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Agreement Between the EFTA States and Singapore |
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AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE EFTA STATES AND
SINGAPORE
PREAMBLE
The Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway and the Swiss Confederation (hereinafter referred to as “the EFTA States”),
and
The Republic of Singapore (hereinafter referred to as “Singapore”), hereinafter collectively referred to as the Parties,
CONSIDERING the important links existing between Singapore and the EFTA States, and wishing to strengthen these links through the creation of a free trade area, thus establishing close and lasting relations;
REAFFIRMING their commitment to the principles set out in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
DESIROUS by way of the removal of obstacles to trade to contribute to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade and provide a catalyst to broader international
co-operation, in particular between Europe and Asia;
DETERMINED to create an expanded and secure market for goods and services in their territories;
RESOLVED to ensure a stable and predictable environment for investment; INTENDING to enhance the competitiveness of their firms in global markets;
AIMING to create new employment opportunities, improve living standards and ensure a
large and steadily growing volume of real income in their respective territories through the expansion of trade and investment flows;
RECOGNIZING that the gains from trade liberalisation should not be offset by private, anti-competitive practices;
CONVINCED that this Agreement will create conditions encouraging economic, trade and investment relations between them;
BUILDING on their respective rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and the other agreements negotiated thereunder and other multilateral and bilateral instruments of co-operation; and
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RECOGNIZING that trade liberalisation should allow for the optimal use of the world’s resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development, seeking both to protect and preserve the environment;
HAVE AGREED, in pursuit of the above, to conclude the following Agreement
(hereinafter referred to as “this Agreement”):
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ARTICLE 1
Objectives
(a) to achieve the liberalisation of trade in goods, in conformity with Article
XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (hereinafter referred
to as “the GATT 1994”);
(b) to promote competition in their economies, particularly as it relates to economic relations between the Parties;
(c) to achieve further liberalisation on a mutual basis of the government procurement markets of the Parties;
(d) to achieve the liberalisation of trade in services, in conformity with Article
V of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (hereinafter referred to as “the GATS”);
(e) to mutually enhance investment opportunities and accord constant protection for investors and investments;
(f) to ensure adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights,
in accordance with international standards; and
(g) to contribute in this way, by the removal of barriers to trade and investment, to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade.
ARTICLE 2
Geographical Scope
(a) to the land territory, internal waters, and the territorial sea of a Party, and the air-space above the territory in accordance with international law; as well as
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(b) beyond the territorial sea, with respect to measures taken by a Party in the exercise of its sovereign rights or jurisdiction in accordance with international law.
ARTICLE 3
Trade and Economic Relations Governed by this Agreement
Agreement.
ARTICLE 4
Relationship to Other Agreements
The provisions of this Agreement shall be without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the Parties under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and the other agreements negotiated thereunder (hereinafter referred to as
“the WTO Agreement”) to which they are a party and any other international agreement
to which they are a party.
ARTICLE 5
Regional and Local Government
Each Party is fully responsible for the observance of all obligations and commitments under this Agreement and shall ensure their observance by its respective regional and local governments and authorities and by non- governmental bodies in the exercise of governmental powers delegated by central, regional and local governments or authorities within its territory.
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ARTICLE 6
Scope and Coverage
(a) products falling within Chapters 25 through 97 of the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System (HS);
(b) products specified in Annex III with due regard to the arrangements provided for in that Annex; and
(c) fish and other marine products as provided for in Annex IV.
ARTICLE 7
Rules of Origin and Administrative Co-operation
Articles 8, 16 and 17 are set out in Annex I.
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ARTICLE 8
Customs Duties
(a) a charge equivalent to an internal tax, such as excise duties and other taxes, levied at the time of importation or exportation, imposed consistent ly with Article 11; or
(b) a fee or other charge, not applied on an ad valorem basis, provided that it
is limited in amount to the approximate cost of services rendered, and does
not represent an indirect protection for domestic products or a taxation of imports or exports for fiscal purposes.
ARTICLE 9
Import and Export Restrictions
Upon the entry into force of this Agreement, all import or export prohibitions or restrictions on trade in goods between the EFTA States and Singapore, other than customs duties and taxes, whether made effective through quotas, import or export licenses or other measures, shall be eliminated on all products of each Party.
ARTICLE 10
Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment
If a Party concludes a preferential agreement with a non-Party under Article XXIV of the GATT 1994, it shall, upon request from another Party, afford adequate opportunity to negotiate any additional benefits granted therein.
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ARTICLE 11
National Treatment
The Parties shall apply national treatment in accordance with Article III of the GATT 1994, including its interpretative notes, which is hereby incorporated into and made part of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 12
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
of unduly obstructing trade.
ARTICLE 13
Technical Regulations
of their respective systems and facilitating access to their respective markets. To this end, they shall in particular co-operate in:
(a) reinforcing the role of international standards as a basis for technical regulations including conformity assessment procedures;
(b) promoting the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies on the basis
of relevant ISO/IEC Standards and Guides; and
(c) promoting the mutual acceptance of conformity assessment results of the above bodies which have been recognised under an appropriate multilateral agreement between their respective accreditation systems or bodies.
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(a) broaden the exchange of information; and
(b) give favourable consideration to any written request for consultation.
ARTICLE 14
State Trading Enterprises
The rights and obligations of the Parties in respect of state trading enterprises shall be governed by Article XVII of the GATT 1994 and the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XVII of the GATT 1994, which are hereby incorporated into and made part of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 15
Subsidies
The rights and obligations of the Parties in respect of subsidies shall be governed
by Articles VI and XVI of the GATT 1994, the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and
Countervailing Measures and the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
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ARTICLE 16
Anti-Dumping
ARTICLE 17
Emergency Action on Imports of Particular Products
of another Party in such increased quantities and under such conditions as to constitute a substant ial cause of serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry of like or directly competitive products in the territory of the importing Party, the importing Party may take emergency measures to the minimum extent necessary to remedy or prevent the injury.
to a level not to exceed the lesser of:
up to a total maximum period of three years. A Party taking such measures shall present a
schedule leading to their progressive elimination. No measures shall be applied to the import of a product which has previously been subject to such a measure for a period of,
at least, five years since the expiry of the measure.
in accordance with the procedures laid down in the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.
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be offered compensation in the form of substantially equivalent trade liberalisation in
relation to the imports from any such Party.
a measure pursuant to paragraph 2 to remedy the problem, and, in the absence of mutually agreed compensation, the Party against whose product the measure is taken may take compensatory action. The emergency measure and the compensatory action shall be immediately notified to the Joint Committee. The compensatory action shall consist of suspension of concessions having substantially equivalent trade effects or concessions substantially equivalent to the value of the additional duties expected to result from the emergency action. In the selection of the emergency measure and the compensatory action, priority must be given to the action which least disturbs the functioning of this Agreement.
or are threatening to cause serious injury. The Party intending to take such a measure shall immediately inform the other Parties and the Joint Committee thereof. The duration
of any such provisional measure shall be counted as part of the initial period and any extension.
ARTICLE 18
Balance-of-Payments Difficulties
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WTO Understanding on the Balance-of-Payments Provisions, adopt trade restrictive measures, which shall be of limited duration and non-discriminatory, and may not go beyond what is necessary to remedy the balance-of-payments situation. The relevant provisions of the GATT 1994 and the WTO Understanding on the Balance-of-Payments Provisions are hereby incorporated into and made part of this Agreement.
Parties and the Joint Committee thereof.
ARTICLE 19
General Exceptions
Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where the same conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on international trade, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by any Party of measures:
(a) necessary to protect public morals;
(b) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(c) relating to the importations or exportations of gold and silver;
(d) necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement, including those relating to customs enforcement, the enforcement of monopolies operated under paragraph 4 of Article II and Article XVII of the GATT 1994, the protection of patents, trade marks and copyrights, and the prevention of deceptive practices;
(e) relating to the products of prison labour;
(f) imposed for the protection of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value;
(g) relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made effective in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption;
(h) undertaken in pursuance of obligations under any intergovernmental commodity agreement which conforms to criteria submitted to the Members of the WTO and not disapproved by them or which is itself so submitted and not so disapproved;
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(i) involving restrictions on exports of domestic materials necessary to ensure essential quantities of such materials to a domestic processing industry during periods when the domestic price of such materials is held below the world price as part of a governmental stabilization plan; provided that such restrictions shall not operate to increase the exports of or the protection afforded to such domestic industry, and shall not depart from the provisions of the GATT 1994 relating to non discrimination;
(j) essential to the acquisition or distribution of products in general or local short supply; provided that any such measures shall be consistent with the principle that all Members of the WTO are entitled to an equitable share of the international supply of such products, and that any such measures, which are inconsistent with the other provisions of this Agreement shall be discontinued as soon as the conditions giving rise to them have ceased to exist.
ARTICLE 20
Security Exceptions
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed:
(a) to require any Party to furnish any information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or
(b) to prevent any Party from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests
(i) relating to fissionable materials or the materials from which they are derived;
(ii) relating to the traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war and to such traffic in other goods and materials as is carried on directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying a military establishment;
(iii) taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations;
or
(c) to prevent any Party from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.
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ARTICLE 21
Scope and Coverage
(a) aircraft repair and maintenance services;
(b) the selling and marketing of air transport services;
(c) computer reservation system (CRS) services1.
to government procurement.
ARTICLE 22
Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
(a) “measure” means any measure by a Party, whether in the form of a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action or any other form;
(b) “supply of a service” includes the production, distribution, marketing, sale and delivery of a service;
Annex on Air Transport Services to the GATS.
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(c) “measures by Parties affecting trade in services” include measures in respect of:
(i) the purchase, payment or use of a service;
(ii) the access to and use of, in connection with the supply of a service, services which are required by those Parties to be offered to the public generally;
(iii) the presence, including commercial presence, of persons of a Party for the supply of a service in the territory of another Party;
(d) “commercial presence” means any type of business or professional establishment, including through:
(i) the constitution, acquisitio n or maintenance of a juridical person;
or
(ii) the creation or maintenance of a branch or a representative office;
within the territory of a Party for the purpose of supplying a service;
(e) “sector” of a service means:
(i) with reference to a specific commitment, one or more, or all, subsectors of that service, as specified in a Party’s Schedule;
(ii) otherwise, the whole of that service sector, including all of its subsectors;
(f) “service supplier” means any person that seeks to supply or supplies a service2;
(g) “service consumer” means any person that receives or uses a service;
(h) “service of another Party” means a service which is supplied:
(i) from or in the territory of that other Party, or in the case of maritime transport, by a vessel registered under the laws of that other Party, or by a person of that other Party which supplies the
juridical person) shall, nonetheless, through such presence be accorded the treatment provided for service suppliers under this Agreement. Such treatment shall be extended to the presence through which the service is supplied and need not be extended to any other parts of the supplier located outside the territory where the service is supplied.
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service through the operation of a vessel and/or its use in whole or in part; or
(ii) in the case of the supply of a service through commercial presence
or through the presence of natural persons, by a service supplier of that other Party;
(i) “person” means either a natural person or a juridical person;
(j) “natural person of a Party” means a natural person who resides in the territory of that Party or elsewhere and who under the law of that Party:
(i) is a national of that Party; or
(ii) has the right of permanent residence in that Party and is accorded substantially the same treatment as nationals in respect of measures affecting trade in services;
(k) “juridical person” means any el gal entity duly constituted or otherwise organised under applicable law, whether for profit or otherwise, and whether privately-owned or governmentally-owned, including any corporation, trust, partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship or association;
(l) “juridical person of another Party” means a juridical person which is either:
(i) constituted or otherwise organised under the law of that other Party, and is engaged in substantive business operations 3 in the territory of any Party; this includes a service supplier of a WTO member who is a non-Party that is a juridical person constituted under the laws of a Party, provided that it engages in substantive business operations in the territory of the Parties; or
(ii) in the case of the supply of a service through commercial presence, owned or controlled by:
(m) a juridical person is:
(i) “owned” by persons of a Party if more than 50 per cent of the equity interest in it is beneficially owned by persons of that Party;
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(ii) “controlled” by persons of a Party if such persons have the power
to name a majority of its directors or otherwise to legally direct its
actions;
(iii) “affiliated” with another person when it controls, or is controlled by, that other person; or when it and the other person are both controlled by the same person;
(n) “monopoly supplier of a service” means any person, public or private, which in the relevant market of the territory of a Party is authorised or established formally or in effect by that Party as the sole supplier of that service;
(o) “trade in services” means the supply of a service:
(i) from the territory of a Party into the territory of another Party
(hereinafter referred to as “cross-border supply”);
(ii) in the territory of a Party to the service consumer of another Party
(hereinafter referred to as “consumption abroad”);
(iii) by a service supplier of a Party, through commercial presence in the territory of another Party (hereinafter referred to as
“commercial presence”);
(iv) by a service supplier of a Party, through presence of natural persons of that Party in the territory of another Party (hereinafter referred to as “presence of natural persons”);
(p) “services” includes any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority;
(q) “a service supplied in the exercise of governmental authority” means any service which is supplied neither on a commercial basis nor in competition with one or more service suppliers;
(r) “direct taxes” comprise all taxes on total income, on total capital or on elements of income or of capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of property, taxes on estates, inheritances and gifts, and taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises, as well as taxes
on capital appreciation.
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ARTICLE 23
Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment
ARTICLE 24
Market Access
a Party shall not maintain or adopt either on the basis of a regional sub-division or on the
basis of its entire territory, unless otherwise specified in its Schedule, are defined as:
(a) limitations on the number of service suppliers whether in the form of numerical quotas, monopolies, exclusive service suppliers or the requirements of an economic needs test;
(b) limitations on the total value of service transactions or assets in the form
of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
an essential part of the service itself, that Party is thereby committed to allow such movement of capital. If a Party undertakes a market-access commitment in relation to the supply of a service through the mode of supply referred to in Article 22 (o) (iii), it is thereby committed to allow related transfers of capital into its territory.
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(c) limitations on the total number of service operations or on the total quantity of service output expressed in terms of designated numerical units
in the form of quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test5;
(d) limitations on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in
a particular service sector or that a service supplier may employ and who are necessary for, and directly related to, the supply of a specific service in
the form of numerical quotas or the requirement of an economic needs test;
(e) measures which restrict or require specific types of legal entity or joint venture through which a service supplier may supply a service; and
(f) limitations on the participation of foreign capital in terms of maximum percentage limit on foreign shareholding or the total value of individual or aggregate foreign investment.
ARTICLE 25
National Treatment
ARTICLE 26
Additional Commitments
The Parties may negotiate commitments with respect to measures affecting trade
in services not subject to scheduling under Articles 24 and 25 above, including those
the relevant services or services suppliers.
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regarding qualifications, standards or licensing matters. Such commitments shall be entered in a Party’s Schedule.
ARTICLE 27
Trade Liberalisation/Schedule of Specific Commitments
(a) terms, limitations and conditions on market access;
(b) conditions and qualifications on national treatment;
(c) undertakings relating to additional commitments; and
(d) where appropriate, the time- frame for implementation of such commitme nts.
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ARTICLE 28
Domestic Regulation
review.
to their incorporation into this Agreement. The Parties note that such disciplines aim to ensure that such requirements are inter alia:
(a) based on objective and transparent criteria, such as competence and the ability to supply the service;
(b) not more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of the service;
(c) in the case of licensing procedures, not in themselves a restriction on the supply of the service.
of disciplines developed pursuant to paragraph 4, a Party shall not apply licensing and
qualification requirements and technical standards that nullify or impair such specific
commitments in a manner which:
(a) does not comply with the criteria outlined in paragraph 4 (a), (b) or (c) and
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(b) could not reasonably have been expected of that Party at the time the specific commitments in those sectors were made.
ARTICLE 29
Subsidies
A Party which considers that it is adversely affected by a subsidy of another Party may request consultations with that Party on such matters. Such requests shall be accorded sympathetic consideration.
ARTICLE 30
Recognition
by each Party for the authorisation, licensing, operation and certification of service suppliers.
2. Any such recognition conferred by a Party shall be in conformity with the relevant provisions of the WTO and, in particular, Article VII of the GATS.
of a non-Party, that Party shall accord another Party, upon request, adequate opportunity
to negotiate its accession to such an agreement or arrangement or to negotiate comparable ones with it. Where a Party accords recognition autonomously, it shall afford adequate opportunity for another Party to demonstrate that the education or experience obtained, requirements met or licenses or certifications granted in the territory of that other Party should also be recognised.
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ARTICLE 31
Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers
ARTICLE 32
Movement of Natural Persons
the terms of those commitments.
to the employment market of a Party, nor shall it apply to measures regarding citizenship,
residence or employment on a permanent basis.
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movement of natural persons across, its borders, provided that such measures are not applied in a manner so as to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to a Party under the terms of a specific commitment8.
ARTICLE 33
General Exceptions
Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where like conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on trade in services, nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by any Party of measures:
(a) necessary to protect public morals or to maintain public order9;
(b) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(c) necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter including those relating to:
(i) the prevention of deceptive and fraudulent practices or to deal with the effects of a default on services contracts;
(ii) the protection of the privacy of individuals in relation to the processing and dissemination of personal data and the protection of confidentiality of individual records and accounts;
(iii) safety;
(d) inconsistent with Article 25, provided that the difference in treatment is aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective 10 imposition or collection of direct taxes in respect of services or service suppliers of another Party;
posed to one of the fundamental interests of society.
(i) apply to non -resident service suppliers in recognition of the fact that the tax obligation of non- residents is determined with respect to taxable items sourced or located in the Party's territory; or
(ii) apply to non-residents in order to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes in the Party's territory; or
(iii) apply to non-residents or residents in order to prevent the avoidance or evasion of taxes,
including compliance measures; or
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(e) inconsistent with Article 23, provided that the difference in treatment is the result of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation or provisions on the avoidance of double taxation in any other international agreement or arrangement by which a Party is bound.
ARTICLE 34
Security Exceptions
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:
(a) to require a Party to furnish or allow access to information the disclosure
of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests;
(b) to prevent a Party from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:
(i) relating to the supply of services as carried out directly or indirectly for the purpose of provisioning a military establishment;
(ii) relating to fissionable and fusionable materials or the materials from which they are derived;
(iii) taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations;
or
(c) to prevent a Party from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.
(iv) apply to consumers of services supplied in or from the territory of another Party in order to
ensure the imposition or collection of taxes on such consumers derived from sources in the
Party’s territory; or
(v) distinguish service suppliers subject to tax on worldwide taxable items from other service suppliers, in recognition of the difference in the nature of the tax base between them; or
(vi) determine, allocate or apportion income, profit, gain, loss, deduction or credit of resident
persons or branches, or between related persons or branches of the same person, in order to safeguard the Member's tax base.
Tax terms or concepts in Article 33 (d) and in this footnote are determined according to tax
definitions and concepts, or equivalent or similar definitions and concepts, under the domestic law
of the Party taking the measure.
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ARTICLE 35
Restrictions to Safeguard the Balance-of-Payments
ARTICLE 36
Annexes
Annexes VI to X form an integral part of this Chapter.
ARTICLE 37
Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
(a) “company” means any entity constituted or organized under the applicable law, whether or not for profit, and whether private or government owned
(b) “investment ” means any kind of asset and particularly:
(i) movable and immovable property as well as any other rights in rem, such as mortgages, liens, and pledges;
(ii) shares, bonds and debentures or any other forms of participation in
a company;
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(iii) claims to money or to any performance associated with a company having an economic value;
(iv) intellectual property rights, technical know-how and goodwill;
(v) business concessions conferred by law or under contract, including any concession to search for, cultivate, extract or exploit natural resources;
(c) “investment of an investor of a Party” means an investment that is owned
or controlled, either directly or indirectly, by an investor of that Party;
(d) “investor of a Party” means:
(i) a natural person having the nationality of that Party or having the right of permanent residence of that Party in accordance with its applicable laws;
(ii) a company constituted or organized under the applicable law of that Party and carrying out substantial business activities there;
making or having made an investment in the territory of another Party.
ARTICLE 38
Scope and Coverage
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ARTICLE 39
Promotion and Protection
of investors of another Party fair and equitable treatment. Such investments shall also enjoy the most constant protection and security.
ARTICLE 40
National Treatment and Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment
in relation to the establishment, acquisition, expansion, management, conduct, operation and disposal of investments, treatment that is no less favourable than that which it accords in like situations to its own investors and their investments or to investors and their investments of any other State, whichever is more favourable.
to subsidies based on a Party’s social policy or its economic development policy, even if such subsidies, directly or indirectly, favour local enterprises or entrepreneurs. If another Party considers that such subsidies, in a particular case, have a seriously distortive effect
on the investment opportunities of its own investors, it may request consultations on such matters. Such requests shall be accorded sympathetic consideration.
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ARTICLE 41
Taxation
ARTICLE 42
Dispossession, Compensation
the person entitled thereto without regard to its residence or domicile.
ARTICLE 43
Domestic Regulation
Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to preve nt a Party from adopting, maintaining or enforcing any measure consistent with this Chapter that is in the public interest, such as measures to meet health, safety or environmental concerns.
Chapter.
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ARTICLE 44
Transfers
(a) profits, interest, dividends, capital ga ins, royalties and fees as well as any other amounts yielded by an investment;
(b) payments made under a contract including a loan agreement;
(c) additional amounts to maintain or increase an investment;
(d) proceeds from the sale or liquidation of all or any part of an investment;
and
(e) earnings and other remuneration of personnel engaged from abroad in connection with an investment.
“Freely convertible currency” means a currency that is widely traded in international foreign exchange markets and widely used in international transactions.
(a) bankruptcy, insolvency or the protection of the rights of creditors;
(b) the issuing, trading or dealing in securities;
(c) criminal or penal offences, and the recovery of proceeds of crimes;
(d) ensuring the satisfaction of judgments in adjudicatory proceedings.
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ARTICLE 45
Key Personnel
(executives, managers and specialists, as defined by the granting Party as “Intra-corporate transferees” in the horizontal commitments of its respective Appendix of Annex VII) who are employed by such investors or investments of such investors, temporary entry, stay and authorisation to work in their territories to engage in activities connected with the establishment, management, maintenance, use, enjoyment, expansion or disposal of relevant investments.
or of key personnel employed by such investors, who has been granted temporary entry,
stay and authorisation to work.
ARTICLE 46
Reservations
(a) any reservation that is listed by a Party in Annex XI;
(b) an amendment to a reservation covered by sub-paragraph (a) to the extent that the amendment does not decrease the conformity of the reservation with Article 40;
(c) any new reservation adopted by a Party, and incorporated into Annex XI provided that such reservation does not affect the overall level of commitments of that Party under this Chapter;
to the extent that such reservation is inconsistent with the above- mentioned Article.
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ARTICLE 47
Subrogation
In the event that a Party (or any agency, institution, statutory body or corporation designated by it), as a result of an indemnity it has given in respect of an investment or any part thereof, makes a payment to its own investors in respect of any of their claims under this Chapter, the other Party acknowledges that the former Party (or any agency, institution, statutory body or corporation designated by it) is entitled by virtue of subrogation to exercise the rights and assert the claims of its own investors. The subrogated rights or claims shall not be greater than the original rights or claims of such investors.
ARTICLE 48
Disputes Between an Investor and a Party
one of the following:
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International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes;
of disputes to international conciliation or arbitration in accordance with paragraph 2
above. Such agreements may be notified to the Depositary of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 49
Exceptions
The following provisions shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to this Chapter: Articles 33, 34 and 35, as well as Article 19 (e), (f) and (g).
ARTICLE 50
Competition
to eliminating practices referred to in paragraph 1. The Party addressed shall accord full
and sympathetic consideration to such a request and shall co-operate through the supply
of publicly available non-confidential information of relevance to the matter in question.
Subject to its domestic law and the conclusion of a satisfactory agreement safeguarding confidentiality of information, the Party addressed shall also provide any other information available to the requesting Party.
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ARTICLE 51
Scope and Coverage
ARTICLE 52
Exchange of Information
The Parties shall exchange the names and addresses of “contact points” responsible for providing information on the rules and regulations in the field of public procurement.
ARTICLE 53
Further Negotiations
If a Party grants to a non-Party, after the entry into force of this Agreement, additional benefits with regard to the access to their public procurement markets, it shall agree to enter into negotiations with a view to extending these benefits to another Party
on a reciprocal basis.
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ARTICLE 54
Protection of Intellectual Property
its consensus, to review the provisions on the protection of intellectual property rights contained in the present Article and in Annex XII, with a view to further improving the
levels of protection and to avoiding or remedying trade distortions caused by actual levels
of protection of intellectual property rights.
ARTICLE 55
The Joint Committee
(a) supervise the implementation of this Agreement;
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(b) keep under review the possibility of further removal of barriers to trade and other restrictive measures concerning commerce between the EFTA States and Singapore;
(c) oversee the further elaboration of this Agreement;
(d) supervise the work of all sub-committees and working groups established under this Agreement;
(e) endeavour to resolve disputes that may arise regarding the interpretation or application of this Agreement; and
(f) consider any other matter that may affect the operation of this Agreement.
on the date that the last Party notifies that its internal requirements have been fulfilled,
unless the decision itself specifies a later date. The Joint Committee may decide that the
decision shall enter into force for those Parties that have fulfilled their internal requirements, provided that Singapore is one of those Parties. A Party may apply a decision of the Joint Committee provisionally until such decision enters into force, subject to its constitutional requirements.
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ARTICLE 56
Scope and Coverage
be settled in either forum at the discretion of the complaining Party. The forum thus selected shall be used to the exclusion of the other.
ARTICLE 57
Good Offices, Conciliation or Mediation
ARTICLE 58
Consultations
its operation.
Singapore, and vice-versa whenever a Party considers that a measure applied by the Party
or Parties to which the request is made is inconsistent with this Agreement or that any
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benefit accruing to it directly or indirectly under this Agreement is impaired by such measure.12 The Party requesting consultations shall at the same time notify the other Parties in writing thereof. Consultations shall take place before the Joint Committee unless the Party or Parties making or receiving the request for consultations disagree.
consultations.
of this Agreement and treat any confidential or proprietary information exchanged in the course of consultations in the same manner as the Party providing the information.
Parties involved in any further proceedings.
ARTICLE 59
Establishment of Arbitration Panel
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ARTICLE 60
Arbitration Panel
the case in any capacity.
In such a case, any time period applicable to the arbitration panel proceedings shall be
suspended for a period beginning on the date the arbitrator dies, withdraws or is removed
and ending on the date the replacement is selected.
Chair is appointed.
ARTICLE 61
Procedures of the Arbitration Panel
at the first meeting of the Joint Committee. Pending the adoption of such rules, the
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arbitration panel shall regulate its own procedures, unless the Parties to the dispute agree otherwise.
(a) the Parties to the dispute have the right to at least one hearing before the arbitration panel as well as the opportunity to provide initial and rebuttal written submissions;
(b) the Parties to the dispute shall be invited to all the hearings held by the arbitration panel;
(c) all submissions and comments made to the arbitration panel be available to the Parties to the dispute, subject to any requirements on confidentiality; and
(d) hearings, deliberations and initial report and all written submissions to and communications with the arbitration panel be confidential.
"To examine, in the light of the relevant provisions of the Agreement, the matter referred to in the request for the establishment of an arbitration panel pursuant to Article 59 and to make findings of law and fact toge ther with the reasons therefore as well as recommendations, if any, for the resolution of the dispute.”
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ARTICLE 62
Initial Report
(a) request the views of any of the Parties to the dispute;
(b) reconsider its report; and
(c) make any further examination that it considers appropriate.
ARTICLE 63
Final Report
ARTICLE 64
Termination of Arbitration Panel Proceedings
A complaining Party may withdraw its complaint at any time before the initial report has been issued. Such withdrawal is without prejudice to its right to introduce a new complaint regarding the same issue at a later point in time.
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ARTICLE 65
Implementation of Arbitration Panel Reports
to the dispute shall be bound to take the measures involved in carrying out the final report
referred to in Article 63.
its implementation.
on a reasonable period of time to do so. In the absence of such agreement, any Party to
the dispute may request the original arbitration panel to determine the length of the reasonable period of time, in light of the particular circumstances of the case. The ruling
of the arbitration panel shall be given within 15 days from that request.
if the arbitration panel rules that the implementing measures notified by the Party or Parties concerned are inconsistent with the final report, such Party or Parties shall, if so requested by the complaining Party or Parties, enter into consultations with a view to agree on a mutually acceptable compensation. If no such agreement has been reached within 20 days from the request, the complaining Party or Parties shall be entitled to suspend only the application of benefits granted under this Agreement equivalent to those affected by the measure found to violate this Agreement.
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Parties that consider it is not practicable or effective to suspend benefits in the same sector or sectors may suspend benefits in other sectors.
to the dispute may request the original arbitration panel to rule on whether the benefits which the complaining Party or Parties intend to suspend are equivalent to those affected
by the measure found to violate this Agreement, and whether the proposed suspension is
in accordance with paragraphs 6 and 7. The ruling of the arbitration panel shall be given
within 45 days from that request. Benefits shall not be suspended until the arbitration panel has issued its ruling.
ARTICLE 66
Other Provisions
Any time period mentioned in this Chapter may be extended by mutual agreement
of the Parties involved.
ARTICLE 67
Transparency
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as well as their respective international agreements that may affect the operation of this
Agreement.
ARTICLE 68
Annexes and Appendices
The Annexes and Appendices to this Agreement form an integral part thereof.
ARTICLE 69
Amendments
or approval shall be deposited with the Depositary.
ARTICLE 70
Additional Parties
Any third State may become a Party to this Agreement. The terms and conditions
of the participation by such third State shall be the subject of an agreement between the
Parties and that State.
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ARTICLE 71
Withdrawal and Termination
ARTICLE 72
Entry into Force
of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Depositary.
Republic of Singapore this Agreement enters into force at the latest on the same date.
of this Agreement shall be notified to the Depositary.
ARTICLE 73
Depositary
The Government of Norway shall act as Depositary.
ANNEX I
CONCERNING THE DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF
"ORIGINATING PRODUCTS" AND
METHODS OF ADMINISTRATIVE CO-OPERATION
-----
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
TITLE I GENERAL PROVISIONS
- Article 1 Definitions
TITLE II DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF "ORIGINATING PRODUCTS"
- Article 2 Origin Criteria
- Article 3 Cumulation of Origin
- Article 4 Wholly Obtained Products
- Article 5 Sufficiently Worked or Processed Products
- Article 6 Insufficient Working or Processing Operations
- Article 7 Unit of Qualification
- Article 8 Accessories, Spare Parts and Tools
- Article 9 Sets
- Article 10 Neutral Elements
- Article 11 Segregation of Materials
TITLE III TERRITORIAL REQUIREMENTS
- Article 12 Principle of Territoriality
- Article 13 Outward Processing
- Article 14 Direct Transport
- Article 15 Exhibitions
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TITLE IV PROOF OF ORIGIN
- Article 16 Origin Declaration
- Article 17 Approved Exporter
- Article 18 Importation Requirements
- Article 19 Importation by Instalments
- Article 20 Exemptions from Origin Declaration
- Article 21 Supporting Documents
- Article 22 Preservation of Origin Declarations and Supporting Documents
- Article 23 Discrepancies and Formal Errors
TITLE V ARRANGEMENTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE CO-OPERATION
- Article 24 Notifications
- Article 25 Verification of Origin Declarations
- Article 26 Dispute Settlement
- Article 27 Origin and Classification Information
- Article 28 Confidentiality
- Article 29 Penalties
- Article 30 Free Zones
TITLE VI FINAL PROVISIONS
- Article 31 Sub-Committee on Customs and Origin Matters
- Article 32 Explanatory Notes
- Article 33 Goods in Transit or Storage
TITLE I GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Definitions
For the purposes of this Annex:
(a) “chapters” and “headings” mean the chapters and the headings (four-digit codes) used in the nomenclature of the Harmonized System;
(b) “classified” refers to the classification of a product or material under a particular heading;
(c) “competent authority of Singapore” means International Enterprise
Singapore, or IE Singapore;
(d) “consignment” means products which are either sent simultaneously from one exporter to one consignee or covered by a single transport document covering their shipment from the exporter to the consignee or, in the absence of such a document, by a single invoice;
(e) “customs value” means the calculated value determined in accordance with the Agreement on implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation);
(f) “ex-works price” means the price paid for the product ex-works to the manufacturer in a Party in whose undertaking the last working or processing is carried out, provided the price includes the value of all the materials used, minus any internal taxes returned or repaid when the product obtained is exported;
(g) “goods” means both materials and products;
(h) “Harmonized System” means the Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System in force, including its general rules and legal notes;
(i) “manufacture” means any kind of working or processing, including assembly
or specific operations;
(j) “material” means any ingredient, raw material, component or part, etc., used
in the manufacture of a product;
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(k) “non-originating materials” means materials which do not qualify as originating under this Annex;
(l) “Party” means Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Singapore. Due to the customs union between Switzerland and Liechtenstein, products originating in Liechtenstein are considered as originating in Switzerland;
(m) “product” means the product being manufactured, even if it is intended for later use as a material in another manufacturing operation;
(n) “territories” includes territorial sea;
(o) “value of materials” means the customs value at the time of importation of the non-originating materials used, or, if this is not known and cannot be ascertained, the first ascertainable price paid for the materials in a Party;
(p) “value of originating materials” means the value of originating materials in accordance with the definition of sub-paragraph (o) applied mutatis mutandis.
TITLE II
DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT “ORIGINATING PRODUCTS”
Article 2
Origin Criteria
For the purpose of this Agreement, the following products shall be considered as originating in a Party:
(a) products wholly obtained in a Party within the meaning of Article 4;
(b) products obtained in a Party incorporating materials which have not been wholly obtained there, provided that such materials have undergone sufficient working or processing in the Party concerned within the meaning of Article 5;
or
(c) products obtained in a Party exclusively from materials that qualify as originating pursuant to this Annex.
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Article 3
Cumulation of Origin
Article 4
Wholly Obtained Products
a Party:
For the purpose of Article 2(a), the following shall be considered as wholly obtained in
(a) mineral products extracted from their soil or from their seabed;
(b) vegetable products harvested or gathered there;
(c) live animals born and raised there;
(d) products from live animals raised there;
(e) products obtained by hunting, trapping or fishing conducted there;
(f) products of sea fishing and other products taken from the sea outside the territorial sea of a country by a vessel flying the flag of a Party;
(g) products manufactured on board a factory ship flying the flag of a Party, exclusively from products referred to in sub-paragraph (f);
(h) articles collected there which can no longer perform their original purpose nor are capable of being restored or repaired and are fit only for disposal or recovery of parts or raw materials, including used tyres fit only for retreading;
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(i) waste and scrap resulting from consumption or manufacturing operations conducted there, fit only for disposal or recovery of raw materials;
(j) products extracted from the seabed or beneath the seabed outside their territorial sea, provided that they have sole rights to exploit such seabed;
(k) products manufactured there exclusively from products specified in sub- paragraphs (a) to (j).
Article 5
Sufficiently Worked or Processed Products
are fulfilled.
The conditions referred to above indicate the working or processing which shall be carried out
on non-originating materials used in manufacturing and apply only in relation to such materials. Accordingly, it follows that if a product which has acquired originating status, regardless of whether this product has been manufactured in the same factory or in another factory in a Party, by fulfilling the conditions set out in Appendix 2, is used as material in the manufacture
of another product, the conditions applicable to such other product do not apply to the product that is used as material, and therefore no account shall be taken of any non-originating materials incorporated into such a product used as a material in the manufacture of another product.
(a) their total value does not exceed 10 per cent of the ex-works price of the product; and
(b) any of the percentages given in Appendix 2 for the maximum value of non- originating materials are not exceeded through the application of this paragraph.
This paragraph shall not apply to products falling within Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonized
System. Appendix 1 shall apply to these products.
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Article 6
Insufficient Working or Processing Operations
the requirements of Article 5 are satisfied:
(a) preserving operations to ensure that the products remain in good condition during transport and storage;
(b) breaking-up and assembly of packages;
(c) washing, cleaning; removal of dust, oxide, oil, paint or other coverings;
(d) ironing or pressing of textiles;
(e) simple1 painting and polishing operations;
(f) husking, partial or total bleaching, polishing, and glazing of cereals and rice;
(g) operations to colour sugar or form sugar lumps;
(h) peeling, stoning and shelling, of fruits, nuts and vegetables;
(i) sharpening, simple grinding or simple cutting;
(j) sifting, screening, sorting, classifying, grading, matching; (including the making-up of sets of articles);
(k) simple1 placing in bottles, cans, flasks, bags, cases, boxes, fixing on cards or boards and all other simple packaging operations;
(l) affixing or printing marks, labels, logos and other like distinguishing signs on products or their packaging;
(m) simple mixing2 of products, whether or not of different kinds;
or equipment especially produced or installed for carrying out the activity.
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(n) simple3 assembly of parts of articles to constitute a complete article or disassembly of products into parts;
(o) slaughter of animals;
(p) a combination of two or more operations specified in sub-paragraphs (a) to
(o).
be regarded as insufficient within the meaning of paragraph 1.
Article 7
Unit of Qualification
the nomenclature of the Harmonized System. Accordingly, it follows that:
(a) when a product composed of a group or assembly of articles is classified under a single heading, the whole constitutes the unit of qualification; or
(b) when a consignment consists of a number of identical products classified under the same heading, each product shall be taken individually into account when applying the provisions of this Annex.
Article 8
Accessories, Spare Parts and Tools
biochemical process) which results in a molecule with a new structure by breaking intramolecular
bonds and by forming new intramolecular bonds, or by altering the spatial arrangement of atoms
in a molecule.
or equipment especially produced or installed for carrying out the activity.
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Accessories, spare parts and tools dispatched with a piece of equipment, machine, apparatus or vehicle, which are part of the normal equipment and included in the price thereof
or which are not separately invoiced, shall be regarded as one with the piece of equipment, machine, apparatus or vehicle in question.
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Article 9
Sets
Sets, as defined in General Rule 3 of the Harmonized System, shall be regarded as originating when all component products are originating. However, when a set is composed of originating and non-originating products, the set as a whole shall be regarded as originating, provided that the value of the non-originating products does not exceed 15 per cent of the ex- works price of the set.
Article 10
Neutral Elements
In order to determine whether a product originates, it shall not be necessary to determine the origin of the following which might be used in its manufacture:
(a) energy and fuel;
(b) plant and equipment, including goods to be used for their maintenance;
(c) machines, tools, dies and moulds; and
(d) any other goods which do not enter into and which are not intended to enter into the final composition of the product.
Article 11
Segregation of Materials
in the manufacture of a product, those materials shall be physically segregated, according to their origin, during storage.
Identical and interchangeable materials means materials being of the same kind and commercial quality, possessing the same technical and physical characteristics, and which once they are incorporated into the finished product cannot be distinguished from one another for origin purposes by virtue of any markings etc.
of identical and interchangeable originating and non-originating materials used in the manufacture of a product, may use the so-called “accounting segregation” method for managing stocks.
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- permit a clear distinction to be made between originating and non-originating materials acquired and/or kept in stock, and
- guarantee that no more products receive originating status than would be the case if the materials had been physically segregated.
TITLE III TERRITORIAL REQUIREM ENTS
Article 12
Principle of Territoriality
to the satisfaction of the customs authority of the importing Party concerned that:
(a) the returning product is the same as that exported; and
(b) the returning product has not undergone any operation beyond that necessary
to preserve it in good condition while being exported. Article 13
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Outward Processing
Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 12, the acquisition of originating status in accordance with the conditions set out in Title II shall not be affected by working or processing carried out outside the territory of a Party on materials exported from the Party concerned and subsequently re-imported there, provided that the conditions set out in Appendix 3 are fulfilled.
Article 14
Direct Transport
the customs authority in the country of transit or warehousing and do not undergo operations other than unloading, reloading or any operation designed to preserve them in good condition.
(a) a single transport document covering the passage from the exporting Party through the country of transit; or
(b) a certificate issued by the customs authority of the country of transit:
(i) giving an exact description of the products
(ii) stating the dates of unloading and reloading of the products and, where applicable, the names of the ships, or the other means of transport used; and
(iii) certifying the conditions under which the products remained in the transit country; or
(c) failing these, any other substantiating documents.
Article 15
Exhibitions
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of the customs authorities that:
(a) an exporter has sent these products from a Party to the country in which the exhibition is held and has exhibited them there;
(b) the products have been sold or otherwise disposed of by that exporter to a person in a Party;
(c) the products have been sent during the exhibition or immediately thereafter in the state in which they were sent for exhibition; and
(d) the products have not, since they were sent for exhibition, been used for any purpose other than demonstration at the exhibition.
be refused.
TITLE IV PROOF OF ORIGIN
Article 16
Origin Declaration
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”The exporter of the products covered by this document (customs authorization No
...(1) declares that, except where otherwise clearly indicated, these products are of ...(2)
preferential origin.”
........................................................................................... (3)
(Place and date)
..............................................................................................(4)
(Signature of the exporter; in addition the name of the person signing the declaration has to be indicated in clear script)