1. Each Party shall ensure that its legislation, regulations, procedures, guidelines and administrative rulings of general application respecting matters covered by this Agreement are made readily accessible.
2. A Party proposing to adopt or modify a measure that may materially affect the operation of this Agreement shall, to the extent practicable, notify any other Party with an interest in the matter of its intention to do so and provide a copy of the proposed measure to that Party on request.
3. Paragraph 2 does not apply where the immediate implementation of a measure is necessary to address an urgent situation related to a legitimate objective, provided that, on adoption of the measure, the Party adopting it:
(a) notifies the other Parties of the measure and provides a copy of the measure to any Party that requests it; and
(b) provides the other Parties with an opportunity to comment on the measure, and takes such comments into consideration.
4. The provision of notice under paragraph 2 or 3 is without prejudice as to whether the measure is consistent with this Agreement.
5. Each Party shall maintain an enquiry point able to answer reasonable enquiries and to provide information pertaining to its measures and to other matters covered by this Agreement.
6. Each Party shall ensure that documents requested by interested persons or Parties are supplied in a non-discriminatory manner and that any fees charged are reasonable.
7. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to require a Party to:
(a) communicate, publish text or provide particulars or copies of documents other than in an official language of the Party;
(b) disclose any information that could prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of particular persons or the disclosure of which could result in a person obtaining an unfair financial gain arising from the use of information that is not widely available; or
(c) disclose any information that by law is not subject to disclosure in order to ensure the proper functioning of government.
8. For the purposes of paragraphs 6 and 7, "documents" includes information in electronic form.