Us Trade Representative Ron Kirk in his speech:
“We also have to be vigilant against the temptation for governments to try to capture the next good thing for themselves or their industries. They can do this either by prescribing standards that foreign firms have difficulty meeting, or by excluding foreign service suppliers.
These kinds of approaches typically only hurt a country in the global market, but special interests will often try to convince regulators otherwise. APEC pioneered adoption of ‘technology choice,’ which we are seeking to incorporate into TPP as well.
Technology Choice principles mean:
a) promote technology neutral policies and regulations, where appropriate, that will allow flexibility in the choice of technologies in order to ensure competition, maximize benefits for governments, businesses, and consumers, and bridge the development gap;
b) promote the development and use of open, international, and voluntary standards, that are established through a transparent process, in order to facilitate interoperability among diverse hardware and software systems and contribute to the development of the digital economy;
c) recognize the critical role of the private sector and user groups in the development and use of open, international, and voluntary standards;
d) refrain from mandating standards that have the potential to stifle innovation, limit technology choice, hinder competition, or serve as a barrier to market access, except where such measures are necessary for legitimate public policy objectives (e.g., health, security, and safety);
e) refrain from imposing mandatory technical regulations or requirements that have the potential to stifle innovation, limit technology choice, hinder competition, or serve as a barrier to market access, except where such measures are necessary for legitimate public policy objectives (e.g., health, security, and safety);
…
g) promote procurement practices, with respect to the acquisition of technology, that are transparent, non-discriminatory, openly competitive, and merit-based, including with respect to the procurement of open source and proprietary software, in accordance with the APEC Non-Binding Principles on Government Procurement;
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