L 29/16 EN Official Journal of the European Union 4.2.2016 2. The Parties aim to set up and maintain a process through which gradual alignment of their technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures will be achieved. 3. For areas in which alignment has been achieved, the Parties may consider the negotiation of agreements on conformity assessment and acceptance of industrial products. Article 30 Transparency 1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Chapter 13 (Transparency) of this Title, each Party shall ensure that its procedures for the development of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures allow for public consultation of interested parties at an early appropriate stage when comments resulting from the public consultation can still be introduced and taken into account, except where this is not possible because of an emergency or a threat thereof related to safety, health, environmental protection or national security. 2. In accordance with Article 2.9 of the TBT Agreement, each Party shall allow a period for comments at an early appropriate stage following the notification of proposed technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures. Where a consultation process on proposed drafts of technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures is open to the public, each Party shall permit the other Party, or natural or legal persons located in the territory of the other Party, to participate on terms no less favourable than those accorded to natural or legal persons located in the territory of that Party. 3. Each Party shall ensure that its adopted technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures are publicly available. CHAPTER 4 Sanitary and phytosanitary matters Article 31 Objective The objective of this Chapter is to set out principles applicable to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and animal welfare issues in trade between the Parties. These principles shall be applied by the Parties in a manner which further facilitates trade, while preserving each Party's level of protection of human, animal or plant life or health. Article 32 Principles 1. The Parties shall ensure that SPS measures are developed and applied on the basis of the principles of propor­ tionality, transparency, non-discrimination and scientific justification. 2. A Party shall ensure that its SPS measures do not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between its own territory and the territory of the other Party to the extent that identical or similar conditions prevail. SPS measures shall not be applied in a manner which would constitute a disguised restriction on trade. 3. The Parties shall ensure that SPS measures, procedures or controls are implemented and requests for information are addressed by the relevant authorities of each Party without undue delay, and in a manner no less favourable to imported products than to like domestic products.