Joint Committee
1. A Joint Committee made up of representatives of the two Parties shall be established. It is responsible for the effective functioning of the Agreement.
2. The Joint Committee shall determine its own rules of procedure. It shall take its decisions and adopt its recommendations by consensus. It can decide to delegate specific tasks to subcommittees.
3. The Joint Committee shall meet at least once a year unless it decides otherwise. If required for the effective functioning of this Agreement, and at the request of either Party, an additional meeting or meetings shall be held.
4. The Joint Committee may consider any matter related to the functioning of this Agreement. In particular, it shall be responsible for:
(a) amending the Sectoral Annexes to give effect to the decision by a designating authority to designate a particular conformity assessment body;
(b) amending the Sectoral Annexes to give effect to the decision by a designating authority to withdraw designation of a particular conformity assessment body;
(c) exchanging information concerning the procedures used by either Party to ensure that the conformity assessment bodies specified in the Sectoral Annexes maintain the necessary level of competence;
(d) in accordance with Article 8, appointing a joint team or teams of experts to verify the technical competence of a conformity assessment body and its compliance with other relevant requirements;
(e) exchanging information and notifying the Parties of modifications of legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions referred to in the Sectoral Annexes including those which require modification of the Sectoral Annexes;
(f) resolving any questions relating to the application of this Agreement and its Sectoral Annexes, and
(g) facilitating the extension of this Agreement to further sectors.
5. Any amendments to Sectoral Annexes made in accordance with the provisions of this Article shall be notified promptly in writing by the Chair of the Joint Committee to each Party.
6. The following procedure shall apply in relation to the inclusion in or withdrawal from a Sectoral Annex of a conformity assessment body:
(a) a Party proposing an amendment to a Sectoral Annex to give effect to a decision by a designating authority to designate or withdraw designation of a conformity assessment body shall forward its proposal to the other Party in writing, adding supporting documentation to the request;
(b) a copy of the proposal and documentation shall be sent to the Chair of the Joint Committee;
(c) in the event that the other Party consents to the proposal or upon the expiry of 60 days without an objection having been lodged, the inclusion in or withdrawal from the Sectoral Annex of the conformity assessment body shall take effect, and
(d) in the event that, under Article 8, the other Party contests the technical competence or compliance of a conformity assessment body within the aforementioned 60-day period, the Joint Committee may decide to carry out a verification of the body concerned, in accordance with that Article.
7. In the event that a designated conformity assessment body is withdrawn from a Sectoral Annex, conformity assessment carried out by that conformity assessment body before the date of effect of its withdrawal shall remain valid unless otherwise determined by the Joint Committee. In the case of the inclusion of a new conformity assessment body, conformity assessment carried out by such a conformity assessment body shall be valid from the date the Parties agree to its inclusion in the Sectoral Annex.