Common use of Joint Cooperation Clause in Contracts

Joint Cooperation. 1. The Parties shall strengthen their cooperation in the field of standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures with a view to increasing the mutual understanding of their respective systems and facilitating access to their respective markets. In particular, the Parties shall seek to identify, develop, and promote trade facilitating initiatives regarding standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures that are appropriate for particular issues or sectors. 2. These initiatives may include: (a) cooperation on regulatory issues, such as transparency, promotion of good regulatory practices, harmonization with international standards, and use of accreditation to qualify conformity assessment bodies; (b) technical assistance directed at reaching effective and full compliance with metrology demands arising from this Chapter and the TBT Agreement; (c) initiatives to develop common views on good regulatory practices such as transparency, use of equivalency, and regulatory impact assessment; and (d) use of mechanisms to facilitate the acceptance of results of conformity assessment procedures conducted in the other Party's territory. 2 Reasonable interval shall be understood to normally mean a period of not less than six months, except when this would be ineffective in fulfilling the legitimate objectives pursued, in accordance with paragraph 5 of the Implementation–Related Issues and Concerns, Decision of 14 November 2001(WT/MIN(01)/17). 3. The cooperation described on this article may be preferably focused on fields such as: (i) auto parts, (ii) textiles, clothing, and design, (iii) cosmetics and hygienic products, and (iv) pharmaceutical products and medical devices. However, upon request, a Party shall give favorable consideration to any sector-specific proposal that the other Party makes for further cooperation under this Chapter.