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Although we have tried to use plain English content on the site, you may come across specialist terms and acronyms. Find out what they mean in our glossary of terms.
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For the purposes of Chapters 2 to 7, subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between the Parties where the same conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on international trade in goods, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by a Party of measures:
(a) necessary to protect public morals;
(b) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(c) relating to the importations or exportations of gold or silver;
(d) necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement, including those relating to customs enforcement, the enforcement of monopolies operated under paragraph 4 of Article II and Article XVII of GATT 1994, the protection of patents, trade marks and copyrights, and the prevention of deceptive practices;
(e) relating to the products of prison labour;
(f) necessary to protect national treasures or specific sites of historical or archaeological value, or to support creative arts of national value;
(g) relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made effective in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption;
(h) undertaken in pursuance of obligations under any intergovernmental commodity agreement which conforms to criteria submitted to the WTO and not disapproved by it or which is itself so submitted and not so disapproved;
(i) involving restrictions on exports of domestic materials necessary to ensure essential quantities of such materials to a domestic processing industry during periods when the domestic price of such materials is held below the world price as part of a governmental stabilisation plan; Provided that such restrictions shall not operate to increase the exports of or the protection afforded to such domestic industry, and shall not depart from the provisions of this Agreement
(j) essential to the acquisition or distribution of products in general or local short supply; Provided that any such measures shall be consistent with the principle that all WTO members are entitled to an equitable share of the international supply of such products, and that any such measures which are inconsistent with the other provisions of this Agreement shall be discontinued as soon as the conditions giving rise to them have ceased to exist.
[4] For the purposes of Chapters 8 and 9, subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between the Parties where like conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on trade in services, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by a Party
(b) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
(c) necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement including those relating to:
(d)
(e) necessary to protect national treasures or specific sites of historical or archaeological value, or to support creative arts of national value;
(f) relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made effective in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption;
(g) inconsistent with the requirement for national treatment provided that the difference in treatment is aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective [6] imposition or collection of direct taxes in respect of services or service suppliers of the other Party.
Nothing
(a) to require any Party to furnish any information the disclosure of which it
(b) to prevent any Party from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:
(c) to prevent any Party from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Nothing in this Agreement shall require a Party to provide confidential information, the disclosure of which would impede law enforcement, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, or which would prejudice legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or private.
1. Where a Party is in serious balance of payments and external financial difficulties or under threat thereof, it may:
2. Restrictions adopted or maintained under Sub-paragraph (b) or (c) of Paragraph 1 shall:
3. In determining the incidence of such restrictions, the Parties may give priority to economic sectors which are more essential to their economic development. However, such restrictions shall not be adopted or maintained for the purpose of protecting a particular sector.
4. Any restrictions adopted or maintained by a Party under Paragraph 1, or any changes therein, shall be promptly notified to the other Party.
5. The Party adopting or maintaining any restrictions under Paragraph 1 shall commence consultations with the other Party as soon as possible from the date of notification in order to review the measures adopted or maintained by it.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, a Party shall not be prevented from taking measures for prudential reasons, including for the protection of investors, depositors, policy holders or persons to whom a fiduciary duty is owed by a financial service supplier, or to ensure the integrity and stability of the financial system or the stability of the macroeconomy.[8] Where such measures do not conform with the provisions of this Agreement, they shall not be used as a means of avoiding the Party’s commitments or obligations under the Agreement.
1. Except as provided in this Article, nothing in this Agreement shall apply to taxation measures.
2. This Agreement shall only grant rights or impose obligations with respect to taxation measures where:
3. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the rights and obligations of the Parties under any tax convention relating to the avoidance of double taxation in force between the Parties.
4. If there is a dispute described in Article 9.16 (1) that may relate to a taxation measure, then the Parties, including representatives of their tax administrations, shall hold consultations. Any tribunal established under Article 9.16 shall accept a decision of the Parties as to whether the measure in question is a taxation measure.
5. In the event of any inconsistency relating to a taxation measure between this Agreement and the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of New Zealand for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income, done at Wellington on 22 October 1998, the latter shall prevail. Any consultations between the Parties about whether an inconsistency relates to a taxation measure shall include representatives of the tax administration of each Party [9]
1. Provided that such measures are not used as a means of arbitrary or unjustified discrimination against persons of the other Party or as a disguised restriction on trade in goods and services or investment, nothing in this Agreement shall preclude the adoption by New Zealand of measures it deems necessary to accord more favourable treatment to Maori in respect of matters covered by this Agreement including in fulfilment of its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi.
2. The Parties agree that the interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, including as to the nature of the rights and obligations arising under it, shall not be subject to the dispute settlement provisions of this Agreement. Chapter 17 shall otherwise apply to this Article. An arbitral tribunal appointed under Article 17.4 may be requested by Thailand to determine only whether any measure (referred to in Paragraph 1) is inconsistent with its rights under this Agreement.
[4] This Article shall come into effect with respect to trade in services on entry into force of any commitments to liberalise trade in services under this Agreement.
[5] The public order exception may be invoked only where a genuine and sufficiently serious threat is posed to one of the fundamental interests of society.
[6] Measures that are aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective imposition or collection of direct taxes include measures taken by a Party under its taxation system which:
Tax terms or concepts in paragraph (g) of this Article and in this footnote are determined according to tax definitions and concepts, or equivalent or similar definitions and concepts, under the domestic law of the Party taking the measure.
[7] This Sub-paragraph shall come into effect with respect to trade in services on entry into force of any commitments to liberalise trade in services under this Agreement.
[8] These include measures to prevent currency manipulation or to ensure the stability of the exchange rate or the financial system. Such measures shall be no more than necessary to meet the objectives of ensuring the integrity and stability of the financial system or the stability of the macroeconomy.
[9] Nothing in this Agreement shall be regarded as obliging a Party to extend to the other Party the benefit of any treatment, preference or privilege arising from any existing or future agreement on the avoidance of double taxation or from the provisions on the avoidance of double taxation in any other international agreement or arrangement by which the Party is bound.
