CHAPTER I
INITIAL PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 1
Parties
For the purposes of this Agreement, “ Party ” refers to either
the Republic of China (Taiwan) or the Republic of Paraguay, and
they are collectively referred to as “ Parties. ”
This Agreement is within the framework of the Memorandum of
Understanding on the Strategic Plan for Investment and Trade
between the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the
Government of the Republic of Paraguay signed on June 1st, 2001.
ARTICLE 2
Objectives
Parties reaffirm their rights and obligations under the World
Trade Organization (hereinafter “ WTO ” ), and recognize the
catalytic role that regional trade arrangements can contribute
towards accelerating trade and investment. With these in mind,
the Parties enter into this Agreement for the following
objectives:
(a) strengthen and enhance economic, trade, investment
cooperation, and other areas of cooperation mutually agreed
between the Parties; and
(b) progressively liberalize and promote trade in goods as well
as facilitative bilateral investment.
CHAPTER II
TRADE IN GOODS
ARTICLE 3
Scope
This Chapter shall apply to trade in goods between the Parties.
ARTICLE 4
Import Duties
For the purposes of this Agreement, “ import duties ” means
any duties, taxes or charges imposed in connection with the
importation of goods, except those imposed in conformity with
Articles III and VIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade 1994 (hereinafter “ GATT 1994 ” ).
ARTICLE 5
Duty-free Importation of Certain Commercial Samples and Printed
Advertising Material
Each Party shall authorize the duty-free importation of
commercial samples of insignificant value and printed
advertising materials from the territory of the other Party.
ARTICLE 6
Concessions
For the products listed in Annex I of this Agreement, pursuant
to relevant provisions of this Agreement and subject to the
conditions specified therein,the Republic of China (Taiwan) will
eliminate import duties to the products listed in the “ List of
Products of Republic of China (Taiwan), ” and the Republic of
Paraguay will maintain its current WTO MFN rates to the products
listed in the “ List of Products of Republic of Paraguay. ”(1)
(1) The Republic of Paraguay will provide the benefits pursuant
to the framework of the “ List of Exceptions ” under
MERCOSUR Agreement, while this is in force. In the case the
“ List of Exceptions ” ceases to be in force, the Parties
agree to undertake consultations to reach a mutually
beneficial adjustment.
Consistent with GATT 1994, with a view to expediting the
expansion of trade in goods, the Parties agree to continue to
progressively reducing and eliminating duties and other
restrictive regulations of commerce in the future. For this
purpose, the Joint Committee established under Article 23 of
this Agreement (hereinafter “ the Joint Committee ” )shall, no
later than six (6) months after the entry into force of this
Agreement or no later than twelve (12) months from the last
update, review and update Annex I of this Agreement.
ARTICLE 7
Rules of Origin
In order to qualify for tariff preferences, the imports under
the List of Products of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Annex
I of this Agreement shall meet the requirements of rules of
origin as stipulated in the NOTE 1of the Annex I of this
Agreement and Annex II of this Agreement.
CHAPTER III
TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL COOPERATION
ARTICLE 8
Technological and Technical Cooperation
The Parties shall establish a technological cooperation
mechanism in order to develop their industrial sectors and
infrastructure, in particular in the fields of agricultural and
agro-industrial activities, banking, engineering and
construction, chemistry, fine chemistry, fertilizers, pharmacy
(especially active principles), automation and robotics,
irrigation, alloys and super alloys, avionics, microelectronics,
telecommunication, health, medical equipment, education,
security equipment systems and other fields. The technological
cooperation may be comprised of technology transfer and joint
projects for the development of new technologies as well as
other initiatives.
The Parties will encourage the studies aiming at identifying
potential investment sectors, to develop clusters on agro
industrial activities.
With this aim, the Joint Committee shall, no later than six (6)
months after the entry into force of this Agreement, define
priority sectors for technological cooperation, and request the
Parties' respective relevant authorities to identify specific
projects and to establish mechanisms for their implementation.
ARTICLE 9
Small and Medium Enterprises – SMEs
The Parties shall establish a technical cooperation mechanism in
order to develop their technical capabilities in specific
sectors, with particular attention to Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs), including:
(a) organization and holding of fairs, exhibitions, conferences,
advertising, consultancy and other business services;
(b) development of contacts between business entities,
manufacturers associations, chambers of commerce and other
business associations of both Parties;
(c) training of technicians.
With this aim, the Joint Committee shall, no later than six (6)
months after the entry into force of this Agreement, define
priority sectors for technical cooperation and request the
Parties' respective relevant authorities to identify specific
projects and to establish mechanisms for their implementation.
ARTICLE 10
Investment Promotion
The Parties recognize the importance of promoting cross-border
investment flows and technology transfers as means for achieving
economic growth and development. In order to increase investment
flows, the Parties may cooperate through:
(a) Exchanging information, including potential sectors and
investment opportunities, laws, regulations, and policies,
so as to increase awareness on their investment
environments;
(b) Encouraging and supporting investment promotion activities
such as investment conferences, fairs, exhibitions and
investment promotion missions;
(c) Discussing the possibility of negotiating bilateral
investment promotion agreements with a view to furthering
investment flows and technology transfer; and
(d) Developing mechanisms for joint investments conducted by
private sectors on the basis of commercial considerations,
in particular with SMEs.
The Parties recognize that the objective of investment promotion
shall be in conformity with their domestic regulations.
CHAPTER IV
CUSTOMS PROCEDURES AND COOPERATION
ARTICLE 11
Customs Valuation
The Agreement on the Implementation of Article VII of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994 (Agreement of the
WTO on Customs Valuation) shall govern the customs valuation
rules applied by the Parties to their mutual trade.
ARTICLE 12
Facilitation of Customs Procedures
The Parties shall take all necessary measures to facilitate the
customs procedures for the products originated in either one of
the Parties.
ARTICLE 13
Customs Cooperation
The Parties commit themselves to develop customs cooperation
mechanisms to ensure that the provisions on trade are observed.
For this purpose, they shall establish a dialogue on customs
matters and provide mutual assistance.
CHAPTER V
TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE
ARTICLE 14
Multilateral Obligations
The Parties reaffirm their rights and obligations in respect of
the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.
ARTICLE 15
Technical Assistance and Cooperation
The Parties shall cooperate in the fields of standardization,
metrology, conformity assessment and product certification, with
the aim of eliminating technical barriers to trade and promoting
harmonized international standards in technical regulations.
CHAPTER VI
SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
ARTICLE 16
Multilateral Obligations
The Parties reaffirm their rights and obligations under the
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Measures of the WTO.
ARTICLE 17
Technical Assistance and Cooperation
The Parties agree to attach special importance to technical
cooperation in order to facilitate the implementation of this
Agreement.
CHAPTER VII
TRADE REMEDIES
ARTICLE 18
Antidumping, Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
In the application of antidumping or countervailing measures and
with respect to subsidies, the Parties shall be governed by
their respective legislation, which shall be consistent with the
WTO Agreement.
ARTICLE 19
Safeguard Measures
The rights and obligations of the Parties with respect to
safeguard measures shall be governed by Article XIX of the GATT
1994 and the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.
CHAPTER VIII
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
ARTICLE 20
The Parties agree to:
(a) promote the importance of intellectual property rights in
fostering trade in goods and services, innovation, and
economic, social and cultural development;
(b) promote the effective protection, enforcement and
maintenance of intellectual property rights; and
(c) recognize the need to achieve a fair balance among the
rights of intellectual property rights holders, the
legitimate interests of users and the wider interest of the
public with regard to protected subject matters.
CHAPTER IX
TRANSPARENCY
ARTICLE 21
Publication
Each Party shall ensure that its laws, regulations, procedures
and administrative rulings of general application regarding any
matter covered by this Agreement are promptly published.
CHAPTER X
FINAL PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 22
Exceptions
No provision in this Agreement shall be interpreted to prevent
either Party from adopting or maintaining exception measures
consistent with the rules of the WTO.
ARTICLE 23
Joint Committee
A Joint Committee is hereby established, in which each Party
shall be represented by Ministry of Economic Affairs – MOEA -
of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Ministry of Industry
and Commerce – MIC - of the Republic of Paraguay.
The Joint Committee shall be responsible for the administration
of the Agreement and shall ensure its proper implementation.
For the purpose stated in the above paragraph, the Parties shall
exchange information and, at the request of either Party, shall
hold consultations within the Joint Committee. The Joint
Committee shall review periodically the possibility of further
removal of the obstacles to trade between the Republic of China
(Taiwan) and the Republic of Paraguay.
The Joint Committee shall establish its own rules of procedure.
ARTICLE 24
Miscellaneous Provisions
This Agreement shall include the Annexes and the contents
therein, and all future legal instruments agreed pursuant to
this Agreement.
Each Party shall designate a contact point to facilitate
communications between the Parties on any matter covered by this
Agreement. At the request of the other Party, the contact point
shall identify the office or official responsible for the matter
and assist, as necessary, in facilitating communication with the
requesting Party.
This Agreement shall enter into force thirty (30) days after
both Parties have formally notified, through diplomatic
channels, the completion of the internal procedures necessary to
that effect.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized by
their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.
Done at Taipei, 12th day of July in 2017 in duplicate in the
Chinese, Spanish and English languages, all texts being equally
authentic.In case of divergence in the interpretation of this
Agreement, the English text shall prevail.
For the Republic of China For the Republic of Paraguay
(Taiwan)
_________________________ _____________________________
Chih-Kung Lee Gustavo Leite
Minister, Ministry of Minister, Ministry of Industry
Economic Affairs and Commerce