AMENDED MARCH 30, 1994
PREAMBLE
The governments of New Brunswick and Québec (hereinafter referred to as "the Governments" or "the parties"):
· recognize that interprovincial trade barriers must be eliminated or reduced so as to improve productivity and competitiveness of New Brunswick and Québec firms;
· note the decision by the First Ministers at their November 1987 Annual Conference to establish a Committee of Ministers on Internal Trade, thereby reaffirming and giving further direction to the initiative to reduce interprovincial barriers to trade;
· reaffirm their commitment to the Common Procurement Principles in Support of Geographic Neutrality, set out in Appendix A;
· support the efforts of the Committee of Ministers on Internal Trade regarding interprovincial trade barrier reduction and wish to encourage those efforts by accelerating progress at a regional level;
· consider that one of most important ways to reduce trade barriers between provinces is through the opening of public procurement based on reciprocity.
NOW THEREFORE, in relation thereto, the governments of Québec and New Brunswick ratify the conditions of the Agreement that follows, titled Agreement on the Opening of Public Procurement for Québec and New Brunswick.
1. Definitions and Rules of Interpretation
1.1. The definitions that follow apply to this Agreement:
AUXILIARY SERVICES means services of a technical nature.
CALL FOR TENDERS means a call for competitive bids from several suppliers, inviting them to submit a tender for the purpose of obtaining a contract. CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT means a contract for preliminary soil preparation, foundation works, the construction, renovation, repair, maintenance, alteration or demolition of a building or of a civil engineering work that requires skilled labour from the building trades.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES means software, electronic equipment or combinations thereof used to collect, store, process, communicate, protect or destroy information in all its forms, particularly in the form of text, symbol, sound and image.
PLACE OF BUSINESS means an establishment where a supplier conducts activities on a permanent basis, clearly identified by name and accessible during normal working hours.
PROCUREMENT means a supply contract (the purchase, lease, or rental of goods), a services contract, or a construction contract; a supply contract may include charges for the operation, installation, or maintenance of a good.
PROCUREMENT AMOUNT means the total financial commitment resulting from a procurement, not taking into account optional renewals when the compulsory part of the contract is of at least one year's duration.
PROFESSIONAL means any person who, by virtue of his training certified by an undergraduate university degree or the equivalent, or of his membership in a professional corporation, solely authorized by virtue of the law to practice some specific acts, can provide professional services.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES means services performed by professionals or under their responsibility.
QUALIFICATION OF GOODS AND SERVICES means a process whereby a buyer establishes a list of goods or services capable of responding to a specific need.
QUALIFIED SUPPLIER means any supplier that is capable of fulfilling the procurement under consideration based on an assessment of its financial, technical, and commercial capacity, regardless of whether the qualification process involves the use of source lists.
SERVICES CONTRACT means a contract for supplying or performing a service; a services contract may include the supply of parts or materials required to perform the service.
SUPPLIER means any supplier of goods and services and any construction contractor. 1.2. In concluding this Agreement, the parties seek the highest possible degree of reciprocity through application of the terms of the Agreement to comparable procurements, covering equivalent public bodies and using procurement rules and procedures that are consistent with the target objectives. The interpretation of the Articles of this Agreement and the solution to all questions not specifically covered shall take into account this principle of reciprocity. However, the parties agree that this principle of reciprocity will not be invoked each time one of the parties chooses to exempt a procurement using Article 6.1.
2. SCOPE OF THE AGREEMENT
2.1. This Agreement applies to procurement for the purchase, lease or rental of goods valued at $25,000. or more, for the acquisition of services as set out in Appendix B and valued at $200,000. or more, for construction contracts valued at $100,000. or more, as well as to the supply of materials in construction contracts.
2.2. The thresholds in the preceding Article are amended annually as follows:
2.2.1. the threshold of $25,000. is amended in accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement on Government Procurement;
2.2.2. starting April 1, 1995, the $200,000. and $100,000. thresholds will be revised annually by the Coordinating Committee in order to take inflation and other considerations into account.
2.3. This Agreement applies to procurements awarded by those departments and public bodies identified in Appendix C. This Agreement also applies to any newly established department, to any new body of a comparable status to those already covered, as well as to any activity previously carried out by a department or body subject to the Agreement which is transferred to another public body.
2.4 This Agreement also applies to construction for school districts and health and social services establishments of both provinces, as well as construction for higher education establishments in Quebec.
2.5 For the remaining public procurements, as those for municipalities and municipal bodies of both provinces, procurements for New Brunswick universities, goods and services procurements for school districts of both provinces and for higher education establishments in Quebec, and goods and services for health and social services establishments of both provinces, each party agrees to strongly encourage those public bodies concerned to respect the provisions of this Agreement from its effective date. They also agree to take the necessary steps to subject the procurements in this Article to the Agreement by April 1, 1995 subject to terms and conditions to be negotiated by both parties and that may differ from the provisions of this Agreement.
3. SUBJECT MATTER OF THE AGREEMENT
3.1. All forms of discrimination based on the province of origin of goods, services, and construction materials, suppliers of such goods, services and construction materials, or construction contractors shall be eliminated from the procurement practices of the parties, except as otherwise stated in this Agreement. The discriminatory practices that are not allowed include, but are not limited to, the following:
a) registration requirements and restrictions on calls for tenders based upon the location of the place of business of a supplier and its subcontractors or the place where the goods or services are produced and, generally, qualification procedures which discriminate between suppliers by province of origin;
b) the biasing of specifications in favour of or against a particular company's products for the purpose of circumventing this Agreement;
c) the timing of contract opening and closing dates so as to prevent qualified suppliers from submitting bids;
d) the specification of quantities and delivery schedules of a scale and frequency which may reasonably be judged as deliberately designed to prevent qualified suppliers from meeting requirements;
e) the division of required quantities or diversion of budgetary funds to subsidiary agencies in a way designed to circumvent this Agreement;
f) the consideration, in evaluating bids, of provincial content or economic benefits that favour a supplier or product of one of the participating provinces;
g) giving preference to selected bids after bids have been submitted and without any mention of the intended preference in the tender documents;
h) price discounts or preferential margins to favour suppliers of one province;
i) the unjustifiable exclusion of a qualified supplier from tendering;
j) the requirement that a contractor or a subcontractor use workers originating from the province where the work is being carried out.
3.2. A party may, for a particular category of goods, limit its base of suppliers to manufacturers.
4. TENDERING PROCEDURES FOR SUPPLY, SERVICES AND CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
4.1. Contracts covered by the Agreement must be subject to the transparent tendering system as described in this section.
4.2. The solicitation of suppliers to submit a bid must be made by one of the following methods or a combination of several thereof:
a) use of an electronic bulletin board accessible to suppliers of both provinces;
b) publication in one or more predetermined daily newspapers; and
c) use of source lists provided that registration on the source list respects the principles of geographic neutrality and that all registered suppliers in a given category are invited for all tenders for a good or service contained in that category.
4.3. All invitations to submit bids shall contain at a minimum the following information:
a) a brief description of the procurement contemplated;
b) the place where a person may obtain the necessary information and documents to submit a tender;
c) the conditions for obtaining the tender documents;
d) the place where the tenders are to be sent;
e) the date and time limit for submitting tenders;
f) the time and place of the opening of the tenders; and
g) a statement that the procurement is subject to this Agreement and open to suppliers from provinces whose governments are parties to this Agreement.
4.4. The parties agree to provide suppliers with a minimum of fifteen (15) days to submit a bid.
4.5. Unless a source list is used, tender openings shall be public. Furthermore, whether tender openings are public or not, all bidders may, upon request, obtain the list of bids received and the price of each acceptable bid.
4.6. It is agreed that in addition to the submitted price, the evaluation of bids may take into account quality, quantity, delivery, servicing, as well as financial capacity of the supplier. However, the tender documents shall clearly identify the requirements as well as all criteria that will be used for evaluating the bids. The methods of weighting and evaluating the criteria shall also be divulged in those documents.
4.7. To ensure that qualified suppliers are able to register on a source list, invitations to register must be published annually in the daily newspapers as per paragraph b) of Article 4.2. In addition, a supplier that meets the latest published conditions may register at any time.
4.8. A participating government may limit tenders to previously qualified goods and services. The qualification process must itself, however, respect the principles of geographic neutrality. An invitation to qualify goods or services shall be published annually in the daily newspapers as per paragraph b) of Article 4.2.
4.9. A participating government may limit tenders to goods and services previously certified by an organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada.
4.10. A participating government may limit access to a procurement to suppliers who put in place a program of employment equity.
4.11. If a procurement exempted under Articles 6.1. and 6.2. is publicly tendered in a daily newspaper or on the electronic bulletin board, the tender notice shall indicate the restrictions and highlight the practices that do not conform with geographic neutrality or with the tendering procedures outlined in Articles 3.1., 3.2., and 4.1. to 4.10.
5. MATERIALS INSTALLED IN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
5.1. There shall be no discrimination between the products of one participating province or the other with regard to specifications for materials to be installed in jobs pertaining to these contracts.
5.2. A participating government shall not require general contractors or subcontractors to favour materials or suppliers of materials from their province, unless equal treatment is provided to materials or suppliers from the province of the other party.
5.3. Specifications may, however, be limited to goods having been previously qualified according to Article 4.8. or that are certified according to Article 4.9.
6. EXCEPTIONS
6.1. A party may exclude a procurement from the application of this Agreement for economic development purposes, provided that all such exceptions are reported to the Coordinating Committee as per section 8 prior to the commencement of all awarding procedures.
6.2. The following procurements are exempt from the rules of geographic neutrality and from the tendering procedures as set out in Articles 3.1., 3.2., and 4.1. to 4.10.:
a) alcoholic beverages;
b) agriculture products under supply management or regulated by provincial marketing boards;
c) purchase, lease or rental of information technology goods for Québec until January 1, 1996;
d) purchase of goods and services related to cultural or artistic fields, books and computer software for educational purposes, and subscriptions;
e) goods for resale to the public and goods, services, and construction materials purchased on behalf of a third party not covered by this Agreement;
f) contracts with a public body or with a non-profit organization;
g) goods and services for use outside the province as well as construction work done outside the province;
h) services of research and analyses related to subjects where the confidentiality of data or results must be ensured;
i) work that involves the construction or renovation of rental buildings or parts of rental buildings and is carried out by the lessor of the building;
j) where the carrying out of work by a contractor other than the contractor who did the original work will nullify the guarantees held.
6.3 Provided that the rules of geographic neutrality set out in section 3 are not circumvented, the procedures for tendering set out in section 4 do not necessarily apply to:
a) procurements for an unforeseeable situation of urgency where the contract cannot be concluded in time by means of the transparent tendering system;
b) procurements to assure compatibility with existing equipment, to protect exclusive rights such as patents, for a good or service for which there are no suppliers or only one with a place of business within the territory of the participating governments, or for the maintenance or repair of specialized equipment that must be carried out by the manufacturer or its representative;
c) procurements of products of handicapped persons or prison labour;
d) research and development or where it involves the production of a prototype or original concept; it is understood that subsequent purchase of these products or services shall be subject to section 4;
e) procurements that take place under the terms and conditions of a contract in existence when this Agreement comes into force;
f) procurements for the maintenance of public order, security or health;
g) purchases of sand, stone, gravel, bituminous compound, concrete pipe, pre-mixed concrete, or other products made of concrete, where owing to transportation costs it is proven more economical to deal with the supplier closest to the work site;
h) purchases of goods already the subject of a lease contract where payments are partially or totally credited to the purchase;
i) a contract awarded under a cooperation agreement financed in whole or in part by an international cooperation organization, if the agreement includes different rules for awarding contracts;
j) a contract for the supply of services with a supplier having a monopoly in the fields of communications, electricity, or gas.
7. INFORMATION
7.1. Each party agrees to send without delay to the other party tender notices pertaining to procurements of goods, services and construction exceeding the thresholds stipulated in Article 2.1. The information shall be in accordance with paragraphs a) to f) of Article 4.3.
7.2. In response to inquiries from one of the parties or from bidders from one of the provinces, parties shall provide the following information concerning a particular tender:
a) the name and address of the successful bidder;
b) the successful bid total price; and
c) if criteria other than price are used in the evaluation of bids, the scoring of all criteria for the successful bidder and for the bidder making the inquiry.
In addition, each party may obtain on request a copy of the tender documents, the list of all suppliers who requested the documents, the name and price of each acceptable bidder, as well as the scores of all bidders if criteria other than price are used in the evaluation.
7.3. Participating governments shall report annually to the Coordinating Committee as per section 8 on their procurement. The annual report of each party shall contain the following information for supply, services and construction contracts:
a) the total number and annual value of procurements exceeding the thresholds set in accordance with Article 2.2.;
b) the total annual value of procurements for each exception as per Articles 6.2. and 6.3.;
c) the total annual value of procurements exceeding the thresholds set in accordance with Article 2.2. which constitute exceptions as per Articles 6.1., 6.3. a) and 6.3. b), and for each exception, a description of the procurement, the reasons for exception, the recipient of the contract, the date of award, and the total value of the procurement; and
d) the total annual value of procurements under the thresholds set in accordance with Article 2.2.
For paragraphs a), c), and d) above, the report shall use commodity coding to be determined by the parties.
7.4. The parties agree to make best efforts to establish an electronic bulletin board system which will be accessible to suppliers of both provinces and mutually compatible by June 1, 1994.
8. COORDINATING COMMITTEE
8.1. Each party shall name two (2) officials to serve on a New Brunswick - Québec Procurement Coordinating Committee, established pursuant to this Agreement, and hereinafter called the "Coordinating Committee". The Coordinating Committee may call on experts in the fields covered by the Agreement as required.
8.2. The Coordinating Committee will meet as required, but at least once a year.
8.3. The Committee shall be responsible for:
a) monitoring compliance of the Governments with the terms and conditions of this Agreement;
b) evaluating and attempting to resolve complaints made by one of the parties concerning the application of this Agreement by the other party;
c) attempting to resolve a complaint made by a supplier to a government of one of the parties that was not resolved in a satisfactory manner;
d) overseeing the establishment and the operation of the electronic bulletin board system or systems used by the parties;
e) evaluating the Agreement and preparing annual reports on its application;
f) reviewing threshold levels annually;
g) establishing report formats to be prepared by each party and analyzing reports;
h) providing recommendations to improve this Agreement if necessary;
i) other matters which are consistent with the scope of this Agreement;
j) modify the categories of services covered by the Agreement
k) make minor modifications to the text of the Agreement.
9. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
9.1. Each government shall assign one person as the point of contact concerning disputes that may arise from the application of this Agreement.
9.2. Should a party to this Agreement consider an action of the other party to be inconsistent with this Agreement, that party may register a complaint with the Coordinating Committee, which shall review the situation, render a judgement or if necessary make a report to the Ministers responsible on the unresolved dispute.
9.3. The Coordinating Committee shall report annually to the Ministers responsible on all cases submitted to it.
9.4. A supplier who feels prejudiced by a decision made by one of the parties may exercise a recourse provided that the supply, services or construction contract is valued at equal to or greater than the specified thresholds, and that it was not awarded by virtue of an exemption as per section 6.
9.5. The recourse referred to in Article 9.4. must first be addressed to the party responsible for the procurement. If a satisfactory solution is not found and if the supplier is located in the province of the other party, he may then contact the latter to ask to have a complaint lodged on his behalf to the government responsible for the procurement. The complaint will then be analyzed by the representatives of both parties who could, if required, approach the Coordinating Committee.
9.6. If the representations set out in Article 9.5. are unsuccessful within a reasonable period, which, for the purpose of this Agreement, is twenty (20) working days from the time the first formal representation is made by the complainant to the procuring government, then the government for the jurisdiction in which the complainant is located may request that the complaint be considered by an expert panel in accordance with the procedures described in Articles 9.7. to 9.18.
9.7. Each party agrees to establish and to inform the other party of a standing roster of an appropriate number, as determined by the Coordinating Committee, of competent and impartial people who will be able to serve on expert panels.
9.8. The official points of contact of the two governments will agree on an expert panel from standing rosters within five (5) working days of the request as per Article 9.6.
9.9. Generally speaking, the expert panel would consist of a maximum of three members, two selected from the rosters of the two governments involved, and a Chair to be ratified by both governments. Any other composition acceptable to both parties is possible.
9.10. The panel will begin consideration of a complaint within five (5) days of its formation.
9.11. The panel should complete its work within forty (40) days of its formation. Upon formal request, an extension owing to extraordinary circumstances may be granted with full notification to all parties.
9.12. Procedures and guidelines appropriate to each case will be established by the expert panel. The official points of contact of the governments will agree on providing secretarial and research support to the panel and will maintain the necessary records.
9.13. The fees and expenses of the panel will be shared equally between the two governments involved.
9.14. The panel's final report will be provided to the complainant and the governments involved in the complaint undertake to consult each other and the complainant concerning the panel's findings with the object of reaching a mutually acceptable accommodation based on the panel's report.
9.15. The official points of contact shall append to the report a description of the accommodation, or the different positions if an agreement is not reached. The report shall be considered complete and final at this stage. The governments agree to complete these steps within ten (10) days of receipt of the panel's report.
9.16. If a party feels, as a result of a panel's report and subsequent consultations, or another series of similar unresolved complaints, that the other party is not complying with the terms of this Agreement, the party may suspend the application of equivalent benefits made under this Agreement to the non-complying party and its resident suppliers.
9.17. An indication of the withdrawal of equivalent benefits will be made in writing to the non-complying government. The party taking this action agrees to delay implementing the action for sixty (60) days from the time the indication is made to allow for further consultation between the participating governments to permit a possible resolution of the dispute.
9.18. The official point of contact for each participating government will keep a record of:
a) all complaints received directly from suppliers and the number resolved, and
b) complaints made to expert panels and not considered substantial.
This information will be compiled into a report by each point of contact for each fiscal year and will be forwarded to the other party within three (3) months of the end of the fiscal year.
10. LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS AND PROCEDURES
10.1. Each party shall send to the other party its policies, procedures and practices in matters relating to procurement.
10.2. Each party shall ensure that at the effective date of this Agreement, its legislative and regulatory regimes are consistent with the Agreement.
10.3. Each party shall inform the Coordinating Committee of any changes to its Acts and Regulations relating to the subject matter of this Agreement.
11. OTHER AGREEMENTS
11.1. This Agreement is not intended to supersede other existing agreements in effect at the time of signing of the Agreement, except that the Government of New Brunswick agrees that any article in the Maritime or Atlantic Procurement Memoranda of Agreements that applies to those procurements covered in this Agreement will not be applied to discriminate against Québec products or suppliers in favour of Maritime or Atlantic products or suppliers.
11.2. In case of incompatibility between this Agreement and the Intergovernmental Agreement on Government Procurement, the latter shall take precedence. However, the parties agree to make representation to the other Canadian governments so that the provisions of this Agreement that are inconsistent with the Intergovernmental Agreement on Government Procurement are integrated into the latter. The changes to be proposed are outlined in Appendix D attached.
12. WITHDRAWAL
12.1 A party may withdraw from this Agreement by giving ninety (90) days' notice in writing to the other party.
13. LANGUAGES
13.1 Language requirements shall be specified by the government concerned.
14. MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE
14.1 The following Ministers are responsible for the application of this Agreement on behalf of their respective governments:
a) for Québec, the Minister delegated to Government Services, and
b) for New Brunswick, the Minister of Supply and Services.
15. EFFECTIVE DATE
15.1 This Agreement shall enter into full force and effect on April 1, 1994.
15.2 The amendments take effect April 1, 1994 notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2.5 and Appendix B and C.
The Ministers have executed this Agreement on behalf of their respective Governments on the 3rd day of November, 1993.
Honorable Jean Leclerc, Ministre delegue aux Services gouvernementales
Honourable Laureen Jarrett, Minister of Supply & Services
Honorable Gérald Tremblay, Ministre de l'Industrie, du Commerce, de la Science et de la Technologie
Honourable Denis Losier, Minister of Economic Development & Tourism
Honorable Daniel Johnson, Premier Ministre, Ministre des Affaires intergouvernementales
Honourable Edmond Blanchard, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
APPENDIX A
Common Procurement Principles in Support of Geographic Neutrality
To provide suppliers and the public with a greater understanding of the policies and procedures which guide government procurement and to demonstrate that all jurisdictions operate on the same basic principles, the Ministers approved the following statement of principles, consistent with Canada's international trade obligations, in support of geographic neutrality.
The principles of geographic neutrality are:
1. Access: All qualified firms that are interested in becoming government suppliers shall be given equitable access to the contract opportunities of their governments;
2. Competition: Government contracting authorities shall meet their goods and services requirements through a fair acquisition process based on the highest degree of competition consistent with an efficient and cost-effective procurement system;
3. Policies: Government contracting policies and practices shall not impose conditions which are counter to the principles of geographic neutrality. For example, any prescribed time-limit for the submission of tenders must be adequate to permit all interested and qualified suppliers to respond, wherever they may be located; and
4. Transparency: Governments may wish to establish specific policies or procurement practices which are exceptions to the principles of geographic neutrality, but such policies and practices must be identified, made known and clearly identified as such.
To complement these principles, areas of acceptable deviations are recognized, as purchasing organizations have a responsibility to ensure the efficient operation of their procurement systems. The conditions under which government entities could adopt policies or practices which do not meet the principles of geographic neutrality are:
1. for minimal dollar purchases, where the cost of administering an unrestricted tendering process would exceed the value of the goods and services required or represent an incommensurate portion of the costs such that it would be prohibitive and, therefore, not in the public interest;
2. for reasons connected with the protection of exclusive rights, such as patents or copyrights, where the products can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable substitute exists;
3. for reasons of justified emergency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority or for reasons of national security; and
4. for regional development purposes, when restricted competition is used by the contracting authority with the specific objective of enhancing economic or industrial development in a particular area.
In addition, to ensure transparency and discipline, governments accept a responsibility to make public the specific policies and practices which deviate from the principles of geographic neutrality for any of the reasons outlined above.
APPENDIX B
SERVICES COVERED
As of April , 1994, all auxiliary services contracts except those for highway snow removal, vertical aerial photography, and travel services.
As of September 1, 1994, all professional services contracts except those related to engineering, architecture, land surveying, legal, financial, and health and welfare services.
APPENDIX C
DEPARTMENTS AND BODIES COVERED
NEW BRUNSWICK
Chief Electoral Officer, Civil Service Commission, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Communications New Brunswick, Department of Advanced Education and Labour, Department of Agriculture, Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Department of Education, Department of the Environment, Department of Finance, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Department of Health and Community Services, Department of Income Assistance, Department of Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Justice, Department of Municipalities, Culture and Housing, Department of Natural Resources and Energy, Department of the Solicitor General, Department of Supply and Services, Department of Transportation, Executive Council, Office Language Training Centre, Liquor Licensing Board, New Brunswick Police Commission, Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Auditor General, Office of the Comptroller, Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Office of the Lieutenant-Governor, Office of the Ombudsman, Office of the Premier, Policy Secretariat, Public Service Labour Relations Board.
As of September 1, 1994, the following additional bodies will be covered:
Workmen's Compensation Board, New Brunswick Occupational Health and Safety Commission, Regional Development Corporation, Research and Productivity Council, New Brunswick Museum, New Brunswick Housing Corporation, Kings Landing Corporation, Algonquin Properties Limited.
QUÉBEC
LIST A
Bureau de révision de l'évaluation foncière du Québec, Bureau de révision en immigation, Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement, Bureau d'examinateurs des mesureurs de bois, Comité de discipline - Loi sur les huissiers, Comité de la déontologie policière, Comité de réexamen (Régime des agents de la paix en institution pénale), Comité de réexamen (Régime des élus municipaux), Comité d'admission à la pratique des sages-femmes, Comité d'évaluation (Qualité de l'environnement de la Baie-James Comité provincial pour la prestation des services de santé et des services sociaux en langue anglaise, Commissaire à la déontologie policière, Commissaire aux plaintes des clients des distributeurs d'électricité, Commissaire aux plaintes en matière de protection du territoire agricole, Commissaire de la construction, Commission administrative des régimes de retraite et d'assurances, Commission consultative de l'enseignement privé, Commission d'accès à l'information, Commission d'appel de la francisation des entreprises, Commission d'appel sur la langue d'enseignement, Commission d'évaluation de l'enseignement collégial, Commission d'examen (soins psychiatriques), Commission de la fonction publique, Commission de protection de la langue française, Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec, Commission de protection des droits de la jeunesse, Commission de toponymie, Commission des biens culturels du Québec, Commission des courses du Québec, Commission des droits de la personne, Commission des transports du Québec, Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec, Commission municipale du Québec, Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles, Conseil consultatif de pharmacologie, Conseil consultatif du travail et de la main-d'oeuvre, Conseil de la conservation et de l'environnement, Conseil de la famille, Conseil de la langue française, Conseil de la magistrature, Conseil de la santé et du bien-être, Conseil de la science et de la technologie, Conseil des communautés culturelles et de l'immigration, Conseil des services essentiels, Conseil du statut de la femme, Conseil d'arbitrage sur la formation et la qualification professionnelle de la main-d'oeuvre, Conseil d'évaluation des projets pilotes (sages-femmes), Conseil d'évaluation des technologies de la santé, Conseil médical du Québec, Conseil permanent de la jeunesse, Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale, Conseil supérieur de l'éducation, Contrôleur des Finances, Coroner, Inspecteur général des institutions financières, Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation, Ministère de l'Éducation, Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources, Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Science, Ministère de l'Environnement, Ministère de l'Industrie, du Commerce et de la Technologie, Ministère de la Culture, Ministère de la Justice, Ministère de la Main-d'oeuvre, de la Sécurité du revenu et de la Formation professionnelle, Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Ministère de la Sécurité publique, Ministère des Affaires internationales, Ministère des Affaires municipales, Ministère des Approvisionnements et Services, Ministère des Communautés culturelles et de l'Immigration, Ministère des Communications, Ministère des Finances, Ministère des Forêts, Ministère des Transports, Ministère du Conseil exécutif, Ministère du Loisir, de la Chasse et de la Pêche, Ministère du Revenu, Ministère du Tourisme, Ministère du Travail, Office de la langue française, Office de la protection du consommateur, Office des personnes handicapées du Québec, Office des professions du Québec, Office des ressources humaines, Office des services de garde à l'enfance, Office du crédit agricoles du Québec, Régie de la sécurité dans les sports, Régie des assurances agricole du Québec, Régie des marchés agricoles et alimentaires du Québec, Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, Régie des télécommunications, Régie du bâtiment, Régie du cinéma, Régie du gaz naturel, Régie du logement, Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor, Société de développement industriel du Québec, Société d'habitation du Québec, Société imobilière du Québec, Sûreté du Québec, Tribunal du Travail, Tribunal d'appel en matière de protection du territoire agricole.
As of September 1, 1994 the following additional bodies will be covered:
LIST B
Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec, Centre québécois de valorisation de la biomasse, Comité d'accréditation des associations d'élèves et d'étudiants, Comité d'examen des demandes dérogatoires (aide financière aux étudiants), Comité d'examen - qualité de l'environnement de la Baie-James, Comités de révision de la RAMQ, Commission de reconnaissance des associations d'artistes, Commission des services juridiques, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Corporation d'urgences-santé de la région de Montréal Métropolitain, Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec, Fonds pour la formation des chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche, Institut de police du Québec, Institut de recherche et d'Information sur la rémunération, Institut québécois du cinéma, Musée de la civilisation, Musée du Québec, Musée d'art contemporain, Régie des installations olympiques, Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal, Société de radio - télévision du Québec, Société des traversiers du Québec, Société du Centre des congrès de Québec, Société du Grand Théâtre de Québec, Société du Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Société d'investissement jeunesse, Société générale des industries culturelles, Société Innovatech du Grand Montréal, Societe quebecoise d'assainissement des eaux, Société québécoise de développement de la main - d'oeuvre, Société québécoise des transports, Table ronde québécoise sur l'environnement et l'économie, Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, Commission de la qualité de l'environnement Kativik, Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail, Commission des affaires sociales, Commission des normes du travail, Commission d'appel en matière de lésions professionnelles, Conseil consultatif de la lecture et du livre, Conseil de la recherche et du développement en transport, Curateur public, Fonds d'aide aux recours colectifs, Fonds d'assurance - prêts agricoles et forestiers, Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec, Office de la sécurité du revenu des chasseurs et piégeurs cris, Régie de l'assurance - dépôts du Québec, Régie de l'assurance-maladie du Québec, Régie des rentes du Québec, Société de l'assurance-automobile du Québec.
APPENDIX D
Proposed Amendments to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Government Procurement
The parties agree to propose the following changes to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Government Procurement:
1. Article 2 is amended by adding the following sentence: "In addition, a government may, for a particular category of goods, limit its base of suppliers to manufacturers."
2. Article 3(a) is amended by adding the following: "For the purpose of this Agreement, printing is considered a service."
The French version of the same Article is amended by adding the term "meubles" after the word "biens".
3. Article 3 is amended by adding the following paragraphs:
"(e) "qualification of goods and services" means a process whereby a buyer establishes a list of goods or services capable of responding to a specific need. (f) "procurement amount" means the total financial commitment resulting from a procurement, not taking into account optional renewals when the compulsory part of the contract is of at least one year's duration."
4. Article 4(1)(ii) is replaced by the following:
"Starting April 1, 1994, the $25,000. threshold referred to in paragraph (i) shall be replaced on April 1st of each year by an amount calculated as follows:
· adjust an amount of $25,000. proportionate to the change in the All-items Consumer Price Index for Canada, as determined by Statistics Canada, between the months of December 1991 and the December preceding the date of the change in the threshold; · round the result to the nearest thousandth dollar."
5. Article 6 is deleted and Article 4(2) is amended by replacing: "articles 5 and 6" by "article 5".
6. Article 4 is also amended by adding 4(4) as follows:
"(4) This Agreement does not apply to the following procurements which must be reported as per Article 5:
(i) alcoholic beverages;
(ii) agricultural products under supply management or regulated by provincial marketing boards; (iii) purchase of books and works of art, books and computer software for educational purposes, and subscriptions;
(iv) goods for resale to the public and goods purchased on behalf of a third party not covered by this Agreement;
(v) contracts with a public body or with a non-profit organization;
(vi) goods for use outside the territory of the participating government."
7. Article 5 is replaced by the following:
"5. The participating governments shall prepare annually a procurement report for the Committee of Ministers on Internal Trade. The report of each party shall contain the following information:
(1) The number and total annual value of procurements exceeding the thresholds as per Article 4(1)(ii);
(2) The total annual value of procurements for each exception as per Articles 4(3), 4(4) and 10;
(3) The total annual value of procurements exceeding the thresholds as per 4(1)(ii) which constitute exceptions to this Agreement according to Articles 4(2), 10(a) and 10(b); for each exception a description of the procurement, the reasons for the exception, the recipient of the contract, the date of the award and the value of the procurement;
(4) The total annual value of procurements under the thresholds set in Article 4(1)(ii).
For paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) above, the report shall be in commodity coding as established by Supply and Services Canada in its commodity coding system for goods."
8. Article 8(1) is amended by: a) replacing the introductory text of paragraph 8(1) with the following: "If a participating government uses a source list, it shall respect the following requirements:" b) deleting the following sentence from 8(1)(a): "Selection of suppliers among those listed shall also respect the principles of fairness and non-discrimination;" c) replacing "semi-annual" by "annual" in Article 8(1)(b); d) inserting the following after 8(1)(b):
"(b.1) where a contract is tendered using source lists, all suppliers registered in the appropriate category or categories of goods shall be invited to submit a bid;"
9. Article 8(2) is amended by adding the following after 8(2)(a):
"(a.1) an electronic bulletin board may be considered the publication referred to in 8(2)(a) if it is accessible from the territories of all participating governments;"
10. Article 8 is amended by adding the following:
"(3) A participating government may limit tenders to previously qualified goods. The qualification process must itself respect the principles of geographic neutrality. An invitation to qualify goods shall be published annually in one of the publications mentioned in Article 8(2)(a).
(4) A participating government may limit tenders to goods previously certified by an organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada.
(5) A participating government may limit access to a procurement to suppliers who put in place a program of employment equity.
(6) The documents sent to suppliers in a call for tenders or for an invitation to qualify a good shall clearly specify all requirements of the government as well as all criteria that will be used to evaluate the tenders. The methods for weighting and evaluating the criteria shall also be divulged in those documents."
11. Article 7(3) is amended by replacing: "in paragraphs 8(1) and (2)" by "in Article 8".
12. Article 10(b) is replaced by the following:
"(b) where the procurement is to ensure compatibility with existing equipment, to protect exclusive rights such as patents, or where there are no suppliers or only one supplier with a place of business within the territory of the participating governments."
13. Article 10(c) is replaced by the following:
"where the procurement relates to products of handicapped persons or of prison labour;"
14. Article 10 is amended by adding the following paragraph:
"(g) where the procurement is for the purchase of sand, stone, gravel, bituminous compound, concrete pipe, pre-mixed concrete, or other products made of concrete, where owing to transportation costs it is proven more economical to deal with the supplier closest to the work site;
(h) where the procurement is for the purchase of a good already the subject of a lease contract and where payments are partially or totally credited to the purchase;
(i) a contract awarded under a cooperation agreement financed in whole or in part by an international cooperation organization, if the agreement includes different rules for awarding contracts."
15. Article 14(4) is replaced by the following:
" If representations on behalf of a complainant under paragraph (3) do not resolve the complaint within a reasonable period of time, the government concerned may refer the complaint to a dispute settlement mechanism."