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Exchange of Notes between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany constituting an Agreement on the Training of German Armed Forces in Canada [1992] CATSer 25 (10 December 1992)

E101056 - CTS 1992 No. 22

EXCHANGE OF NOTES BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY CONSTITUTING AN AGREEMENT ON THE TRAINING OF GERMAN ARMED FORCES IN CANADA

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The Secretary of State for External Affairs to the Federal Minister of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany

December 10th, 1992

No. JLAB-0422

Mr. Volker Ruhe
Federal Minister of Defence of the
Federal Republic of Germany

Dear Minister,

I have the honour to refer to recent discussions between officials of the Government of Canada and of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany concerning our mutual objective for the continuation of training of German Armed Forces in Canada which is currently being conducted pursuant to the Agreement between our two Governments constituted by the Exchange of Notes of 20 December 1983.

As a result of these discussions, I have the honour to propose that the aforementioned Agreement be replaced by an Agreement between our two governments in the following terms:

1. The Federal Republic of Germany shall be permitted to train German Armed Forces units, use land, air space and installations, and station personnel and equipment at sites in Canada as may be mutually agreed upon by the Minister of National Defence of Canada and the Federal Minister of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement and the Memoranda of Understanding subsumed under this Agreement. The period of such training, use, stationing and the activities to be carried out, shall be specified in the applicable Memorandum of Understanding.

2. The training programmes of German Armed Forces 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 June 19, 1951 as supplemented by paragraph 8 of this Agreement, and implemented in Canada by the Visiting Forces Act.

3. The Canadian Forces shall exercise command and control over base and training facilities used by the German Armed Force 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, German training shall be governed by the relevant regulations of the German Armed Forces.

4. The German Armed Force shall respect Canadian laws, regulations and orders applicable to the Canadian Forces with respect to the protection of the environment.

5. The Canadian Forces shall act as the agent for the German 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 (9) of this Agreement. As agent, and in coordination with the German 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. Any significant change in the scale or scope of the support services provided to the Federal Republic of Germany by Canada shall be the subject of consultation between the two participants as soon as possible before the proposed change is due to be implemented in accordance with the terms of the appropriate Memorandum of Understanding.

6. The Federal Republic of Germany shall bear the costs of the training programmes of the German Armed Forces in-Canada and shall share costs as agreed between users of the facilities in accordance with the arrangements set out in the relevant Memoranda of Understanding. These costs shall include costs for environmental studies, projects, undertakings or monitoring surveys as are required under Canadian laws, regulations and orders. Such arrangements, including the financial obligations involved, shall be tabled at the annual joint meetings. The Federal Republic of Germany shall pay to Canada all costs incurred by Canada as a result of the German training programmes. The provisions of Article VIII of NATO SOFA, as supplemented by this Agreement, remain unaffected.

7. The costs to be paid to Canada for land, buildings and installations made available by Canada to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany shall be only such agreed cost incurred as a result of the acquisition, construction, modification, operation, or lease of such land, buildings and installations in support of the German training programmes. The Federal Republic of Germany shall not be liable for the cost of the purchase of land for use by Canada in support of the German training programmes.

8. All claims arising out of or in connection with the present Agreement shall be dealt with in accordance with Article VIII of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (NATO SOFA) including any amendments thereto and any other related supplementary agreement. For the purpose of the present Agreements civilian employees of a participant assigned to duty with its Department of National Defence or Ministry of Defence for the purpose of working under the present Agreement will be deemed for the purposes of Article VIII to be members of a civilian component within the meaning of Article I of the NATO SOFA whilst present in the territory of the other participant. Employees and agents of contractors shall not be deemed to be members of a civilian component for this purpose.

9. Implementing arrangements between the Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Department of National Defence of Canada shall be made by means of Memoranda of Understanding. The Memoranda of Understanding may be amended as provided therein subject to the requirement that any such amendments shall be consistent with the intent of this Agreement.

10. This Agreement shall supersede the Exchange of Notes of December 20, 1983.

11. This Agreement shall, subject to paragraph 12, remain in force until December 31, 2003, 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.

12. This Agreement may be suspended at any time, in whole or in part, by either of the two Governments, without notice to the other, if the Government suspending this Agreement considers such action necessary for reasons of extreme emergency such as war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended.

13. 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 and 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.

14. Upon termination or suspension of this Agreement, or any part thereof, the Federal Republic of Germany 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.

15. Following the termination or suspension of this Agreement in whole or in part, the Federal Republic of Germany 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 Federal Republic of Germany 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 Federal Republic of Germany, I have the honour to propose that this Letter, which is authentic in English and French, and your Letter in reply, which is authentic in German, shall constitute an Agreement between our two Governments replacing the Agreement of 20 December 1983 which shall enter into force on the date of your reply and shall remain in force until December 31, 2003 with the option of being renewed for an additional five years. It is understood however, that German Air Force Training at Goose Bay shall be conducted under a Multinational Memorandum of Understanding currently scheduled to expire on March 31, 1996.

Accept, Dear Minister, the assurance of my distinguished consideration.

Marcel Masse

Minister of National Defence
for the Secretary of State for External Affairs

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The Federal Minister of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Minister of National Defence of Canada

BONN, December 10th, 1992

The Honourable Marcel Masse
Minister of National Defence of Canada

Dear Mr. Minister,

I have the honour to acknowledge a receipt of your letter of 10 December 1992 in English aid French, in which you propose on behalf of your Government to negotiate an Agreement between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of Canada. The German version of your letter reads:

(See Canadian Letter of 10 December 1992)

I have the honour to inform you that my Government has agreed to the proposals contained in you letter. Your letter and this letter in reply thus constitute an Agreement between our two Governments becoming effective today.

Accept, dear Mr. Minister, the assurance of my distinguished consideration.

Volker Ruhe

Federal Minister of Defence
of the Federal Republic of Germany