japan, indicators of the supplier realised outside Japan, which may include:

take due account of indicators of the supplier realised outside Japan, which may include:

accept the results of conformity assessment procedures that are conducted by the registered conformity assessment bodies of the other Party in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the Agreement on Mutual Recognition between the European Community and Japan, done at Brussels on 4 April 2001; and

duly take into consideration any future expansion of the scope of the agreement referred to in subparagraph (a), or any further agreement to be concluded between the Parties with the purpose of mutual recognition of conformity assessment procedures, once it has entered into force.

the members of the designated authority are independent, impartial, and free from external influence during the term of appointment;

the members of the designated authority are not dismissed against their will while they are in office, unless their dismissal is required by the provisions governing the designated authority; and

with regard to the procuring entities covered under Annexes 1 and 3 of each Party to Appendix I to the GPA, as well as the central government entities and all other entities except the sub-central government entities covered under Part 2 of Annex 10, the President or at least one other member of the designated authority, has legal and professional qualifications equivalent to those necessary for judges, lawyers or other legal experts qualified under the laws and regulations of the Party.

a standstill period between the contract award decision and the conclusion of a contract in order to give sufficient time to unsuccessful suppliers to assess whether it is appropriate to initiate a review procedure; or

a sufficient period for an interested supplier to submit a challenge, which may constitute grounds for the suspension of the execution of a contract.

the removal of discriminatory technical, economic or financial specifications in the invitation to tender, the contract documents or any other document relating to the tendering procedure and conduct of new procurement procedures;

the repetition of the procurement procedure without changing the conditions;

the setting aside of the contract award decision and the adoption of a new contract award decision;

the termination of a contract or the declaration of its ineffectiveness; or

the adoption of other measures with the aim to remedy a breach of this Chapter, for example an order to pay a particular sum until the breach has been effectively remedied.

notify the other Party in writing; and

include in the notification a proposal for appropriate compensatory adjustments to the other Party to maintain a level of coverage comparable to that existing prior to the modification.

an adjustment proposed in accordance with subparagraph 3(b) is inadequate to maintain a comparable level of mutually agreed coverage; or

the intended modification referred to in paragraph 4 concerns a procuring entity over whose procurement the Party has not effectively eliminated its control or influence,

a change in the name of a procuring entity;

a merger of two or more procuring entities listed in the same paragraph of Part 2 of Annex 10;

the separation of a procuring entity listed in Part 2 of Annex 10 into two or more procuring entities that are added to the procuring entities listed in the same paragraph of that Part; and

updates of indicative lists such as those set out in paragraph 3 of Section A of Part 2 of Annex 10, subparagraph 1(b) of Section B of Part 2 of Annex 10, or in Annexes 2 and 3 of the European Union to Appendix I to the GPA.

making recommendations to the Joint Committee to adopt decisions amending Part 2 of Annex 10 to reflect modifications or rectifications accepted pursuant to Article 10.14 or agreed compensatory adjustments;

adopting modalities for the communication of statistical data pursuant to Article 10.13, if deemed necessary;

considering matters regarding government procurement that are referred to it by a Party; and

exchanging information relating to government procurement opportunities, including those at sub-central levels, in each Party.

for the European Union:

for Japan: