NATO AACP-2 VOL 1

AVAILABLE ELECTRONIC ONLY

INTRODUCTION

1. The Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) invited
the NATO Group on Acquisition Practices (AC/313) to develop
contracting guidelines which would assist contracting efforts
undertaken in the framework of NATO co-operative programmes.

2. The attached guidelines have been established to respond to
the task assigned by the CNAD. They take account, as far as
possible, of the views which have been expressed by industry,
during a series of joint meetings between the AC/313 Group and
representatives of the NATO Industrial Advisory Group (NIAG).

3. In some NATO co-operative programmes, a management structure
is used whereby one of the participating nations performs the
procurement function on behalf of all participants. In such cases,
that nation normally adheres to its national procurement laws and
regulations. Although national practices may, in certain
circumstances, be required to be waived to accommodate NATO
requirements, mandatory national statutes must be respected.
Nevertheless, the majority of contract clauses are subject to
discussion and acceptance between the buyer and seller with regard
to the type of procurement, the type of contract being negotiated
and the best interests of NATO and its member states.

4. These guidelines are built, to a certain extent, upon
previous documents and publications which are referenced herein.
They contain for each contractual term, wherever practicable, both
a note of the key features or principles and a sample clause. It is
stressed that the sample clauses are not "standard clauses" but are
intended to serve as basic material to assist these negotiating
particular contracts in devising terms appropriate to the
individual case.

5. Not all of the contractual provisions which might arise in a
collaborative programme have been covered in the guidelines. For
example, while the scale of feasibility study work may not of
itself call for performance guarantees, the latter may well become
an important aspect, particularly where industrial consortium or
"teaming" applies in subsequent phases including the need for
guarantees on a "joint and "several" basis, i.e. cross-guarantees
between industrial partners. Likewise, in the vpost- feasibility
study phases, as particular programmes gather momentum, greater
sophistication may be called for in the pricing arrangements and
the treatment of intellectual property for individual
contracts.