(d) enhancing cooperation on the development, application and enforcement of standards-related measures; and
(e) considering non-governmental, regional and multilateral developments regarding standards-related measures, including under the GATT.
3. The Committee shall:
(a) meet on request of any Party and, unless the Parties otherwise agree, at least once each year; and
(b) report annually to the Commission on the implementation of this Chapter.
4. The Committee may, as it considers appropriate, establish and determine the scope and mandate of subcommittees or working groups, comprising representatives of each Party. Each subcommittee or working group may:
(a) as it considers necessary or desirable, include or consult with
(i) representatives of non-governmental bodies, including standardizing bodies, Gi) scientists, and
(ii) technical experts; and
(b) determine its work program, taking into account relevant international activities.
5. Further to paragraph 4, the Committee shall establish:
(a) the following subcommittees
(i) Land Transportation Standards Subcommittee, in accordance with Annex 913.5.a-1,
(ii) Telecommunications Standards Subcommittee, in accordance with Annex 913.5.a-2,
(iii) Automotive Standards Council, in accordance with Annex 913.5.a-3, and
(iv) Subcommittee on Labelling of Textile and Apparel Goods, in accordance with Annex 913.5.a-4; and
(b) such other subcommittees or working groups as it considers appropriate to address any topic, including:
(i) identification and nomenclature for goods subject to standards- related measures,
(ii) quality and identity standards and technical regulations,
(iii) packaging, labelling and presentation of consumer information, including languages, measurement systems, ingredients, sizes, terminology, symbols and related matters,
(iv) product approval and post-market surveillance programs,
(v) principles for the accreditation and recognition of conformity assessment bodies, procedures and systems,
(vi) development and implementation of a uniform chemical hazard classification and communication system,
(vii) enforcement programs, including training and inspections by regulatory, analytical and enforcement personnel,
(viii) promotion and implementation of good laboratory practices,
(ix) promotion and implementation of good manufacturing practices,
(x) criteria for assessment of potential environmental hazards of goods,
(xi) methodologies for assessment of risk,
(xii) guidelines for testing of chemicals, including industrial and agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biologicals,
(xiii) methods by which consumer protection, including matters relating to consumer redress, can be facilitated, and
(xiv) extension of the application of this Chapter to other services.
6. Each Party shall, on request of another Party, take such reasonable measures as may be available to it to provide for the participation in the activities of the Committee, where and as appropriate, of representatives of state or provincial governments.
7. A Party requesting technical advice, information or assistance pursuant to Article 911 shall notify the Committee which shall facilitate any such request.
Article 914. Technical Consultations
1. Where a Party requests consultations regarding the application of this Chapter to a standards-related measure, and so notifies the Committee, the Committee may facilitate the consultations, if it does not consider the matter itself, by referring the matter for non-binding technical advice or recommendations to a subcommittee or working group, including an ad hoc subcommittee or working group, or to another forum.
2. The Committee should consider any matter referred to it under paragraph 1 as expeditiously as possible and promptly forward to the Parties any technical advice or recommendations that it develops or receives concerning the matter. The Parties involved shall provide a written response to the Committee concerning the technical advice or recommendations within such time as the Committee may request.
3. Where the involved Parties have had recourse to consultations facilitated by the Committee under paragraph 1, the consultations shall, on the agreement of the Parties involved, constitute consultations under Article 2006 (Consultations).
4. The Parties confirm that a Party asserting that a standards-related measure of another Party is inconsistent with this Chapter shall have the burden of establishing the inconsistency.
Article 915. Definitions
1. For purposes of this Chapter:
approval procedure means any registration, notification or other mandatory administrative procedure for granting permission for a good or service to be produced, marketed or used for a stated purpose or under stated conditions;
assessment of risk means evaluation of the potential for adverse effects;
conformity assessment procedure means any procedure used, directly or indirectly, to determine that a technical regulation or standard is fulfilled, including sampling, testing, inspection, evaluation, verification, monitoring, auditing, assurance of conformity, accreditation, registration or approval used for such a purpose, but does not mean an approval procedure;
international standard means a standards-related measure, or other guide or recommendation, adopted by an international standardizing body and made available to the public;
international standardizing body means a standardizing body whose membership is open to the relevant bodies of at least all the parties to the GATT Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Codex Alimentarius Commission, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAQ), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU); or any other body that the Parties designate;
land transportation service means a transportation service provided by means of motor carrier or rail;
legitimate objective includes an objective such as:
(a) safety,
(b) protection of human, animal or plant life or health, the environment or consumers, including matters relating to quality and identifiability of goods or services, and
(c) sustainable development,
considering, among other things, where appropriate, fundamental climatic or other geographical factors, technological or infrastructural factors, or scientific justification but does not include the protection of domestic production;
make compatible means bring different standards-related measures of the same scope approved by different standardizing bodies to a level such that they are either identical, equivalent or have the effect of permitting goods or services to be used in place of one another or fulfill the same purpose;
services means land transportation services and telecommunications services;
standard means a document, approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for goods or related processes and production methods, or for services or related operating methods, with which compliance is not mandatory. It may also include or deal exclusively with terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling requirements as they apply to a good, process, or production or operating method;
standardizing body means a body having recognized activities in standardization;
standards-related measure means a standard, technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure;
technical regulation means a document which lays down goods characteristics or their related processes and production methods, or services characteristics or their related operating methods, including the applicable administrative provisions, with which compliance is mandatory. It may also include or deal exclusively with terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling requirements as they apply to a good, process, or production or operating method; and
telecommunications service means a service provided by means of the transmission and reception of signals by any electromagnetic means, but does not mean the cable, broadcast or other electromagnetic distribution of radio or television programming to the public generally.
2. Except as they are otherwise defined in this Agreement, other terms in this Chapter shall be interpreted in accordance with their ordinary meaning in context and in the light of the objectives of this Agreement, and where appropriate by reference to the terms presented in the sixth edition of the ISO/IEC Guide 2: 1991, General Terms and Their Definitions Concerning Standardization and Related Activities.
Part Four. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Chapter Ten. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Section A. Scope and Coverage and National Treatment
Article 1001. Scope and Coverage
1. This Chapter applies to measures adopted or maintained by a Party relating to procurement:
(a) by a federal government entity set out in Annex 1001.1a-1, a government enterprise set out in Annex 1001.1a-2, or a state or provincial government entity set out in Annex 1001.1a-3 in accordance with Article 1024;
(b) of goods in accordance with Annex 1001.1b-1, services in accordance with Annex 1001.1b-2, or construction services in accordance with Annex 1001.1b-3; and
(c) where the value of the contract to be awarded is estimated to be equal to or greater than a threshold, calculated and adjusted according to the U.S. inflation rate as set out in Annex 1001.1c, of
(i) for federal government entities, US$50,000 for contracts for goods, services or any combination thereof, and US$6.5 million for contracts for construction services,
(ii) for government enterprises, US$250,000 for contracts for goods, services or any combination thereof, and US$8.0 million for contracts for construction services, and
(iii) for state and provincial government entities, the applicable threshold, as set out in Annex 1001.1a-3 in accordance with Article 1024.
2. Paragraph 1 is subject to:
(a) the transitional provisions set out in Annex 1001.2a;
(b) the General Notes set out in Annex 1001.2b; and
(c) Annex 1001.2c, for the Parties specified therein.
3. Subject to paragraph 4, where a contract to be awarded by an entity is not covered by this Chapter, this Chapter shall not be construed to cover any good or service component of that contract.
4. No Party may prepare, design or otherwise structure any procurement contract in order to avoid the obligations of this Chapter.
5. Procurement includes procurement by such methods as purchase, lease or rental, with or without an option to buy. Procurement does not include:
(a) non-contractual agreements or any form of government assistance, including cooperative agreements, grants, loans, equity infusions, guarantees, fiscal incentives, and government provision of goods and services to persons or state, provincial and regional governments; and
(b) the acquisition of fiscal agency or depository services, liquidation and management services for regulated financial institutions and sale and distribution services for government debt.
Article 1002. Valuation of Contracts
1. Each Party shall ensure that its entities, in determining whether a contract is covered by this Chapter, apply paragraphs 2 through 7 in calculating the value of that contract.
2. The value of a contract shall be estimated as at the time of publication of a notice in accordance with Article 1010.
3. In calculating the value of a contract, an entity shall take into account all forms of remuneration, including premiums, fees, commissions and interest.
4. Further to Article 1001(4), an entity may not select a valuation method, or divide procurement requirements into separate contracts, to avoid the obligations of this Chapter.
5. Where an individual requirement for a procurement results in the award of more than one contract, or in contracts being awarded in separate parts, the basis for valuation shall be either:
(a) the actual value of similar recurring contracts concluded over the prior fiscal year or 12 months adjusted, where possible, for anticipated changes in quantity and value over the subsequent 12 months; or
(b) the estimated value of recurring contracts in the fiscal year or 12 months subsequent to the initial contract.
6. Tn the case of a contract for lease or rental, with or without an option to buy, or in the case of a contract that does not specify a total price, the basis for valuation shall be:
(a) in the case of a fixed-term contract, where the term is 12 months or less, the total contract value, for its duration or, where the term exceeds 12 months, the total contract value, including the estimated residual value; or
(b) in the case of a contract for an indefinite period, the estimated monthly installment multiplied by 48.
If the entity is uncertain as to whether a contract is for a fixed or an indefinite term, the entity shall calculate the value of the contract using the method set out in subparagraph (b).
7. Where tender documentation requires option clauses, the basis for valuation shall be the total value of the maximum permissible procurement, including all possible optional purchases.
Article 1003. National Treatment and Non-Discrimination
1. With respect to measures covered by this Chapter, each Party shall accord to goods of another Party, to the suppliers of such goods and to service suppliers of another Party, treatment no less favorable than the most favorable treatment that the Party accords to:
(a) its own goods and suppliers; and
(b) goods and suppliers of another Party.
2. With respect to measures covered by this Chapter, no Party may:
(a) treat a locally established supplier less favorably than another locally established supplier on the basis of degree of foreign affiliation or ownership; or
(b) discriminate against a locally established supplier on the basis that the goods or services offered by that supplier for the particular procurement are goods or services of another Party.
3. Paragraph 1 does not apply to measures respecting customs duties or other charges of any kind imposed on or in connection with importation, the method of levying such duties or charges or other import regulations, including restrictions and formalities.
Article 1004. Rules of Origin
No Party may apply rules of origin to goods imported from another Party for purposes of government procurement covered by this Chapter that are different from or inconsistent with the rules of origin the Party applies in the normal course of trade, which may be the Marking Rules established under Annex 311 if they become the rules of origin applied by that Party in the normal course of its trade.
Article 1005. Denial of Benefits
1. Subject to prior notification and consultation in accordance with Articles 1803 (Notification and Provision of Information) and 2006 (Consultations), a Party may deny the benefits of this Chapter to a service supplier of another Party where the Party establishes that the service is being provided by an enterprise that is owned or controlled by persons of a non- Party and that has no substantial business activities in the territory of any Party.
2. A Party may deny to an enterprise of another Party the benefits of this Chapter if nationals of a non-Party own or control the enterprise and:
(a) the circumstance set out in Article 1113(1)(a) (Denial of Benefits) is met; or
(b) the denying Party adopts or maintains measures with respect to the non-Party that prohibit transactions with the enterprise or that would be violated or circumvented if the benefits of this Chapter were accorded to the enterprise.
Article 1006. Prohibition of Offsets
Each Party shall ensure that its entities do not, in the qualification and selection of suppliers, goods or services, in the evaluation of bids or the award of contracts, consider, seek or impose offsets. For purposes of this Article, offsets means conditions imposed or considered by an entity prior to or in the course of its procurement process that encourage local development or improve its Party's balance of payments accounts, by means of requirements of local content, licensing of technology, investment, counter-trade or similar requirements.
Article 1007. Technical Specifications
1. Each Party shall ensure that its entities do not prepare, adopt or apply any technical specification with the purpose or the effect of creating unnecessary obstacles to trade.
2. Each Party shall ensure that any technical specification prescribed by its entities is, where appropriate:
(a) specified in terms of performance criteria rather than design or descriptive characteristics; and
(b) based on international standards, national technical regulations, recognized national standards, or building codes.
3. Each Party shall ensure that the technical specifications prescribed by its entities do not require or refer to a particular trademark or name, patent, design or type, specific origin or producer or supplier unless there is no sufficiently precise or intelligible way of otherwise describing the procurement requirements and provided that, in such cases, words such as "or equivalent" are included in the tender documentation.
4. Each Party shall ensure that its entities do not seek or accept, in a manner that would have the effect of precluding competition, advice that may be used in the preparation or adoption of any technical specification for a specific procurement from a person that may have a commercial interest in that procurement.
Section B. Tendering Procedures
Article 1008. Tendering Procedures
1. Each Party shall ensure that the tendering procedures of its entities are:
(a) applied in a non-discriminatory manner; and
(b) consistent with this Article and Articles 1009 through 1016.
2. Tn this regard, each Party shall ensure that its entities:
(a) do not provide to any supplier information with regard to a specific procurement in a manner that would have the effect of precluding competition; and
(b) provide all suppliers equal access to information with respect to a procurement during the period prior to the issuance of any notice or tender documentation.
Article 1009. Qualification of Suppliers
1. Further to Article 1003, no entity of a Party may, in the process of qualifying suppliers in a tendering procedure, discriminate between suppliers of the other Parties or between domestic suppliers and suppliers of the other Parties.
2. The qualification procedures followed by an entity shall be consistent with the following:
(a) conditions for participation by suppliers in tendering procedures shall be published sufficiently in advance so as to provide the suppliers adequate time to initiate and, to the extent that it is compatible with efficient operation of the procurement process, to complete the qualification procedures;
(b) conditions for participation by suppliers in tendering procedures, including financial guarantees, technical qualifications and information necessary for establishing the financial, commercial and technical capacity of suppliers, as well as the verification of whether a supplier meets those conditions, shall be limited to those that are essential to ensure the fulfillment of the contract in question;
(c) the financial, commercial and technical capacity of a supplier shall be judged both on the basis of that supplier's global business activity, including its activity in the territory of the Party of the supplier, and its activity, if any, in the territory of the Party of the procuring entity;
(d) an entity shall not misuse the process of, including the time required for, qualification in order to exclude suppliers of another Party from a suppliers' list or from being considered for a particular procurement;
(e) an entity shall recognize as qualified suppliers those suppliers of another Party that meet the conditions for participation in a particular procurement;
(f) an entity shall consider for a particular procurement those suppliers of another Party that request to participate in the procurement and that are not yet qualified, provided there is sufficient time to complete the qualification procedure;
(g) an entity that maintains a permanent list of qualified suppliers shall ensure that suppliers may apply for qualification at any time, that all qualified suppliers so requesting are included in the list within a reasonably short period of time and that all qualified suppliers included in the list are notified of the termination of the list or of their removal from it;
(h) where, after publication of a notice in accordance with Article 1010, a supplier that is not yet qualified requests to participate in a particular procurement, the entity shall promptly start the qualification procedure;
(i) an entity shall advise any supplier that requests to become a qualified supplier of its decision as to whether that supplier has become qualified; and
(j) where an entity rejects a supplier's application to qualify or ceases to recognize a supplier as qualified, the entity shall, on request of the supplier, promptly provide pertinent information concerning the entity's reasons for doing so.
3. Each Party shall:
(a) ensure that each of its entities uses a single qualification procedure, except that an entity may use additional qualification procedures where the entity determines the need for a different procedure and is prepared, on request of another Party, to demonstrate that need; and
(b) endeavor to minimize differences in the qualification procedures of its entities.
4. Nothing in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall prevent an entity from excluding a supplier on grounds such as bankruptcy or false declarations.
Article 1010. Invitation to Participate
1. Except as otherwise provided in Article 1016, an entity shall publish an invitation to participate for all procurements in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3 and 5, in the appropriate publication referred to in Annex 1010.1.
2. The invitation to participate shall take the form of a notice of proposed procurement that shall contain the following information:
(a) a description of the nature and quantity of the goods or services to be procured, including any options for further procurement and, if possible,
(i) an estimate of when such options may be exercised, and
(ii) in the case of recurring contracts, an estimate of when the subsequent notices will be issued;
(b) a statement as to whether the procedure is open or selective and whether it will involve negotiation;
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, an entity listed in Annex 1001.1a-2 or 1001.1a-3 may use as an invitation to participate a notice of planned procurement that shall contain as much of the information referred to in paragraph 2 as is available to the entity, but that shall include, at a minimum, the following information:
(a) a description of the subject matter of the procurement;