Page 250 - Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

2. An audit shall be systems-based and conducted to assess the
effectiveness of the regulatory controls of the competent
authorities of the exporting Party to provide the required
assurances and meet the sanitary and phytosanitary measures of
the importing Party.
3

3. Prior to the commencement of an audit, the importing Party and
exporting Party involved shall exchange information on the
objectives and scope of the audit and other matters related
specifically to the commencement of an audit.

4. The importing Party shall provide the exporting Party with an
opportunity to comment on the finding of an audit and take any
such comments into account before making its conclusions and
taking any action. The importing Party shall provide a report or its
summary, setting out its conclusions in writing to the exporting
Party within a reasonable period of time. The importing Party shall
inform the exporting Party if a request is required to provide such
report or summary.

Article 5.9: Certification

1. In applying certification requirements, each Party shall take into
account the relevant decisions of the WTO SPS Committee and
international standards, guidelines, and recommendations.

2. An exporting Party shall ensure that the documents, including
certificates, that are required by an importing Party and provided
by the competent authorities of the exporting Party, to demonstrate
the fulfilment of the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements of the
importing Party, are in the English language, unless the importing
4
Party and exporting Party agree otherwise. When the importing
Party requires such documents, the importing Party shall
endeavour to provide the requirements for such documents in the
English language. Upon request, the importing Party shall provide
a summary or explanation of such requirements.

3 For greater certainty, nothing in this paragraph prevents an importing Party from
performing an inspection of a facility for the purposes of determining if the facility
conforms with the importing Party’s sanitary or phytosanitary requirements or conforms
with sanitary or phytosanitary requirements that the importing Party has determined to
be equivalent to its sanitary or phytosanitary requirements.

4 For greater certainty, this provision does not prevent the Parties from including
information for certification in other languages in addition to the English language.

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