Ratification

Ratification is the formal act by which a state confirms its consent to be bound by a treaty or international agreement. The state carries it out according to its own constitutional processes. Until a state ratifies, it has not taken on the treaty's binding obligations.

The term belongs to international law and treaty practice. Canadian bid teams will most often see it in connection with NATO and other international agreements that Canada has joined. It is a step taken by governments, not by suppliers, and it is not a procurement evaluation criterion.

What Article 11 of the North Atlantic Treaty says

The North Atlantic Treaty is the clearest example of ratification at work. Article 11 states that the treaty shall be ratified by the parties and that its provisions shall be carried out according to each party's constitutional processes. Each country therefore follows its own domestic route to approval. The treaty does not prescribe a single method.

The same article sets out where the paperwork goes. Instruments of ratification are deposited with the Government of the United States, which notifies the other signatories of each deposit. The full wording is in the text of the North Atlantic Treaty on the NATO website.

Ratification compared with signature

Signature and ratification are separate steps. Signing an instrument can authenticate its text or show political support for it. Ratification is the later, formal confirmation that the state consents to be bound. A state that has signed but not yet ratified has not completed that confirmation.

Related terms include instrument of ratification, deposit, entry into force, accession and constitutional processes. Each describes a stage in how a treaty moves from agreed text to binding commitment.

Deposit and entry into force

Ratification leads to entry into force once the required conditions are met. Under the North Atlantic Treaty, it came into force between the states that had ratified it after the required majority of ratifications had been deposited. Article 11 expressly names Canada among the founding states whose ratification was needed for that threshold. The treaty text sets out the full condition.

Other NATO agreements follow a similar pattern. An agreement may state that it is subject to ratification and that it enters into force for each signatory on the date that signatory deposits its instrument of ratification. The 1951 NATO agreement is an example of this wording.

Ratification of NATO accession protocols

Ratification also applies when a country joins NATO. Existing member states ratify accession protocols according to their national requirements and procedures. NATO describes this step on its page about enlargement and Article 10. Because each member follows its own domestic process, the timing of ratification can differ from one country to the next.

What ratification means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Ratification is a state-level treaty process. Suppliers do not ratify a bid, contract, standing offer or supply arrangement, and the term is not a supplier qualification step.

If the word appears in a solicitation or related document, read the surrounding clause. It points to the Canadian government's approval of an international agreement or to a treaty's effective date, not to supplier qualification or contract acceptance. Bid teams working on defence and NATO-related opportunities should note which agreement a document refers to and follow the buyer's instructions for anything the supplier must actually submit.