General Definitions

Article 2.1:  Definitions of General Application  

For purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified:

Central America means the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua; 

central level of government means:

(a) for Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, the national level of government; and

(b) for the United States, the federal level of government;

Commission means the Free Trade Commission established under Article 19.1 (The Free Trade Commission);

covered investment means, with respect to a Party, an investment, as defined in Article 10.28 (Definitions), in its territory of an investor of another Party in existence as of the date of entry into force of this Agreement or established, acquired, or expanded thereafter;

customs authority means the competent authority that is responsible under the law of a Party for the administration of customs laws and regulations;

customs duty includes any customs or import duty and a charge of any kind imposed in connection with the importation of a good, including any form of surtax or surcharge in connection with such importation, but does not include any:
 
 (a) charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed consistently with Article III:2 of the GATT 1994, in respect of like, directly competitive, or substitutable goods of the Party, or in respect of goods from which the imported good has been manufactured or produced in whole or in part;
 
 (b) antidumping or countervailing duty that is applied pursuant to a Party’s domestic law; or
 
 (c) fee or other charge in connection with importation commensurate with the cost of services rendered;
 
Customs Valuation Agreement means the WTO Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994;
 
days means calendar days;

enterprise means any entity constituted or organized under applicable law, whether or not for profit, and whether privately-owned or governmentally-owned, including any corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture, or other association;

enterprise of a Party means an enterprise constituted or organized under the law of a Party;

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

GATS means the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services;

GATT 1994 means the WTO General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994;

goods of a Party means domestic products as these are understood in the GATT 1994 or such goods as the Parties may agree, and includes originating goods of that Party;

Harmonized System (HS) means the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, including its General Rules of Interpretation, Section Notes, and Chapter Notes, as adopted and implemented by the Parties in their respective tariff laws;

heading means the first four digits in the tariff classification number under the Harmonized System;

measure includes any law, regulation, procedure, requirement, or practice;

national means a natural person who has the nationality of a Party according to Annex 2.1 or a permanent resident of a Party;

originating means qualifying under the rules of origin set out in Chapter Four (Rules of Origin and Origin Procedures);

Party means any State for which this Agreement is in force;

person means a natural person or an enterprise;

person of a Party means a national or an enterprise of a Party;

preferential tariff treatment means the duty rate applicable under this Agreement to an originating good;

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 with a view to use in the production or supply of goods or services for commercial sale or resale;
 
regional level of government means, for the United States, a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico.  For Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, “regional level of government” is not applicable; Safeguards Agreement means the WTO Agreement on Safeguards;

sanitary or phytosanitary measure means any measure referred to in Annex A, paragraph 1 of the SPS Agreement;

SPS Agreement means the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures;

state enterprise means an enterprise that is owned, or controlled through ownership interests, by a Party;

subheading means the first six digits in the tariff classification number under the Harmonized System;

territory means for a Party the territory of that Party as set out in Annex 2.1;

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

WTO means the World Trade Organization; and

WTO Agreement means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done on April 15, 1994.

Annex 2.1 Country-Specific Definitions
 
 For purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified: 

natural person who has the nationality of a Party means:
(a) with respect to Costa Rica, a costarricense as defined in Articles 13 and 14 of the Constitución Política de la República de Costa Rica; 

(b) with respect to the Dominican Republic, a dominicano as defined in Article 11 of the Constitución de la República Dominicana; 

(c) with respect to El Salvador, a salvadoreño as defined in Articles 90 and 92 of the Constitución de la República de El Salvador;

(d) with respect to Guatemala, a guatemalteco as defined in Articles 144, 145 and 146 of the Constitución de la República de Guatemala;

(e) with respect to Honduras, a hondureño as defined in Articles 23 and 24 of the Constitución de la República de Honduras;

(f) with respect to Nicaragua, a nicaragüense as defined in Article 15 of the Constitución Política de la República de Nicaragua; and  

(g) with respect to the United States, “national of the United States” as defined in the existing provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act; and

territory means:

(a) with respect to Costa Rica, the land, maritime, and air space under its sovereignty** and the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within which it exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law; (**For greater certainty, the territory of Costa Rica includes Coco Island.)

(b) with respect to the Dominican Republic, the land, maritime, and air space under its sovereignty and the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within which it exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law; 

(c) with respect to El Salvador, the land, maritime, and air space under its sovereignty and the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within which it  exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law;

(d) with respect to Guatemala, the land, maritime, and air space under its sovereignty and the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within which it exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law;

(e) with respect to Honduras, the land, maritime, and air space under its sovereignty and the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within which it exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law;

(f) with respect to Nicaragua, the land, maritime, and air space under its sovereignty and the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within which it exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and its domestic law; and

(g) with respect to the United States,

(i) the customs territory of the United States, which includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico,

(ii) the foreign trade zones located in the United States and Puerto Rico, and

(iii) any areas beyond the territorial seas of the United States within which, in accordance with international law and its domestic law, the United States may exercise rights with respect to the seabed and subsoil and their natural resources.