Preamble

The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection under the
Ministry of Economic Affairs, having its principle place of
business at 4 Chinan Road, Section 1, Taipei 100, Republic of
China (Taiwan) and the Austrian Standards Institute, having its
principle place of business at Heinestra?e 38, 1020 Wien,
Austria (hereinafter referred to as "the Parties") hereby enter
into this General Agreement for Cooperation in pursuance of
their desire to cooperate in the various fields of activities
which both Parties are active, in order to achieve the goal of
facilitating trade of goods between the two countries.
Article 1 (Scope of Cooperation)
To achieve the purpose stipulated in the Preamble, the
Parties agree to cooperate in the following fields:
1.Standardization
2.Training
3.Information exchange
4.Other areas as needed to achieve the purpose
stipulated in the Preamble, such as testing and
certification of products.
Article 2 (Further Cooperation)
The Parties shall conclude separate Memoranda of
Understanding concerning the specific details of their
cooperative activities in the fields stipulated in
Article 1.4.
Article 3 (Exchange of Information)
The Parties agree to the regular exchange of the
following information, preferably in English:
1.Standards, journals, publications related to
standardization;
2.Materials of training courses or seminars;
3.Technical regulations for industrial products;
4.Product certification programs and market
surveillance; and
5.Other documents regarding conformity assessment.
Article 4 (Confidence Building and Exchange of Experts)
The Parties agree to undertake work aimed at enhancing
mutual confidence in each other's technical
infrastructure, such as the exchange of technical
experts, so as to work towards the development of
mutual recognition arrangements on potential areas.
The exchange of experts in areas mentioned in Article
1 shall be mutually agreed by special arrangements
between the Parties.
Article 5 (Participation in International/Regional Organizations)
The Parties agree to work within the framework of
international and regional organizations to promote
their consolidated positions and increase their roles
regarding international activities in the fields of
standardization and conformity assessment.
Article 6 (Confidentiality)
The Parties shall ensure confidentiality concerning
documents and information received within the
framework of this Agreement. This information can only
be transferred to a third Party after gaining the
written consent of the Party that provided the
information.
Article 7 (Disputes)
Any disputes arising from the interpretation or
fulfillment of this Agreement shall be settled by
negotiations.
Article 8 (Terms and Revisions)
This Agreement may be amended at any time by written
consent of both Parties and shall remain valid for a
period of two years unless either Party submits a
written notification to the other Party of its
termination at least six months in advance. This
Agreement shall be automatically renewed at the end of
the two-year term, unless prior notification has been
received ninety days in advance, by one of the Parties
stating differently.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized, have
signed this Agreement in English in duplicate, on the date
denoted below.

For the Bureau of Standards, For the Austrian Standards
Metrology and Institute,
Inspection, Republic of Austria
China (Taiwan)

Dr. Jay-San Chen Ing. Dr. Gerhard Hartmann
Director General Director

(Date) (Date)