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US-VIETNAM BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTCHAPTER IIITRADE IN SERVICES Article 1 Scope and Definition 1. This Chapter applies to measures by the Parties affecting trade in services. 2. For the purposes of this Chapter, trade in services is defined as the supply of a service:
3. For the purposes of this Chapter: A. "measures by a Party" means measures taken by:
In fulfilling its obligations and commitments under this Chapter, each Party shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to it to ensure their observance by regional and local governments and authorities and non-governmental bodies within its territory; B. "services" includes any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority; C. "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.
Most-Favored-Nation Treatment
2. A Party may maintain a measure inconsistent with paragraph 1 provided that such a measure is listed in Listing of Article 2 Exemptions in Annex G. 3. The provisions of this Chapter shall not be so construed as to prevent
either Party from conferring or according advantages to adjacent countries
in order to facilitate exchanges limited to contiguous frontier zones
of services that are both locally produced and consumed.
Article 3 Economic Integration This Chapter shall not apply to advantages accorded by either Party by virtue of such Party's membership in, or having entered into, an agreement liberalizing trade in services between or among the parties to such an agreement, provided that such an agreement: A. has substantial sectoral coverage, (2) and B. provides for the absence or elimination of substantially all discrimination, in the sense of Article 7, between or among the parties, in the sectors covered under subparagraph (A), through:
2. A service supplier of any Party that is a juridical person constituted under the laws of a party to an agreement referred to in paragraph 1 shall be entitled to treatment granted under such agreement, provided that it engages in substantive business operations in the territory of the parties to such agreement.
Domestic Regulation
2. Each Party shall maintain or institute as soon as practicable judicial, arbitral or administrative tribunals or procedures which provide, at the request of an affected service supplier, for the prompt review of, and where justified, appropriate remedies for, administrative decisions affecting trade in services. Where such procedures are not independent of the agency entrusted with the administrative decision concerned, the Party shall ensure that the procedures in fact provide for an objective and impartial review. The provisions of subparagraph A shall not be construed to require a Party to institute such tribunals or procedures where this would be inconsistent with its constitutional structure or the nature of its legal system. Where authorization is required for the supply of a service on which a specific commitment has been made, the competent authorities of a Party shall, within a reasonable period of time after the submission of an application considered complete under domestic laws and regulations, inform the applicant of the decision concerning the application. At the request of the applicant, the competent authorities of the Party shall provide, without undue delay, information concerning the status of the application. 4. The Party shall not apply licensing and qualification requirements and technical standards that nullify or impair such specific commitments in a manner which: (i) does not comply with the following criteria:
(ii) could not reasonably have been expected of that Party at the time the specific commitments in those sectors were made. (iii) In determining whether a Party is in conformity with the obligation under sub-paragraph 4.A, account shall be taken of international standards of relevant international organizations (3) applied by that Party. 5. In sectors where specific commitments regarding professional services are undertaken, each Party shall provide for adequate procedures to verify the competence of professionals of the other Party.
Monopolies and Exclusive Service Suppliers
2. Where a Party's monopoly supplier competes, either directly or through an affiliated company, in the supply of a service outside the scope of its monopoly rights and which is subject to that Party's specific commitments, the Party shall ensure that such a supplier does not abuse its monopoly position to act in its territory in a manner inconsistent with such commitments. 3. The provisions of this Article shall also apply to cases of exclusive service suppliers, where a Party, formally or in effect, (a) authorizes or establishes a small number of service suppliers and (b) substantially prevents competition among those suppliers in its territory.
Market Access
2. In sectors where market-access commitments are undertaken, the measures which a Party shall not maintain or adopt either on the basis of a regional subdivision or on the basis of its entire territory, unless otherwise specified in its Schedule, are defined as:
National Treatment
2. A Party may meet the requirement of paragraph 1 by according to services and service suppliers of the other Party, either formally identical treatment or formally different treatment to that it accords to its own like services and service suppliers. 3. Formally identical or formally different treatment shall be considered to be less favorable if it modifies the conditions of competition in favor of services or service suppliers of the Party compared to like services or service suppliers of the other Party.
Additional Commitments The Parties may negotiate commitments with respect to measures affecting trade in services not subject to scheduling under Articles 6 or 7, including those regarding qualifications, standards or licensing matters. Such commitments shall be inscribed in a Party's Schedule.
Article 9 Schedules of Specific Commitments 1. Each Party shall set out in Annex G the specific commitments it undertakes under Articles 6 and 7 of this Chapter. With respect to sectors where such commitments are undertaken, such Annex shall specify:
2. Measures inconsistent with both Articles 6 and 7 shall be inscribed in the column relating to Article 6. In this case the inscription will be considered to provide a condition or qualification to Article 7 as well. 3. Schedules of specific commitments shall be annexed to this Chapter and shall form an integral part thereof.
Denial of Benefits A Party may deny the benefits of this Chapter:
Definitions For the purpose of this Chapter and Annex G: 1. "measure" means any measure by a Party, whether in the form of a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action, or any other form; 2. "supply of a service" includes the production, distribution, marketing, sale and delivery of a service; 3. "measures by a Party affecting trade in services" include measures in respect of
"service supplier" means any person that supplies a service; "monopoly supplier of a service" means any person, public or private, which in the relevant market of the territory of a Party is authorized or established formally or in effect by that Party as the sole supplier of that service; "service consumer" means any person that receives or uses a service; "person" means either a natural person or a juridical person;
"juridical person" means any legal entity duly constituted or otherwise organized 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;
"company" means any entity constituted or organized under applicable law, whether or not for profit, and whether privately or governmentally owned or controlled, and includes a corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, branch, joint venture, association, or other organization; "enterprise" means a company.
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