政府采购法律和政策(二):加拿大(上)
I. 国际协定
A.引言
加拿大是很多双边和多边国际政府采购协议的参加方,该国政府为特定供应商和服务商建立了一套规则,以便外国参加方互相扩展市场,但仍然严格限制各自的市场准入。这些协议中最重要的两个是世界贸易组织(WTO)多边政府采购协定(GPA),以及三边的北美自由贸易协定(NAFTA),它们的条款都已被吸纳进加拿大国会通过的国内立法实践中。 B.WTO
世界贸易组织(WTO)公布了政府采购协定(通常简写为GPA,而不是AGP)各参加方提交的附录和附加条款,对加拿大而言,附录I列举了81个联邦政府实体,包括绝大多数的 中央实体,这些实体通常与GPA相绑定,还有一个涉及货物的清单,除了特别豁免的国防部和加拿大皇家骑警外,其他实体采购货物清单内的产品都适用该协定。 附录二将出价范围扩展到加拿大省级实体,但有一些特例,例如对涉及次中央实体的双边协定,将规定推进环境质量的限制条款,但是目前还没有此类协定得以签署,因此,这一清单里没有添加任何省份。这与美国形成鲜明对比,美国已经在这个清单中添加了37个州,虽然目前GPA中还缺少次中央实体的政府采购规定。
附录三添加了包括加拿大邮政公司在内的三个政府企业,以及四个博物馆,然而,与附录二一样,附录三目前也对加拿大没有约束力,因为出价各方尚未就包括企业达成协议,诸如皇家所有的公司等就不被认为是“实体”。同样的,附录四确保将特定的非工程类服务项目加入出价清单,包括法律服务、会计服务和软件应用等;附录五允许将绝大多数建筑服务纳入GPA。 加拿大还提交了“总备注”,从根本上概括了加拿大对GPA中所包含限制和例外的理解和解释,加拿大在其附录和附加条款的克减范围中对此进行了确认和添加。这个总备注认为,该多边协议“采购过程不包括非合同性协议或者任何形式的政府援助,包括(但不限于)合作协议、补助金、贷款、股本注入、担保物、财政激励及政府提供给个人、 公司、私人机构和地方政府的货物和服务”。恰如所见,这种管辖正是美国在其经济刺激政策包中所引述和包含的保护“购买美国货”合法性条款。“总备注”还阐明,“所列服务开放范围遵循对等开放原则,直到GPA所有成员就服务清单相互达成一致的立场”,对于欧盟国家,GPA不适用于饮用水、能源、交通和电信领域的活动,因为欧盟在这些领域的政策也设有限制。
C.北美自由贸易协定(NAFTA)北美自由贸易协定(NAFTA)签字仪式
从1999年起,加拿大对美利坚合众国的直接商业出口份额,从占加拿大的总出口份额的几乎90%降到了大约75%。尽管如此,2008年两国之间的双边贸易额大约为6600亿美元,报告显示,这是世界上最大的双边贸易关系。因此,美国到目前为止仍是加拿大最大的出口市场,对加拿大经济有生死攸关的重要性。加拿大也是美国最大的贸易伙伴。实际上,加拿大对美国货物和服务的采购量是美国对加拿大采购量的两倍,尽管这个国家只有3500万常住居民,却是美国第三大贸易伙伴。其中一个原因是加拿大和美国都互相从对方进口大量工业制成品或部分成品,这些半成品也被包括在完成品中,这在汽车行业中尤为真实,两国汽车行业直到1960年代才分开。 从1994年起,规范美-加贸易关系的主要机制就是北美自由贸易协定(NAFTA)了。在198 9年到1994年期间,美国和加拿大之间的贸易关系是由加拿大-美国自由贸易协定来规范的。墨西哥加入进来后,这个初始协议就被NAFTA取代了。从最初的美加双边协定生效,两国之间按美元计算的贸易额就翻了一倍。
NAFTA第10章重点规范政府采购。它最初的意图是在现有的加-美自由贸易协定和现有的关贸总协定政府采购条款的基础加以扩展,但第10章仍然比GPA有更广的适用范围。然而,在GPA和第10章之间仍然有很多相似点。两者都有门槛价:对GPA来说,WTO公布了一个列表,基本列表用“特别提款权”(SDR)的形式给出了门槛价,但这些仍然换算成了各国的流通货币。对于NAFTA来说,政府实体货物和服务合同的门槛设定为5万美元,工程项目的合同门槛价是650万美元;政府企业货物和服务合同的门槛价定为25万美元,建筑工程项目合同门槛价是800万美元。然而,这些初始数字已经因为通货膨胀而调整,在美国和加拿大,联邦部门和机构从两国供应商那里采购货物和服务的门槛价已经降低到25000美元,这些优惠不扩及墨西哥供应商。对墨西哥供应商来说,报告称他们的门槛价大约是56000美元。然而,即便是这个数字也比GPA中的相应数字低得多。事实上,GPA和NAFTA中门槛价的对比说明后者一直相对较低,这意味着,美国供应商应用NAFTA政府采购条款,通常比应用GPA政府采购条款拥有更大的机会进入加拿大市场。
因为按照政府采购条款的优惠政策,企业比政府实体的门槛更高,了解一个合同是由企业还是政府实体给予的,有时候这很重要。这个问题在加拿大国际贸易审理委员会审理“加拿大总检察长诉Symtron系统公司”案时考虑了进去。在这个案件中,加拿大国防部作为一个政府实体将一份合同授予了加拿大防御工程公司,这是一家企业公司。审理委员会发现,应该应用更低的政府实体门槛价,因为根据合同,国防部将拥有并使用要建设的这个设施,应用企业门槛价接受投标可能被视为规避NAFTA的规定。这个判决最终被加拿大联邦议会确认。
北美自由贸易协定第1003条规定,缔约方必须给予其他缔约方货物和供应商“不低于其他缔约方给予本国货物和供应商或该国给予本国货物和供应商的最优惠”待遇。这就是国民待遇和非歧视原则。
关于原产地规则,NAFTA第1004条规定如下:
“任一缔约方都不得将原产地规则应用于从另一缔约方进口的以本章所涉及的政府采购为目的货物,因为它们该缔约方在普通贸易程序中所应用的原产地规则不同或不一致,后者可能是该缔约方应用于其普通贸易程序中的标记规则。”
这样,NAFTA将通过在政府采购领域禁止采用原产地规则确认了不同于传统国际间贸易的规则,因为政府采购本身就需要采购更大百分比的产自各国国内的货物和服务,包括贯彻关税责任和其他法律责任而进行的贸易活动都没有这么大的比例。第1005条更进一步增加规定,非NAFTA国家个人或公司如果在美国、加拿大、墨西哥三国境内没有实质性商业活动,可以取消给予的优惠待遇。但实体不再此条规定之列,应为大部分都是政府部门或机构。
NAFTA三国
NAFTA还允许缔约国在一系列其他情况下取消政府采购条款给予的优惠待遇。NAFTA伙伴可以取消给予经济制裁国家的供应商以优惠待遇,或者取消没有外交关系国家的供应商的优惠待遇。NAFTA缔约国也可以为了战略和国家安全的目的,或者为了保护健康、安全、道德或者环境等,对费歧视条款做出例外解释。NAFTA还给予成员国优待国内供应、支持中小企业和少数族裔经营的企业、支持研究开发活动以及支持农业、食品项目等方面的权利。
NAFTA的1016条制订了限制投标程序的规则。下列情况允许限制投标:
公开招标不能奏效时;
艺术品;
为保护知识产权;
发生了不可预知的极端紧急情况;
原供应商额外供货;
采购样机;
在日用品市场采购的货物;
采购决策系为应对极短时期内出现的极特别情况;
采购建筑设计竞赛中的优胜方案;以及
采购机密性咨询服务等。
NAFTA第1024条规定,1998年底前就协议的贸易自由化问题开始进一步会谈。很多专家希望尽快商定的一个课题就是州、省和市级的采购,因为在首轮谈判中并未就这个领域达成协议。然而,这方面的谈判至今没有进行。因此,NAFTA也并未包括加拿大的省或美国的州。为什么至今没有这方面的补充协议,原因完全不清楚,但GPA的类似经验显示,是加拿大的省级政府而非联邦政府阻挠NAFTA将管辖范围拓展至次中央实体,为什么各省会如此传统地阻挠北美自由贸易协定的扩张?帕特里克·格雷迪(编者按:加拿大联邦财政部前高级官员)和凯斯林·麦克米兰(编者按:加拿大爱德华王子岛大学教授)认为:
“部分动机是因为忧虑,害怕向外国供应商开放卫生和教育领域的采购市场,因此,加拿大各省拒绝与继续配合联邦政府与美国谈判商定的任何买卖,因为美国继续坚持‘购买美国货’并排除小企业,但是这可能仅仅是说‘不’的借口。
特别有讽刺意味的是,尽管加拿大在北美自由贸易协定下对美国享有特别优惠的贸易关系,但是在美国各州和地方政府采购市场准入方面,却比诸如欧盟国家和日本等其他并不享有优惠政策的国家拥有更少的机会。加拿大的供应商应该为此感谢他们的省级政府。"
然而,两位作者也指出,各省级的领导人也有他们“合法的”考虑,甚至他们在签署NAFTA和WTO政府采购条款时候,没有必要将他们的供应商列为所有“购买美国货”条款的例外,这样,与之完全不妥协的一个协议也并不符合他们的利益。无论如何,正如我们将在第二部分看到的,这种形势将很快发生变化。
原文:
Government Procurement Law and Policy: Canada
I. International Agreements
A. Introduction
Canada is a party to a number of bilateral and multilateral international agreements that establish rules for the procurement of certain supplies and services by national governments that are designed to give foreign parties expanded, but still restricted access to each other’s markets. The two most important of these agreements for Canada, the provisions of which are included in implementing Canadian legislation enacted by Parliament, are the plurilateral WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (AGP)[1] and the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).[2]
B. The WTO
The WTO has published the Appendices and Annexes to the Agreement on Government Procurement (which it refers to as “the GPA” instead of “the AGP”) submitted by each party.[3] For Canada, Annex I lists eighty-one Federal Government entities, including most governmental departments and agencies, that are generally bound by the AGP and a special list of goods that are covered if they are purchased by the extensively exempted Department of Defence and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Annex II offers to extend the AGP to Canada’s provincial entities subject to certain exceptions as, for example, restrictions designed to promote environmental quality if a plurilateral agreement on subcentral agencies is reached, but no such agreement has been concluded and no provinces have been added to this list. This is in sharp contrast to the United States, which has already included thirty-seven states in its Annex II despite the lack of a plurilateral WTO agreement on government procurement by subcentral agencies.[4] Annex III adds nine Government Enterprises to the AGP, including the Canada Post Corporation and four museums that Canada has offered to include in the AGP. However, like Annex II, Annex III does not currently bind Canada because the parties to the AGP have not reached an agreement to include enterprises, such as Crown-owned corporations, that are not considered to be “entities.”[5] Similarly, Annex IV offers to make certain non-construction services subject to the AGP, including legal services, accounting and software implementation, and Annex V offers to add most construction services to the AGP.[6]
Canada has also submitted General Notes, which basically summarize some of the Canadian understandings or interpretations of the limitations and exclusions contained in the AGP and confirm or add to the derogations Canada has included in its Appendices and Annexes to the AGP. These General Notes state that the Agreement does not cover shipbuilding, urban rail, certain types of electronic equipment, set-asides for small and minority businesses, agricultural support programs, and national security exemptions respecting oil and nuclear technology. They also note that the AGP does not cover “any type of government assistance, including but not limited to, cooperative agreements, grants, loans, equity infusions, guarantees, fiscal incentives, and government provision of goods and services, given to individuals, firms, private institutions, and subcentral governments.”[7] As will be seen, this provision is one that has been cited by U.S. authorities in defense of the legality of the “buy American” provisions contained in the economic stimulus package, which have been widely criticized in Canada. The General Notes also state that the services Canada has included extend only to parties that grant reciprocal access[8] and that for the European Union, the AGP does not apply to activities in the field of drinking water, energy, transport, or telecommunications due to restrictive EU policies in these areas.[9]
C. NAFTA
Since 1999, the percentage of merchandise exports from Canada destined for the United States has actually declined from almost 90% to approximately 75% of all Canadian exports.[10] Nevertheless, in 2008 bilateral trade between the two countries was approximately $660 billion,[11] reportedly making it the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world.[12] Thus, the United States remains by far the largest export market for Canada and a market that is vitally important to the Canadian economy. Canada is also the United States’ largest trading partner. In fact, its purchases of U.S. goods and services are more than twice that of the U.S.’ second and third largest trading partners despite the fact that it has less than thirty-five million inhabitants.[13] One reason for this is that Canada and the United States both import large quantities of manufactured or partially completed parts from each other, which are then included in finished products. This is particularly true in the automotive sector, which has been fully integrated since the 1960s.
Since 1994, the primary instrument regulating U.S.-Canada trade has been NAFTA. Between 198 9 and 1994, trade between Canada and the United States was regulated by the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. This initial agreement was replaced by NAFTA when Mexico became a party. Since the original bilateral U.S.-Canada agreement went into effect, trade between Canada and the United States has reportedly tripled in dollar amounts.[14]
Chapter 10 of NAFTA addresses government procurement. It was originally intended to expand upon the provisions of the extant Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the extant General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs Agreement on Government Procurement, and Chapter 10 still has a wider application than the AGP. However, there are many similarities between the AGP and Chapter 10. Both have thresholds. For the AGP, there is a table of thresholds published by the WTO.[15] The basic table sets out the thresholds in terms of Special Drawing Rights, but they are also converted to national currencies.[16] In the case of NAFTA, the threshold for contracts of goods and services for government entities was set at $50,000 for contracts for goods or services and $6.5 million for construction projects; for government enterprises, the thresholds were set at $250,000 for contracts for goods and services and $8 million for construction services.[17] However, these original figures have been indexed for inflation and are reduced to $25,000 for procurement of goods by federal departments and agencies in the United States and Canada for U.S. and Canadian suppliers. This benefit does not extend to Mexican suppliers.[18] For Mexican suppliers, the threshold is reportedly about $56,000.[19] Nevertheless, even this figure is lower than the comparable one contained in the AGP. In fact, a comparison of the thresholds in the AGP and NAFTA shows that the latter are consistently lower. This means that U.S. suppliers generally have greater access to the Canadian market as a result of the government procurement provisions of NAFTA than they do as a result of the government procurement provisions of the AGP.
Because there is a higher threshold for the benefits of the government procurement provisions by enterprises than entities, it is sometimes important to know whether a contact has been offered by an enterprise or an entity. This issue was considered by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (C.I.T.T.) in the case of Canada (Attorney General) v. Symtron Systems Inc. In that case, Canada’s Department of National Defence, which is an entity, offered a contract for a covered service through Defence Construction Canada, which is an enterprise. The tribunal found that the lower entity threshold should apply, as the Department of Defence would own the facilities to be built under the contract and the use of an enterprise to accept tenders could be seen as a maneuver to circumvent NAFTA’s requirements.[20] This decision was affirmed by the Federal Court of Canada.[21]
Article 1003 of NAFTA provides that the parties must give the other parties’ goods and suppliers treatment that is “no less favourable than the most favourable treatment that a Party accords its own good and suppliers or the goods and suppliers of another Party.”[22] This is the principle of national treatment and nondiscrimination.
As to the rules of origin, Article 1004 of NAFTA states as follows:
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.[23]
Thus, NAFTA recognizes that the rules of origin may differ from country to country, but prohibits the adoption of rules of origin for government procurement that require a higher percentage of content in goods or services originating in one of the parties than they do for other purposes of the law, including for the purpose of imposing customs duties or tariffs. Article 1005 goes on to add that benefits can be denied to an enterprise that is owned or controlled by persons of a non-party or an enterprise that has no substantial business activities in the territory of the U.S., Canada, or Mexico.[24] Entities are not covered by this provision because most of them are government departments or agencies.
NAFTA allows the parties to deny the benefits of the government procurement provisions in a number of other situations. NAFTA partners can deny benefits to suppliers that are subject to economic sanctions or with which they do not have diplomatic relations.[25] NAFTA parties can also make exceptions to the rules on nondiscriminatory treatment for strategic and national security reasons as well as to protect health, safety, morals, the environment, or intellectual property. NAFTA also gives the parties the right to favor domestic suppliers to benefit small and minority-owned businesses and for research and development activities, as well as to support farm support and food programs.
Article 1016 of NAFTA establishes rules for limited tendering procedures. Limited tendering is allowed:
When open calls have not worked;
For works of art;
To protect intellectual property;
In cases of extreme urgency brought about by unforeseeable events;
For additional deliveries by original suppliers;
To procure prototypes;
For goods purchased on a commodity market;
For purchases made under exceptionally advantageous conditions that only arise in a very short term;
For the winner of an architectural design contest; and,
For confidential consulting services.[26]
Article 1024 of NAFTA provided that talks on further liberalization of trade under the agreement were to commence by the end of 1998.[27] Many experts expected that one subject that would subsequently be addressed was state, provincial, and municipal procurement, since no agreement could be reached in this area in the original round of negotiations.[28] However, this has not yet occurred and, consequently, NAFTA does not bind Canada’s provinces or the U.S.’ states. Why a supplemental agreement has not been concluded is not entirely clear, but it appears from the parallel experience with the AGP that the provinces and not the federal government of Canada have been resistant to the extension of NAFTA to subcentral entities. Why the provinces have traditionally been more resistant to an expansion of NAFTA was addressed by Patrick Grady and Kathleen MacMillan as follows:
Motivated in part by worries about opening up procurement in the health and education sector to foreign suppliers, the Canadian provinces refuse to go along with any deals negotiated by the Canadian Federal Government that allow the Americans to retain Buy American and small business carve-outs. But this may just be an excuse to say no.
It is particularly ironic that Canada, which has a preferential trading relationship with the United States under the NAFTA, has less favorable access to state and local government procurement in the United States than other countries such as the European Union and Japan, which have no such special trading arrangement. Canadian suppliers have their provincial governments to thank for this.[29]
However, these authors also pointed out that provincial leaders had “legitimate” concerns that even their subscription to the NAFTA and WTO government procurement codes would not necessarily exempt their suppliers from all “Buy American” provisions and that an agreement that did not accomplish this may not have been in their best interest. Nevertheless, as will be seen the next section, this situation may be about to change.
本网拥有此文版权,若需转载或复制,请注明来源于政府采购信息网,标注作者,并保持文章的完整性。否则,将追究法律责任。
http://guoji.caigou2003.com/falvzhengce/1714303.html |