(k) The grant by governments (or special institutions controlled by and/or acting under the authority of governments) of export credits at rates below those which they actually have to pay for the funds so employed (or would have to pay if they borrowed on international capital markets in order to obtain funds of the same maturity and other credit terms and denominated in the same currency as the export credit), or the payment by them of all or part of the costs incurred by exporters or financial institutions in obtaining credits, insofar as they are used to secure a material advantage in the field of export credit terms.

Provided, however, that if a Member of the WTO is a party to an international undertaking on official export credits to which at least 12 original such Members are parties as of 1 January 1979 (or a successor undertaking which has been adopted by those original Members), or if in practice a Member of the WTO applies the interest rates provisions of the relevant undertaking, an export credit practice which is in conformity with those provisions shall not be considered an export subsidy.

(l) Any other charge on the public account constituting an export subsidy in the sense of Article XVI of GATT 1994.

(1) The term 'commercially available` means that the choice between domestic and imported products is unrestricted and depends only on commercial considerations.

(2) For the purpose of this Regulation:

- the term 'direct taxes` shall mean taxes on wages, profits, interests, rents, royalties, and all other forms of income, and taxes on the ownership of real property,

- the term 'import charges` shall mean tariffs, duties, and other fiscal charges not elsewhere enumerated in this note that are levied on imports,

- the term 'indirect taxes` shall mean sales, excise, turnover, value added, franchise, stamp, transfer, inventory and equipment taxes, border taxes and all taxes other than direct taxes and import charges,

- 'prior-stage` indirect taxes are those levied on goods or services used directly or indirectly in making the product,

- 'cumulative` indirect taxes are multi-staged taxes levied where there is no mechanism for subsequent crediting of the tax if the goods or services subject to tax at one stage of production are used in a succeeding state of production,

- 'remission` of taxes includes the refund or rebate of taxes,

- 'remission or drawback` includes the full or partial exemption or deferral of import charges.

(3) Deferral may not amount to an export subsidy where, for example, appropriate interest charges are collected.

(4) Paragraph (h) does not apply to value-added tax systems and border-tax adjustment in lieu thereof; the problem of the excessive remission of value-added taxes is exclusively covered by paragraph (g).

ANNEX II