1. The Parties recognize that measures adopted or maintained by the Federal Government or any other Party that are part of a general framework of regional economic development can play an important role in encouraging long-term job creation, economic growth or industrial competitiveness or in reducing economic disparities.
2. Subject to paragraphs 3 through 7, Parts III and IV of this Agreement do not apply to a measure adopted or maintained by the Federal Government or any other Party that is part of a general framework of regional economic development, provided that:
(a) the measure does not operate to impair unduly the access of persons, goods, services or investments of another Party; and
(b) the measure is not more trade restrictive than necessary to achieve its specific objective.
3. Each Party shall:
(a) within a reasonable period of time after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, notify all other Parties of its existing programs relating to regional economic development;
(b) on adoption of any program relating to regional economic development, notify all other Parties of that program; and
(c) prepare an annual written report on its programs relating to regional economic development.
4. Each Party shall conduct an evaluation of:
(a) all programs referred to in paragraph 3(a) every five years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement; and
(b) all new programs every five years after the date of their adoption.
5. The evaluation referred to in paragraph 4 shall be made public, shall specify the details, parameters and objectives of the program, and shall assess its operation.
6. Paragraph 2 does not apply to:
(a) obligations relating to transparency or reconciliation of measures;
(b) institutional and dispute settlement provisions;
(c) obligations to eliminate, phase out or liberalize measures as listed in Annex 1801.6A; and
(d) the chapters listed in Annex 1801.6B.
7. Where a chapter in Part IV of this Agreement contains a specific regional economic development exception, a Party may only use that exception to exclude the application only of corresponding obligations as stated in that chapter. Column I of Annex 1801.7 lists the specific regional economic development exceptions contained in chapters and Column II lists the corresponding obligations.
8. For the purposes of this Article, "general framework of regional economic development" means a program or statute-based system that:
(a) a Party has identified as a regional economic development program;
(b) specifies eligibility criteria or development priorities based on, but not limited to, such factors as geographic area, industrial sector or population group, whether determined by a Party or regional partners of a Party;
(c) is generally available to recipients that meet the eligibility criteria; and
(d) identifies reasonable performance or economic development objectives or targets that can be measured.
9. The Parties recognize that a general framework of regional economic development may include a decentralized, cooperative approach by way of a system of delegated authority to provincial regions or sub-regions, provided that:
(a) the terms of such a decentralized, cooperative approach are contained in framework agreements between a Party and its regions; and
(b) such agreements set out development priorities for specific planning periods and specify the activities to be undertaken by the regions to implement these priorities.
10. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to affect the level of assistance provided by the Federal Government or any other Party as part of a general framework of regional economic development.