DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE
NO. IDC-1550
Ottawa, 24 December 1996
Dear Sir,
I have the honour to refer to recent discussions between officials of the Government
of Canada and of the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands concerning our mutual
objective of the continuation of the training of Netherlands Armed Forces in Canada
which is currently being conducted pursuant to the Agreement between our two Governments
constituted by the Exchange of Notes of 4 and 5 December, 1986.
As a result of these discussions, I have the honour to propose that the aforementioned
Agreement and the Schedule of Terms and Conditions attached to it be hereby terminated
and replaced by a new Agreement in the following terms:
The Kingdom of the Netherlands shall be permitted to train Netherlands Armed Forces
units, use land, air space and installations, and station personnel and equipment
at sites in Canada as may be mutually selected by the Minister of National Defence
of Canada and the Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in accordance
with the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement and the Memoranda of Understanding
subsumed under this Agreement. The periods of such training, use, stationing and the
activities to be carried out, shall be specified in the relevant Memorandum of Understanding.
The status of Netherlands Armed Forces units training in Canada shall be governed
by the terms of the Agreement between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty regarding
the Status of their Forces (NATO SOFA), dated 19 June 1951 as supplemented by paragraph
9 of this Agreement, and implemented in Canada by the Visiting Forces Act as amended
from time to time.
The Canadian Forces shall exercise command and control over base and training facilities
used by the Netherlands Armed Forces and training activities shall be conducted in
accordance with Canadian laws, regulations and orders and Canada's obligations under
international law. All applicable Canadian safety regulations and standing operating
procedures shall be followed. Subject to the foregoing, Netherlands training shall
be governed by the relevant regulations of the Netherlands Armed Forces.
The Netherlands Armed Forces shall respect Canadian laws, regulations and orders applicable
to the Canadian Forces with respect to the protection of the environment.
The Canadian Forces shall act as the agent for the Netherlands Armed Forces for the
provision of all goods, services and facilities through Canadian sources for the purpose
of this Agreement, with the exception of such commodities as may be excluded by the
terms of any relevant Memorandum of Understanding made under paragraph 10 of this
Agreement. As agent, and in coordination with the Netherlands Armed Forces, the Canadian
Forces shall arrange for the procurement of materiel, equipment, installations, transportation,
construction, maintenance, supplies, services and civil labour from private, commercial
or government sources, all in accordance with the procedures, terms and conditions
applicable to such procurement for the Canadian Forces. In exceptional cases, the
Netherlands Armed Forces may be authorized to procure supplies and services locally
subject to relevant provincial and federal laws and regulations. Any significant change
in the scale or scope of the support services provided to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
by Canada shall be the subject of consultation between Canada and the Kingdom of the
Netherlands as soon as possible before the proposed change is due to be implemented
in accordance with the terms of the relevant Memorandum of Understanding.
Removable equipment, materials and supplies brought into Canada under NATO SOFA by,
or on behalf of, the Kingdom of the Netherlands in connection with this Agreement
will remain Netherlands property.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands shall bear the costs of the training programmes of
the Netherlands Armed Forces in Canada, except in those instances when it is agreed
to share the costs between users of the facilities in accordance with the arrangements
set out in the relevant Memorandum of Understanding as referred to in paragraph 10.
These costs shall include costs, related to the activities of Netherlands Armed Forces
units training in Canada, for environmental studies, projects, undertakings or monitoring
surveys as are required under Canadian laws, regulations and orders. The arrangements,
including the financial obligations involved, shall be tabled at annual joint meetings.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands shall pay to Canada all costs incurred by Canada as
a result of the Netherlands training programmes.
The costs to be paid to Canada for land, buildings and installations made available
by Canada to the Kingdom of the Netherlands shall be only such agreed costs incurred
as a result of the acquisition, construction, modification, operation or lease of
such land, buildings and installations in support of the Netherlands training programmes.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands shall not be liable for the cost of the purchase of
land by Canada in support of the Netherlands training programmes.
All claims arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be dealt with
in accordance with Article VIII of the NATO SOFA including any amendments thereto
and any other related supplementary agreement to the NATO SOFA. For the purposes of
paragraph 1 of Article VIII, an employee of the Government of Canada or the Kingdom
of the Netherlands assigned to duty with the Canadian Forces or the Netherlands Armed
Forces for the purpose of working under this Agreement shall be deemed to be an employee
of the Canadian Forces or of the Netherlands Armed Forces respectively. Employees
and agents or contractors shall not be deemed to be members of a civilian component
or employees of the Canadian Forces or of the Netherlands Armed Forces for this purpose.
Implementing arrangements between the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
and the Department of National Defence of Canada shall be made by means of Memoranda
of Understanding which shall be consistent with the intent of this Agreement. The
Memoranda of Understanding may be amended as provided therein.
This Agreement shall replace the Agreement constituted by the Exchange of Notes of
4 and 5 December, 1986, which is hereby terminated.
This Agreement shall remain in force up to and including 31 December 2006 and be
renewable for an additional five years, unless terminated in whole or in part by either
Government by giving twelve months notice in writing to the other.
This Agreement may be suspended at any time, in whole or in part, by either of the
two Parties, without notice to the other, if the Party suspending this Agreement considers
such action necessary for reasons of extreme emergency such as war, invasion or insurrection,
real or apprehended.
In the event of termination or suspension of this Agreement, or any part thereof,
financial consequences resulting therefrom shall be settled by negotiations regarding,
inter alia, residual values of investments, termination costs associated with civilian employees
rendered redundant, and penalties and cancellation costs associated with the termination
of leases, agreements and contracts. To this effect, the military or economic value
of these investments to the Government of Canada, as well as the proceeds of any sales
made of these investments, shall be given due consideration.
Upon termination or suspension of this Agreement, or any part thereof, the Kingdom
of the Netherlands shall not be obliged to remove any facilities, buildings or improvements
thereto which have been constructed with its own funds, unless such an obligation
was stipulated by Canada at the time of construction.
Following the termination or suspension of this Agreement in whole or in part, the
Kingdom of the Netherlands shall share the proportionate costs, to be agreed upon
with Canada, arising from the environmental clean-up and restoration to a reasonable
level, with a view to meeting Canadian laws and regulations, of land used by the Armed
Forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including, inter alia, range sweep operations, disposal of unexploded munitions, disposal or clean-up of
environmental contaminants and site restoration such as the removal of field works.
The costs of such environmental clean-up and site restoration shall be the subject
of separate negotiations.
If the foregoing is acceptable to the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
I have the honour to propose that this Note, which is authentic in English and French,
and your Note in reply, which is authentic in English and French, shall constitute
an Agreement between our two States replacing the Agreement of 4 and 5 December, 1986
and which shall be applied provisionally from the date of receipt of your reply, and
shall enter into force with effect from the date of receipt of your reply following
an exchange of notifications in which both Governments inform each other that they
have obtained whatever internal approval each may require to give effect to this Agreement.
Accept, Mr. Huitzing, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Trade
(sd.) L. AXWORTHY
Mr. Arend Huitzing
Chargé d'Affaires a.i.
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
350 Albert Street, Suite 2020
Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 1A4