CHAPTER XXII General Exceptions
Article 1. [Definitions]
[1.1. For purposes of this Chapter:]
[tax convention means a convention for the
avoidance of double taxation or other international taxation agreement or
arrangement; and]
[taxes and taxation measures do not include:]
[a) a customs duty; or]
[b) the measures listed in exceptions b) and c) of the
definition of customs duty.]
Article 2. [Exceptions in goods and services]
[2.1. For purposes of Chapters XX (Market Access,
Agriculture, Rules of Origin and Origin Procedures, Customs
Administration, and Technical Barriers to Trade), Article XX of GATT 1994
and its interpretive notes are incorporated into and made part of this
Agreement. The Parties understand that the measures referred to in Article
XX(b) of GATT 1994 include environmental measures necessary to protect
human, animal, or plant life or health, and that Article XX(g) of
GATT 1994 applies to measures relating to the conservation of living and
non-living exhaustible natural resources.]
[2.2. For purposes of Chapters XX (Cross-Border Trade
in Services), Article XIV of GATS (including its footnotes) is
incorporated into and made part of this Agreement. The Parties understand
that the measures referred to in Article XIV(b) of GATS include
environmental measures necessary to protect human, animal, or plant life
or health.]
Article 3. [Essential Security]
[3.1. The exceptions for national security reasons set
forth in Article XXI of GATT 1994;]
[3.2. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:]
[a) to require a Party to furnish or allow
access to any information the disclosure of which it determines to
be contrary to its essential security interests; or]
[b) to preclude a Party from applying measures
that it considers necessary for the fulfillment of its obligations
[in conformity with the United Nations Charter] with respect to
the maintenance [and] [or] restoration of international peace or
security, or the protection of its own essential security
interests.]
Article 4. [Taxation]
[4.1. Except as set out in this Article, nothing in
this Agreement shall apply to taxation measures.]
[4.2. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights
and obligations of either Party under any tax convention. In the event of
any inconsistency between this Agreement and any such convention, that
convention shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. In the case
of a tax convention between the Parties, the competent authorities under
that convention shall have sole responsibility for determining whether any
inconsistency exists between this Agreement and that convention.]
[4.3. Notwithstanding Article 3.2:]
[a) Article XX (Market Access - National
Treatment) and such other provisions of this Agreement as are
necessary to give effect to that Article shall apply to taxation
measures to the same extent as does Article III of the GATT 1994;
and]
[b) Articles XX (Market Access - Export Taxes)
shall apply to taxation measures.]
[4.4. Subject to Article 4.2:]
[a) Article XX (Cross-Border Trade in
Services - National Treatment) and Article XX (Financial Services
- National Treatment) shall apply to taxation measures on income,
capital gains, or on the taxable capital of corporations that
relate to the purchase or consumption of particular services,
except that nothing in this subparagraph shall prevent a Party
from conditioning the receipt or continued receipt of an advantage
relating to the purchase or consumption of particular services on
requirements to provide the service in its territory; and]
[b) Articles XX (Investment - National
Treatment) and XX (Investment - Most-Favored-Nation Treatment),
Articles XX (Cross-Border Trade in Services - National Treatment)
and XX (Cross-Border Trade in Services - Most-Favored Nation
Treatment), and Articles XX (Financial Services - National
Treatment) and XX (Financial Services - Most-Favored-Nation
Treatment) shall apply to all taxation measures, other than those
on income, capital gains, or on the taxable capital of
corporations, taxes on estates, inheritances, gifts, and
generation-skipping transfers,]
[except that nothing in those Articles shall apply:]
[c) any most-favored-nation obligation with
respect to an advantage accorded by a Party pursuant to a tax
convention;]
[d) to a non-conforming provision of any existing
taxation measure;]
[e) to the continuation or prompt renewal
of a non-conforming provision of any existing taxation measure;]
[f) to an amendment to a non-conforming
provision of any existing taxation measure to the extent that the
amendment does not decrease its conformity, at the time of the
amendment, with any of those Articles;]
[g) to the adoption or enforcement of any
taxation measure aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective
imposition or collection of taxes (as permitted by Article XIV(d)
of GATS); or]
[h) to a provision that conditions the receipt, or continued
receipt, of an advantage relating to the contributions to, or
income of, pension trusts or pension plans on a requirement that
the Party maintain continuous jurisdiction over the pension
trust or pension plan.]
[4.5. Subject to Article 4.2. and without prejudice to
the rights and obligations of the Parties under paragraph 3, Article XX
(Investment - Performance Requirements) shall apply to taxation measures.]
[4.6. Except as set out in this Article, nothing in
this Agreement shall apply to taxation measures.]
[4.7. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the
rights and obligations of any Party under any tax convention. In the event
of any inconsistency between this Agreement and any such convention, that
convention shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.]
[4.8. Notwithstanding Article 4.7:]
[a) Article XX (National treatment on
agricultural and non-agricultural goods), and such other
provisions of this Agreement as are necessary to give effect to
that Article, shall apply to taxation measures to the same extent
as Article III of GATT 1994; and]
[b) Article XX (Export taxes on agricultural
and non-agricultural goods), shall apply to taxation measures.]
[4.9. For purposes of this Article, taxation measures shall not
include:]
[a) a customs duty, which includes any
import tax or duty or a charge of any other kind applied in
connection with the importation of a good, including any form of
surtax or surcharge applied to imports;]
[b) any antidumping or countervailing duty that
is applied pursuant to a Party’s domestic law and not applied
inconsistently with the provisions of Chapter XX (Unfair Trade
Practices);]
[c) fees or other charges in connection with
the importation, commensurate with the cost of services provided;]
[d) any premium offered or collected on
imported goods, derived from any bidding system with respect to
the administration of quantitative restrictions on imports or of
quota-based tariffs or tariff preference quotas.]
[4.10. Subject to Article 4.7:]
[a) Articles XX (National treatment on
services) and XX (National treatment on financial services) shall
apply to taxation measures on income, capital gains, or on the
taxable capital of corporations that relate to the purchase or
consumption of particular services;]
[b) Articles XX and XX (National treatment and
Most-favored-nation treatment on investment); XX and XX (National
treatment and Most-favored-nation treatment on services); and XX
and XX (National treatment and Most-favored-nation treatment on
financial services) shall apply to all taxation measures, other
than those on income, capital gains, or on the taxable capital of
corporations, and taxes on estates, inheritances, and gifts.]
[Nothing in those Articles shall apply to:]
[i) any most-favored-nation obligation with
respect to an advantage accorded by a Party pursuant to a tax
convention;]
[ii) any new taxation measure aimed at
ensuring the equitable and effective imposition of taxes and
that does not arbitrarily discriminate between persons, goods,
or services of the Parties or arbitrarily nullify or impair
benefits accorded under those Articles, in the sense of Annex
XX (Nullification and impairment of Chapter XX (Dispute
Settlement).]
Article 5.[Disclosure of Information]
[5.1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to
require a Party to furnish or allow access to information the disclosure
of which would impede law enforcement or would be contrary to the Party’s
law protecting personal privacy or the financial affairs and accounts of
individual customers of financial institutions.]
[5.2. No Party shall be required to disclose
confidential information which would impede law enforcement or otherwise
be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice the legitimate
commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or private.]
Article 6. [Balance of Payments]
Article 7. [Cultural Exemption]
[7.1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to
apply to measures adopted or maintained by a Party with respect to
cultural industries except as specifically provided in Article XX (Market
Access-Tariff Elimination).]