THAILAND-AUSTRALIA
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

ARTICLE 308
Treatment of Goods for which a Certificate of Origin has been Issued

1. The importing Party shall facilitate the importation of goods for which a Certificate of Origin has been issued in accordance with Chapter 4 of this Agreement to the greatest extent permitted under its laws, regulations and policies. In particular, subject to Paragraphs 2 to 4, the importing Party shall not dispute the customs duty payable on such goods at the time of importation or entry for home consumption, provided they are imported and entered in accordance with the relevant Certificate of Origin.
2. To ensure the requirements of Paragraph 1 are met, the importing Party may request the presentation of the Certificate of Origin issued for goods. The customs administration of the importing Party may require the deposit of a security, including a cash security, up to the amount which would be payable on the goods if they did not qualify for preferential tariff treatment.
3. Paragraph 1 does not prevent the importing Party from disputing the customs duty payable on the goods referred to in that Paragraph after the goods have entered for home consumption, in accordance with its laws, regulations and policies.
4. Paragraph 1 does not apply where any goods previously traded by the importer, exporter or producer of the imported goods, or by any person associated with that importer, exporter or producer, are the subject of current verification action, or have been denied preferential tariff treatment, in accordance with Chapter 4 of this Agreement.
5. Where a dispute arises between the Parties as to:
(a) the valuation or the tariff classification of goods for which a Certificate of Origin has been issued in accordance with Chapter 4 of this Agreement; or
(b) the valuation or the tariff classification of non-originating materials used or consumed in the processing of those goods; or
(c) the interpretation of the rules of origin on which the relevant Certificate of Origin was based,
the importing Party shall consult with the exporting Party with a view to resolving the issue prior to taking any action to recover duties.

ARTICLE 309
Paperless Trading and Use of Automated Systems

1. The customs administrations of both Parties, in implementing initiatives which provide for the use of paperless trading, shall take into account the methods agreed in APEC and the World Customs Organization.
2. The customs administration of each Party shall work towards having electronic means for all its customs reporting requirements as soon as practicable.
3. The introduction of information technology shall, to the greatest extent possible, be carried out in consultation with all relevant parties directly affected.
ARTICLE 310
Risk Management
1. The Parties shall administer customs procedures at their respective borders so as to facilitate the clearance of low-risk goods and focus on high-risk goods.
2. The Parties shall apply and develop further risk management techniques in the performance of their customs procedures.

ARTICLE 311
Publication and Enquiry Points

1. Each Party shall publish on the Internet or a comparable computer-based telecommunications network or in print form any statutory and regulatory provisions and any administrative procedures applicable or enforceable by its customs administration.
2. Each Party shall designate one or more enquiry points to address enquiries from interested persons of the other Party concerning customs matters, and shall make available on the Internet information concerning procedures for making such enquiries.

CHAPTER 4
RULES OF ORIGIN
ARTICLE 401
Definitions

For the purposes of this Chapter:
(a) "Certificate of Origin" means a certificate issued in accordance with Article 408 and complying with the requirements of Annex 4.2 (Certificate of Origin Requirements);
(b) "generally accepted accounting principles" means the recognised consensus or substantial authoritative support in the territory of a Party, with respect to the recording of revenues, expenses, costs, assets and liabilities; the disclosure of information; and the preparation of financial statements. These standards may encompass broad guidelines of general application as well as detailed standards, practices and procedures;
(c) "material" means any matter or substance used or consumed in the production of goods, and physically incorporated into or classified with those goods;
(d) "originating material" means a material that qualifies as originating in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Chapter;
(e) "registered exporter" means an exporter that is registered with an authorised body as an exporter of originating goods in accordance with Article 407 (2);
(f) "registered goods" means the particular goods in respect of which a registered exporter is registered in accordance with Article 407 (2);
(g) "significant change", in relation to Articles 407 (4) and 408 (2) and Annex 4.2, means a change that may prevent those goods from continuing to satisfy the requirements of Article 402;
(h) "wholly obtained goods" means:
(i) mineral goods extracted in the territory of a Party;
(ii) agricultural goods harvested, picked, or gathered in the territory of a Party;
(iii) live animals born and raised in the territory of a Party;
(iv) goods obtained from live animals in the territory of a Party;
(v) goods obtained directly from hunting, trapping, fishing, gathering, or capturing in the territory of a Party;
(vi) goods (fish, shellfish, plant and other marine life) taken within the territorial sea or the relevant maritime zone of a Party seaward of the territorial sea under that Party's applicable laws in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or taken from the high seas by a vessel entitled to fly the flag of that Party;
(vii) goods obtained or produced on board factory ships entitled to fly the flag of a Party from the goods referred to in subparagraph (vi);
(viii) goods taken by a Party, or a person of a Party, from the seabed or subsoil beneath the seabed of the territorial sea or the continental shelf of that Party, in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea;
(ix) waste and scrap derived from production in the territory of a Party, or used goods collected in the territory of a Party, provided such goods are fit only for the recovery of raw materials; and
(x) goods produced entirely in the territory of a Party exclusively from goods referred to in subparagraph (i) through (ix).

ARTICLE 402
Originating Goods

1. Particular goods shall originate in the territory of a Party if they:
(a) are the wholly obtained goods of that Party; or
(b) satisfy any applicable requirements of Annex 4.1, as a result of processes performed entirely in the territory of one or both of the Parties by one or more producers.
2. Originating materials from the territory of a Party, used in the production of particular goods in the territory of the other Party, shall be considered to originate in the territory of the other Party.
3. Particular goods that do not satisfy a change in tariff classification requirement pursuant to Annex 4.1 are nonetheless originating goods if:
(a) the value of all non-originating materials used in the production of the goods that do not undergo the required change in tariff classification does not exceed 10 per cent of the Free on Board (FOB) value of the goods; and
(b) the goods meet all other applicable criteria of this Article.
4. Accessories, spare parts or tools delivered with originating goods that form part of the standard accessories, spare parts, or tools for those goods, shall be treated as originating goods, and shall be disregarded in determining whether all the non-originating materials used in the production of the originating goods undergo the applicable change in tariff classification, provided that:
(a) the accessories, spare parts, or tools are not invoiced separately from the originating goods;
(b) the quantities and value of the accessories, spare parts, or tools are customary for the originating goods; and
(c) if the goods are subject to a regional value content requirement, the value of the accessories, spare parts, or tools was taken into account as originating or non-originating materials, as the case may be, in calculating the regional value content of the originating goods.
5. Paragraph 4 does not apply where the accessories, spare parts or tools have been added solely for the purpose of artificially raising the regional value content of the goods.
6. The determination of whether fungible goods or materials are originating goods shall be made either by physical segregation of each of the goods or materials or through the use of any inventory management method, such as averaging, last-in, first-out, or first-in, first out, recognised in the generally accepted accounting principles of the Party in which the production is performed or otherwise accepted by the Party in which the production is performed.
7. An inventory management method selected under Paragraph 6 for particular fungible goods or materials shall continue to be used for those fungible goods or materials throughout the fiscal year of the person that selected the inventory management method.
8. Packaging materials and containers in which goods are packaged for retail sale, if classified with those goods, or for shipment, shall be disregarded in determining whether all the non-originating materials used in the production of those goods have undergone the applicable change in tariff classification set out in Annex 4.1.

ARTICLE 403
Regional Value Content

1. Subject to Paragraphs 2 to 4 of this Article and Article 404, where Annex 4.1 requires goods to have a regional value content, the regional value content of particular goods shall be calculated as follows:

where:
(a) "RVC" is the regional value content between the Parties, expressed as a percentage;
(b) "FOB" is the FOB value of the goods; and
(c) "VNM" is the CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) value of all non-originating materials that:
(i) in the form in which they were first supplied to the producer of the goods, were imported into Thailand or Australia; or
(ii) in the form in which they were first supplied to a producer in the territory of a Party of non-originating materials that are supplied to the producer of the goods, were imported into Thailand or Australia.
2. Annex 4.1 may specify that the value of non-originating materials produced in developing countries and places may contribute towards the RVC for particular goods. In that case, the value of those materials, as a proportion of the FOB value of the goods equating to no more than the maximum allowable proportion specified in the Headnotes to Annex 4.1 for those goods shall be excluded from the VNM for the purposes of paragraph 1. Prior to entry into force of the Agreement, the Parties shall determine the list of countries and places to be considered developing countries and places for the purpose of this paragraph. The Parties shall, through the Committee on Rules of Origin established in Article 415, review and modify this list in the light of relevant international developments, and determine the date on which any such modifications shall take effect. This Paragraph shall expire 20 years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
3. Packaging materials and containers in which goods are packaged for retail sale, if classified with those goods, shall be taken into account as originating or non-originating materials, as the case may be, in calculating the regional value content.
4. Packaging materials and containers in which goods are packaged for shipment shall be disregarded in calculating the regional value content.

ARTICLE 404
Calculation of Values

1. For the purposes of this Chapter, the FOB value of particular goods is to be determined under Articles 1 to 8, Article 15 and the corresponding interpretative notes of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, as adjusted to exclude any costs, charges, or expenses incurred for transportation, insurance, and related services incidental to the international shipment of the merchandise from the country of exportation to the port or place of importation.
2. For the purposes of determining whether a material acquired in the territory of a Party is originating, FOB value for that material shall be taken to mean the value of the material, determined in accordance with Articles 1 to 8, Article 15 and the corresponding interpretative notes of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, with such reasonable modifications as may be required to reflect the fact that the material was not imported.
3. For the purposes of this Chapter, the CIF value of non-originating materials is to be determined under Articles 1 to 8, Article 15, and the corresponding interpretative notes of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, as adjusted to include any costs, charges, or expenses incurred for transportation, insurance, and related services incidental to the international shipment of the goods from the country of exportation to the port or place of importation.

ARTICLE 405
Recording of Costs

For the purposes of this Chapter all costs shall be recorded and maintained in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles applicable in the territory of the Party in which the goods are produced or manufactured.

ARTICLE 406
Consignment

Goods shall not be considered to be originating if they undergo subsequent production or any other operation outside the territories of the Parties, other than operations necessary to preserve them in good condition or to transport them to the territory of the other Party, provided that the goods are not traded or used outside the territories of the Parties.

Part 4