by the negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

“ A procuring entity shall not prescribe technical specifications that require or refer to a particular trademark or trade name, patent, copyright, design, type, specific origin, producer or supplier, unless there is no other sufficiently precise or intelligible way of describing the procurement requirements and provided that, in these cases, the procuring entity includes words such as “or equivalent” in the tender documentation. ”

“ No procuring entity shall prepare or design a procurement, or otherwise structure or divide a procurement into separate procurements in any stage of the procurement, or use a particular method to estimate the value of a procurement, in order to avoid the obligations of this Chapter. ”

“ A procuring entity shall promptly reply to any reasonable request for relevant information by an interested or participating supplier, provided that the information does not give that supplier an advantage over other suppliers. ”

“ If a body other than the review authority initially reviews a complaint, the Party shall ensure that the supplier may appeal the initial decision to the review authority that is independent of the procuring entity that is the subject of the complaint. ”

“ Unless a procuring entity determines that it is not in the public interest to award a contract, it shall award the contract to the supplier that the procuring entity has determined to be fully capable of fulfilling the terms of the contract and that, based solely on the evaluation criteria specified in the notice and tender documentation, submits:
(a) the most advantageous tender; or (b) if price is the sole criterion, the lowest price. ”

“ The Parties recognise their shared interest in cooperating to promote international liberalisation of government procurement markets with a view to achieving enhanced understanding of their respective government procurement systems and to improving access to their respective markets. ”

“ Each Party shall also ensure that it has in place policies and procedures to eliminate to the extent possible or manage any potential conflict of interest on the part of those engaged in or having influence over a procurement. ”

“ If the tender documentation is not made publicly available from the date of publication of the notice referred to in paragraph 3, the procuring entity shall ensure that the tender documentation is made available at the same time to all the qualified suppliers selected in accordance with paragraph 4 (c) .
Multi-Use Lists
6. A Party, including its procuring entities, may establish or maintain a multi-use list provided that it publishes annually, or otherwise makes continuously available by electronic means, a notice inviting interested suppliers to apply for inclusion on the list. ”

“ Original development of a prototype or a first good or service may include limited production or supply in order to incorporate the results of field testing and to demonstrate that the prototype or the first good or service is suitable for production or supply in quantity to acceptable quality standards, but does not include quantity production or supply to establish commercial viability or to recover research and development costs. ”

“ Any developing country Party that has negotiated an implementation period for an obligation under paragraph2 shall list in its Schedule to Annex 15-A the agreed implementation period, the specific obligation subject to the implementation period and any interim obligation with which it has agreed to comply during the implementation period. ”

“ The Committee shall review this Chapter and may decide to hold further negotiations with a view to:
(a) improving market access coverage through enlargement of procuring entity lists and reduction of exclusions and exceptions as set out in Annex 15-A; (b) revising the thresholds set out in Annex 15-A; (c) revising the Threshold Adjustment Formula in Section H of Annex 15-A; and (d) reducing and eliminating discriminatory measures. 2. ”