Common use of Standards-Setting Clause in Contracts

Standards-Setting. (a) Each Party shall allow persons of the other Party to participate in the development of standards and technical regulations by its central government bodies.14 Each Party shall allow persons of the other Party to participate in the development of these measures, and the development of conformity assessment procedures by its central government bodies, on terms no less favorable than those it accords to its own persons. (b) Each Party shall recommend that non-governmental standardizing bodies in its territory allow persons of the other Party to participate in the development of standards by those bodies. Each Party shall recommend that non-governmental standardizing bodies in its territory allow persons of the other Party to participate in the development of these standards, and the development of conformity assessment procedures by those bodies, on terms no less favorable than those they accord to persons of the Party. (c) Subparagraphs 8(a) and 8(b) do not apply to: (i) sanitary and phytosanitary measures as defined in Annex A of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; or (ii) purchasing specifications prepared by a governmental body for its production or consumption requirements. (d) For purposes of subparagraphs 8(a) and 8(b), “central government body”, “standards”, “technical regulations” and “conformity assessment procedures” have the meanings assigned to those terms in Annex 1 of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. Consistent with Annex 1, the three latter terms do not include standards, technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures `for the supply of a service.