Comprehensive Common Market Act 2017

Comprehensive Common Market Act 2017
Esquarian Community
Citation	EC/2017/03 EC/2018/02 (amend.)
Enacted by	Council of Esquarium
Date enacted	15 August 2017
Enacted by	Esquarian Parliament
Date enacted	26 August 2017
Date commenced	26 August 2017
Amends
Amendment to the Comprehensive Common Market Act 2017
Status: Amended

The Comprehensive Common Market Act 2017 is an Esquarian law that strengthens the Esquarian Common Market by standardizing tariffs across the nations of the Esquarian Community. It also dissolved the Greenwich Area, the free-trade area of the defunct Esquarian Union that the EC inherited.

Amendment

The Act was amended on 21 April 2018 to increase general tariffs on Xiaodong from 25% to 45% and to impose new tariffs on military equipment and other goods from the Union of Nautasian Islamic Republics, as well as a general tariff surcharge on Razaria.

It was further amended on 6 May 2018 to impose retaliatory sanctions against Nunalik.

Text

Comprehensive Common Market Act 2017

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Definitions

• (The) Common Market: The Common Market of the Esquarian Community;
• (The) Community: The Esquarian Community;
• Discriminatory: Giving preference to domestic goods and services over those produced in other member-states of the Common Market;
• Member-state: Member of the Common Market of the Esquarian Community, except where specified otherwise;
• Non-primary Community legislation: All statutes having force of law throughout the Esquarian Community, save for treaties and treaty protocols duly ratified by States Parties.
• Product: A good or service;
• State Party (pl. States Parties): Full member of the Esquarian Community.

§1 ― Common Market of the Esquarian Community

1. There shall be a common market for the free exchange of goods and services within the framework of the Esquarian Community.
2. The market shall be known as the Common Market of the Esquarian Community.
3. The Common Market shall be administered though the Esquarian Secretariat, which shall monitor compliance with the terms and regulations enumerated in this Act.
4. The Common Market shall consist of―
   1. the unified market for goods and services established by §3 of this Act,
   2. the unified customs regime established by §4 of this Act,
   3. the unified market in labour and capital established by the Labour and Residency Act.
5. The Esquarian Court of Justice shall have the authority to serve as final arbiter between member-states, or between a member-state and the Secretariat, in disputes related to the operation of the Common Market.
6. The Esquarian Court of Justice shall have the authority through binding writs of mandamus and prohibition to compel parties in violation of the rules and regulations of the Common Market to take corrective measures.
7. The Esquarian Court of Justice shall have the authority to levy punitive fines upon parties in violation of the rules and regulations of the Common Market who fail to take adequate and timely corrective measures.
8. The membership of the Common Market shall be composed of―
   1. States Parties of the Esquarian Community,
   2. non-Community members as established by §8 of this Act.

§2 ― Goals of the Common Market

1. The Common Market shall strive to further the economic integration and collective strength of the world's liberal democratic societies.
2. The Common Market shall strive to remove discriminatory and inefficient barriers to the free movement of goods, services and people throughout the Community.
3. The Common Market shall strive to improve the collective strength of the Community by promoting a coherent identity.
4. The Common Market shall strive to promote the spirit of individual agency and free and fair enterprise within member-states and to the world at large.
5. The aforementioned goals shall collectively be known as the Core Principles of the Common Market.
6. In the spirit of the Core Principles of the Common Market, the Esquarian Secretariat shall―
   1. read the rules and regulations enumerated in this Act in the manner most consistent with a multilateral agreement made between a community of equals,
   2. enforce the rules and regulations enumerated in this Act in a fair and impartial manner that promotes the furtherance of the Core Principles,
   3. promote membership in the Common Market to prospective economic partners of the Community.

§3 ― Unified Market for Goods and Services

1. There shall be a unified market for goods and services within the framework of the Common Market.
2. The unified market for goods and services shall be a free trade area in which the internal transit of goods and services and the transit of goods and services between member-states shall have equal status and priority.
3. Member-states shall―
   1. give equal status to goods and services produced in all member-states of the Common Market, including any such domestic goods and services,
   2. eliminate all legal and practical fees, surcharges, taxes and tariffs that discriminate against the import of goods and services from other member-states of the Common Market,
   3. restructure their customs agencies to enforce the terms of the Common Market,
   4. provide effective remedy for violations of the terms of the united market for goods and services, failing which the Esquarian Secretariat shall have the authority to impose a binding remedy.
4. Member-states shall refrain from―
   1. engaging in the direct or indirect subsidisation of domestic corporations with discriminatory purpose or effect against competitors within the Common Market,
   2. creating an undue regulatory burden on the free and timely movement of goods and services throughout the Common Market,
   3. permitting goods imported at reduced rate from non-members of the Common Market under a previous bilateral pact or multilateral organisation from entering the unified market for goods and services.
5. The ability of member-states to charge unburdensome and proportional fees for the administration of health and security measures during the import process shall not be limited.
6. The ability of member-states to acquire goods and services by any means of their choosing for public use shall not be limited.
7. The ability of member-states to restrict the sale and import of goods and services in wartime shall not be limited.
8. The ability of member-states to restrict the convertibility and transfer of local currency shall not be limited.
9. The ability of member-states to prevent the movement of goods and services deemed unlawful or restricted in a non-discriminatory manner under domestic law shall not be limited.
10. The ability of member-states to maintain and enforce additional labelling and naming requirements for reasons of environmental protection, consumer protection, cultural heritage, or public health and safety shall not be limited.

§4 ― Unified Customs Regime

1. There shall be a unified external tariff and customs regime within the framework of the Common Market.
2. Member-states of the Common Market shall maintain a unified network of customs duties set at the supranational level.
3. Member-states shall apply the unified external tariff and administer the unified customs regime through their domestic customs services, or practical equivalent.
4. All products entering the Common Market from an external state that is not an associated partner of the Common Market shall be taxed according to the unified external tariff rate.
5. All products entering the Common Market from an associated partner but not substantially manufactured or produced therein shall be taxed according to the unified external tariff rate.
6. All products entering the Common Market from a protectorate or dependent territory of a member-state but not substantially manufactured or produced therein shall be taxed according to the unified external tariff rate.
7. Once an external good or service lawfully enters the Common Market, it shall be treated with equal status to internal goods and services.
8. Member-states shall not impose unilateral trade sanctions outside the unified framework of the Common Market and the normal legislative process of the Community.
9. Member-states shall retain all revenue collected from domestic enforcement of the unified customs regime.

§5 ― Tariff Rate Mechanism

1. There is to be a Central Tariff Database.
2. The Central Tariff Database shall enumerate the official external tariff rates for the Common Market unified customs regime.
3. All member-states shall harmonise their tariff regimes with that enumerated in the Central Tariff Database.
4. The Central Tariff Database shall be maintained by the Esquarian Secretariat and may only be altered within the confines of this Act.
5. The initial tariff rates shall be those enumerated in the addenda to this Act.
6. Tariff rates may only be altered through amendments to this Act or supplemental legislation, except―
   1. pursuant to a §5 finding of excessive effective taxation,
   2. pursuant to a §6 violation.
7. The Esquarian Secretariat shall have the authority to unilaterally amend Addendum II of this Act to match the effective tariff rates of any external state that maintains a higher effective external tariff against the Common Market than the Common Market's rates towards the external state.

§6 ― Countervailing Duties and Punitive Tariffs

1. The Common Market reserves the right to impose additional duties against states that engage in anti-competitive trade practices.
2. Anti-competitive trade practices are―
   1. the subsidisation of domestic production and export in a way that creates an unfair competitive disadvantage for member-states,
   2. the imposition of targeted fees of any sort or discriminatory regulatory barriers to trade upon the Common Market or any member-state thereof,
   3. the circumvention of the unified external customs regime through deceptive re-export or violation of the regulations enumerated in §9 of this Act,
   4. the use of predatory pricing practices to undercut substantial and active domestic production of a good or service within the Common Market,
   5. the use of armed force, or the threat thereof, against any member-state.
3. The Esquarian Secretariat shall have the authority, upon finding of probable cause, to designate an external state or an industry or corporation thereof as engaging in anti-competitive trade practices, and to unilaterally amend Addendum II to impose additional tariffs of up to 300.0% upon the violator.
4. The Council of Esquarium shall have the authority to overturn, via motion, a Secretariat designation by simple majority of States Parties present and voting.
5. The Council of Esquarium shall have the sole authority to determine, via resolution, renewed compliance by the external state with competition rules and to accordingly withdraw punitive tariffs.

§7 ― Separate Membership in the Common Market

1. There shall be a class of membership in the Common Market for high contracting parties who are not States Parties to the Esquarian Community.
2. Non-Community members may not hold membership in any other bilateral or multilateral customs union or free trade agreement.
3. Non-Community members shall be subject to all statutes and regulations made pursuant to the administration of the Common Market by the Esquarian Community.
4. Prospective non-Community members must, in the determination of the Secretariat―
   1. agree to abide by all applicable present and future Community legislation made in respect to the Common Market,
   2. meet all statutory requirements, especially those in regards to overlapping membership in customs unions or free trade areas,
   3. be substantially democratic, or make real and consistent inroads towards reaching such a goal,
5. Upon a positive determination by the Secretariat, a prospective non-Community member shall become a member-state of the Common Market upon the approval of a simple majority of States Parties present and voting.
6. A non-Community member-state of the Common Market shall be seated in the Council of Esquarium with all the rights and privileges according to an observer member of the Esquarian Community.
7. The sole authority to suspend a non-Community member-state lies within the Esquarian Community legislative process.

§8 ― Associate Partnership with the Common Market

1. There shall be a status for preferred trading status with external states within the framework of the Common Market.
2. The aforementioned status shall be known as associate partnership, and external states with this status shall be referred to as associated partners of the Common Market.
3. Associate partners shall be granted preferential status in trade and commerce with the Common Market.
4. An external state may apply for associate partnership by negotiating an association agreement with the Esquarian Secretariat, in which specific tariff reductions or exemptions shall be enumerated.
5. An applicant shall become an associated partner upon the approval of the association agreement by the normal legislative process of the Esquarian Community.
6. Associate partners shall enjoy―
   1. a reduced general tariff rate of 1.5%,
   2. the right to appeal any adverse findings under §5 and §6 of this Act before the Esquarian Court of Justice,
   3. reduced tariff rates or exemptions in up to twelve (12) sub-sections of Addendum I as enumerated in their association agreement.

§9 ― National Origins Labelling

1. All member-states and associate partners of the Common Market shall introduce compulsory labelling of national origins on all goods and services.
2. The label shall read "MADE IN", followed by the country in which the good or service was substantially manufactured or produced.
3. A product is substantially manufactured or produced in a state when the good or service is wholly or largely manufactured within its area of sovereign jurisdiction or practical sovereign control, except in the event that the good or service was assembled in a country, but substantially or wholly from pre-manufactured parts made in a third country.
4. Upon the event of such an exception, the product is deemed to have been substantially manufactured or produced in that third country.
5. A product packaged in a country but substantially or wholly manufactured or produced within a third country shall be deemed to originate from that third country.
6. A product substantially manufactured or produced within the Common Market may instead be labelled "MADE IN THE ESQUARIAN COMMON MARKET."

§10 ― Reservations, prohibitions and abrogations

1. §3a of the Act to Integrate the Greenwich Area into the Common Market is hereby repealed and shall cease to have legal effect on 31 December 2019.
2. The People's Republic of Namor shall continue to enjoy the tariff exemptions enumerated in the Association Agreement between the Esquarian Community and the People’s Republic of Namor in perpetuity for such goods made within Namor and accordingly labelled.
3. This Act takes primacy over all existing national and non-primary Community legislation and has binding effect upon all States Parties of the Esquarian Community and member-states of the Common Market of the Esquarian Community.
4. No State Party of the Esquarian Community shall enact bilateral trade agreements or join multilateral organisations whose terms are inconsistent with this Act.
5. All bilateral trade agreements whose terms are inconsistent with this Act shall cease to have legal effect on 31 December 2019.
6. All unilateral trade sanctions enacted by member-states of the Common Market shall cease to have legal effect on 31 December 2018.
7. States Parties may retain extant memberships in multilateral organisations insofar as these do not obstruct the effective enforcement of this Act.
8. The Greenwich Area is hereby dissolved and all assets and liabilities of institutions thereof shall be transferred to the Esquarian Secretariat with immediate effect.

§11 ― Enactment

1. This Act may be cited as the Comprehensive Tariffs Act of 2017.
2. This Act, save for the sections explicitly denoted otherwise, shall come into force upon its enactment by the Esquarian Parliament.
3. Addendum II, Section A, Sub-Section 1 shall cease to have effect on 31 March 2018 if the People's Republic of Namor has not implemented the terms of §9 of this Act to the satisfaction of the Esquarian Secretariat.

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ADDENDUM I: TARIFF RATES
(all numerical figures given in percentages unless specified otherwise, point used as decimal mark unless specified otherwise)

A. GENERAL

1. General tariff rate ... 4.0
2. Books, paper, publications ... 5.0
3. Clothing, apparel, handbags, footwear ... 2.0

B. FOODSTUFFS AND DRUGS

1. Live cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, goats ... 8.0
2. Live horses ... 1.0
3. Endangered species of fauna or flora, for sale ... 30.0
4. Endangered species of fauna or flora, for public display or conservation ... Exempt
5. Other live animals ... 5.0
6. Rice, sorghum ... 5.0
7. Other cereals ... 20.0
8. Flour, starch, potatoes ... 30.0
9. Fresh fruits and vegetables ... 15.0
10. Animal feed ... 5.0
11. Water ... 20.0
12. Cooking oils ... 7.0
13. Processed juices, other derivatives of fruits and vegetables ... 25.0
14. Spices ... 15.0
15. Drinking alcohol ... 12.5
16. Recreational drugs (cannabis, etc.) ... 25.0
17. Meat, raw ... 10.0
18. Meat, processed ... 16.0
19. Body parts or meat of endangered species of fauna ... 30.0
20. Phamaceutical drugs ... 5.0
21. Essential medicines ... Exempt
22. Birth control equipment ... 1.5
23. Medical devices ... 4.5
24. Surgical equipment ... 6.0

C. TRANSPORTATION

1. Turboprop aircraft and gliders ... 2.5
2. Civil jet aircraft ... 15.0
3. Helicopters ... 6.0
4. Personal automobiles ... 12.0
5. Bicycles, motorcycles, rickshaws ... 8.0
6. Armed warships, armed aircraft ... 12.0
7. Military vehicles .. 10.0
8. Trucks, vans, heavy self-propelled construction equipment ... 6.5
9. Buses, passenger minivans, rapid transit equipment ... 17.5
10. Heavy rail equipment ... 12.0
11. Passenger liners, cargo ships, other large civil vessels ... 10.0

D. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

1. Steel, steel alloys ... 25.0
2. Renewable energy technologies and equipment ... 12.5
3. Nuclear energy technologies and equipment ... 20.0
4. Other energy technologies and equipment ... 25.0
5. Industrial machinery ... 18.5
6. Firearms, ammunition, explosives ... 8.0
7. Servers, workstations, desktop computers, tablet and portable computers, cellular phones ... 15.0
8. Computer equipment, radios, telecommunications apparatuses ... 10.0
9. Software, optical media, physical data storage ... 2.0
10. Printers, copiers, fax machines ... 12.0
11. Microprocessors, computer chips ... Exempt
12. Batteries ... 1.0
13. Digital screens (manufacturing component) ... 5.0
14. Televisions, prepared computer screens ... 9.0
15. Laboratory equipment ... 1.0
16. Industrial chemicals ... 6.0

E. RAW MATERIALS

1. Rare earth metals ... Exempt
2. Diamond ... 8.0
3. Precious metals ... 12.0
4. Other metal ores ... 5.5
5. Ciment, concrete, asphalt, derivatives thereof ... 2.0
6. Soil, stone, landfill ... Exempt
7. Coal, coke, charcoal ... 20.0
8. Natural gas ... 6.0
9. Crude oil, oil tar ... 10.0
10. Processed petroleum, gasoline ... 18.5
11. Wood ... Exempt
12. Leather ... 10.0
13. Natural rubber ... 5.0
14. Plastics, plastic precursors ... 5.0
15. Wood products, furniture ... 20.0

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ADDENDUM II: EXEMPTIONS AND EXCEPTIONS

A. EXEMPTIONS

1. Items classified in Addendum I under Section B (all) and Section D (sub-sections 1 and 2) produced within the People's Republic of Namor ... Exempt
2. All items produced within the Republic of Freylinghal entering the Common Market through the Federation of Campenia and Lorenia ... Exempt
3. All items produced within the Republic of Pisdara entering the Common Market through the Aininian Republic ... Exempt
4. All items produced within external states with which a member-state has an extant multilateral trade agreement ... Exempt when not re-exported to other member-states of the Common Market

B. SURCHARGES

1. Military equipment produced within or imported from the Auspicious Republic of Xiaodong ... 300.0
2. All other items produced within or imported from the Auspicious Republic of Xiaodong ... 45.0, in addition to any Addendum I rates and §5 or §6 surcharges
3. Military equipment produced within or imported from the Nevan Realm ... 300.0
4. Military equipment produced within or imported from the Union of Nautasian Islamic Republics ... 300.0
5. All other items produced within or imported from the Union of Nautasian Islamic Republics ... 45.0
6. All other items produced within or imported from the State of Razaria ... 45.0

C. SECTION 5 SURCHARGES

Nil.

D. SECTION 6 SURCHARGES

1. All items produced within or imported from the Workers’ Republic of Nunalik ... 300.0