1. For the purposes of this Article, repair or alteration means any processing operation undertaken on goods to remedy operating defects or material damage and entailing the re-establishment of goods to their original function or to ensure their compliance with technical requirements for their use, without which the goods could no longer be used in the normal way for the purposes for which they were intended. Repair or alteration of goods includes restoration and maintenance but does not include an operation or process that: (a) destroys the essential characteristics of a good or creates a new or commercially different good; (b) transforms an unfinished good into a finished good; or (c) is used to substantially change the function of a good.

2. Except as provided in footnote 1, a Party shall not apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, that re-enters its territory after that good has been temporarily exported from its territory to the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration, regardless of whether such repair or alteration could be performed in the territory of the Party from which the good was exported for repair or alteration.

3. Paragraph 2 does not apply to a good imported in bond, into free trade zones, or in similar status, that is then exported for repair and is not re-imported in bond, into free trade zones, or in similar status.

4. A Party shall not apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, imported temporarily from the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration.