India - South Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

India - South Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) 

Click below to read India - South Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA):

PREAMBLE

The Republic of India (hereinafter referred to as “India”) and the Republic of Korea (hereinafter

referred to as “Korea”), and hereinafter referred to jointly as “Parties” and individually as

“Party”:

RECOGNISING their long-standing friendship, strong economic ties and close cultural links;

RECALLING the establishment of the Joint Study Group to examine the benefits of a

Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred to as “CEPA”) between

India and Korea in January 2005, and its recommendations, which served as the framework for

negotiations on the CEPA and its structure as an integrated package of agreements;

CONSIDERING that the expansion of their domestic markets, through economic integration, is

important for accelerating their economic development;

DESIRING to promote mutually beneficial economic relations;

SHARING the belief that the CEPA would improve their attractiveness to capital and human

resources, and create larger and new markets, to expand trade and investment not only between

them but also in the region;

AFFIRMING their commitment to fostering the development of an open market economy in

Asia, and to encouraging the economic integration of Asian economies in order to further the

liberalisation of trade and investment in the region;

REAFFIRMING that this Agreement shall contribute to the expansion and development of world

trade under the multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO Agreement;

BUILDING on their respective rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement and other

bilateral, regional and multilateral instruments of cooperation to which both Parties are party;

FURTHER REAFFIRMING their rights to pursue economic philosophies suited to their

development goals and their rights to realise their national policy objectives;

RECOGNISING that economic and trade liberalisation should allow for the optimal use of

natural resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development, seeking both to

protect and preserve the environment; and

RESOLVED to promote reciprocal trade and investment, and to avoid circumvention of benefits

of regional trade integration, through the establishment of clear and mutually advantageous trade

rules, and industry as well as regulatory cooperation;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

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CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS

ARTICLE 1.1: OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this Agreement, as elaborated more specifically through its principles and rules

are to:

(a) liberalise and facilitate trade in goods and services and expand investment

between the Parties;

(b) establish a cooperative framework for strengthening and enhancing the economic

relations between the Parties;

(c) establish a framework conducive for a more favourable environment for their

businesses and promote conditions of fair competition in the free trade area;

(d) establish a framework of transparent rules to govern trade and investment between

the Parties;

(e) create effective procedures for the implementation and application of this

Agreement;

(f) explore new areas of economic cooperation and develop appropriate measures for

closer economic partnership between the Parties;

(g) improve the efficiency and competitiveness of their manufacturing and services

sectors and expand trade and investment between the Parties; and

(h) establish a framework for further regional and multilateral cooperation to expand

and enhance the benefits of this Agreement throughout Asia, and thereby, to

encourage the economic integration of Asian economies.

ARTICLE 1.2: RELATION TO OTHER AGREEMENTS

1. The Parties reaffirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other under

existing bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements to which both Parties are party, including

the WTO Agreement.

2. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and other agreements to which

both Parties are party, the Parties shall immediately consult with each other with a view to

finding a mutually satisfactory solution.

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ARTICLE 1.3: GENERAL DEFINITIONS

1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified:

Agreement means the CEPA;

central level of government means:

(a) for India, the government of the Union of India; and

(b) for Korea, the central level of government;

Customs Valuation Agreement means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;

Days means calendar days, including weekends and holidays;

Enterprise means any entity constituted or organised under applicable law, whether or not for

profit, and whether privately or governmentally owned or controlled, including any corporation,

trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture, association, or similar organisation;

Existing means in effect on the date of entry into force of this Agreement;

GATS means the General Agreement on Trade in Services, contained in Annex 1B to the WTO

Agreement;

GATT 1994 means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, contained in Annex 1A to

the WTO Agreement;

Goods/products of a Party means all domestic products including manufactures and

commodities in their raw, semi processed and processed forms as these are understood in GATT

1994 or such goods as the Parties may agree, and includes originating goods;

Government procurement means the process by which a government obtains the use of or

acquires goods or services, or any combination thereof, for governmental purposes and not with a

view to commercial sale or resale or use in the production or supply of goods or services for

commercial sale or resale;

Harmonised System (HS) means the nomenclature of the Harmonised Commodity Description

and Coding System defined in the International Convention on the Harmonised Commodity

Description and Coding System including all legal notes thereto, as adopted and implemented by

the Parties in their respective tariff laws;

Measure means any measure by a Party, whether in the form of a law, regulation, rule,

procedure, decision, administrative action, or any other form;

Measures by Parties means measures taken by:

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(a) central, regional, or local governments and authorities; and

(b) non-governmental bodies in the exercise of powers delegated by central, regional

or local governments or authorities;

National means:

(a) for India, natural persons deriving their status as Indian citizens from the law in

force in India;

(b) for Korea, a Korean as defined in Article 2 of the Constitution of Korea and its

laws; and

Originating goods means goods qualifying under Chapter Three (Rules of Origin);

Person means a natural person or an enterprise/juridical person;

Person of a Party means a national or an enterprise/juridical person of a Party;

Preferential tariff treatment means the duty rate applicable under this Agreement to an

originating good;

Regional level of government means, for India, the state and the Union Territories of India; for

Korea, “regional level of government” is not applicable;

Safeguards Agreement means the Agreement on Safeguards, contained in Annex 1A to the

WTO Agreement;

SPS Agreement means the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary

Measures, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;

TBT Agreement means the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, contained in Annex 1A to

the WTO Agreement;

Territory means:

(a) for India, the territory of India including its territorial seas and the air space above it

and other maritime zones including the Exclusive Economic Zone and the

continental shelf over which India has sovereignty, sovereign rights or exclusive

jurisdiction in accordance with its laws in force, the 1982 United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea and International Law; and

(b) for Korea, the land, maritime, and air space over which Korea exercises

sovereignty, and those maritime areas, including the seabed and subsoil adjacent

to and beyond the outer limit of the territorial seas over which it may exercise

sovereign rights or jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its law;

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TRIPS Agreement means the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights, contained in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement;

WTO means the World Trade Organization; and

WTO Agreement means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization,

done on 15 April 1994.

2. In this Agreement, all words in the singular shall include the plural and all words in the

plural shall include the singular, unless otherwise indicated in the context.

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