Tag Archives: Government Procurement

Mark Warner was featured in the National Post talking about Canada barring a US subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals, an Israeli-based generic pharmaceutical company from contracting with the Canadian government until spring 2025 for its role in a “domestic antitrust cartel” in the U.S. (November 27, 2023) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada.

Mark was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues) and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement). As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and the Ministry of Research & Innovation, he also advised Ontario on on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of MRI, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

Mark Warner was interviewed on Newstalk1010 in Toronto (Listen from 29:35) about the Canadian government’s options to recover $173 million it gave to soon-to-be defunct medical company Medicago for COVID-19 vaccine development. (November 9, 2023) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario on the negotiations of the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

In addition, as MEDT Legal Director, Mark led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler in the difficult context of the 2008-2009 Recession.

[Listen from 29:35]

Mark Warner was interviewed on Newstalk1010 about Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s comments about “lifting” all interprovincial #trade barriers and speeding up the approval process for newcomers with foreign credentials. (April 26, 2022) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario on the Agreement on Internal Trade and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement in the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiations advised on matters including: Cross Border Trade in Services; Temporary Entry and Stay of Natural Persons for Business Purposes; Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications; and Regulatory Cooperation. Mr. Warner also advised Ontario on provided advice on advised on trade disputes (including softwood lumber and the Green Energy Act WTO dispute settlement proceedings) and advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state dispute arbitrations (including the Ambassador Bridge, Adam’s Mine and St. Mary’s Cement). Mr. Warner led the Province’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. He is co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise, has also published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.

Mark Warner was interviewed for the Financial Post Outlook 2022 about trade issues that Canada is likely to confront in the new year. (December 16, 2021) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, DC and New York and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade led Ontario’s legal team in the CETA negotiations, provided advice on the design of the Green Energy Act and related WTO dispute settlement proceedings, advised on various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state arbitration and on procurement issues in the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement. Mr. Warner led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler, and various grant and loan agreements to leading automotive and automotive parts companies, including to electric car battery manufacturer, Electrovaya and and a Better Place demonstration centre and electric vehicle charging station network. Mr. Warner also advised the Auto Parts Manufacturing Association on NAFTA renegotiation issues. He is co-author of a leading Canadian trade law treatise, has also published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.

As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade, Mark advised on a strategic jobs investment fund grant of $6.5 million from the provincial government to Huawei Canada in exchange for creating 164 new jobs and investing $67 million in Kanata, Ontario. Mark has been an adviser to the Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on competition and trade policy and at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State lectured in five cities in Japan on international antitrust law and policy. As Assistant Director of the University of Baltimore’s Centre for International and Comparative Law, Mark hired a Chinese scholar to begin a research program on reforming anti-monopoly law in China, one of the first such efforts at the time. He is frequently interviewed in print, radio and television on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement. 

Mark Warner was interviewed on iHeartRadio’s The Late Showgram with Jim Richards about the U.S. decision to negotiate a “waiver” from the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)for COVID19 vaccines and the evolving Canadian government response. (May 6th & 7th, 2021) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario on the negotiations of the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

In addition, as MEDT Legal Director, Mark led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler in the difficult context of the 2008-2009 Recession.

[Listen to the May 6th Interview on the U.S. Decision from from 17:20]

[Listen to the May 7th Interview on the Canadian Response from from 23:36]

Mark Warner was featured in Politico talking assessing the first 100 days of President Biden’s Administration for Canada. (April 28, 2021) Mr. Warner is a Canadian / U.S. lawyer who has practiced trade, investment and competition law in leading law firms in Toronto, New York, Washington, D.C and Brussels and as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate in Paris. At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and Ministry of Research & Innovation. He led Ontario’s legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), advised on trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state. Mark also led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler.

Mark has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world. Mark advised Ontario on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues in the negotiations of the CETA negotiations and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects.

Mark Warner was interviewed on Canada Talks SiriusXM 167 about the U.S. decision to export COVID19 vaccine inputs to Serum Institute of India and decision to export U.S.-made AstraZeneca vaccines to certain unspecified countries. (April 26, 2021) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario on the negotiations of the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

In addition, as MEDT Legal Director, Mark led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler in the difficult context of the 2008-2009 Recession.

Mark Warner was invited to appear before the Canadian House of Commons’ Standing Committee on International Trade as part of its study of Canada’s trade and investment policy, and trade agreements in respect of how they may help or hinder the production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Canada and across the world. (April 23, 2021) [Transcript] Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario on the negotiations of the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

In addition, as MEDT Legal Director, Mark led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler in the difficult context of the 2008-2009 Recession.

Mark has provided technical assistance / legislative drafting advice to senior government officials and international institutions relating to law & policy in Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South America and Central & Eastern Europe. His academic experience includes a tenure-track teaching position at the University of Baltimore School of Law and serving as Assistant Director of its Center of International & Comparative Law; part-time teaching positions at the University of Leiden Law School, the World Trade Institute, the International Institute for Management in Telecommunications, the Howard University Summer program at the University of the Western Cape (Cape Town), the International Law Institute African Centre for Legal Excellence and Addis Ababa University Faculty of Business and Economics and appointments as Visiting Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School and Executive Fellow at the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto.

Mark Warner was featured in a Hill Times article about Canada and a World Trade Organization “waiver” from the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for COVID19 vaccines. (April 21, 2021) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate. At the OECD, Mark participated in the negotiations of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and represented the OECD at meetings of the WTO Working Groups on Trade and Competition Policies and Trade and Investment Policies.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario on the negotiations of the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

In addition, as MEDT Legal Director, Mark led the Ontario’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler in the difficult context of the 2008-2009 Recession.

Mark has provided technical assistance / legislative drafting advice to senior government officials and international institutions relating to law & policy in Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South America and Central & Eastern Europe. His academic experience includes a tenure-track teaching position at the University of Baltimore School of Law and serving as Assistant Director of its Center of International & Comparative Law; part-time teaching positions at the University of Leiden Law School, the World Trade Institute, the International Institute for Management in Telecommunications, the Howard University Summer program at the University of the Western Cape (Cape Town), the International Law Institute African Centre for Legal Excellence and Addis Ababa University Faculty of Business and Economics and appointments as Visiting Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School and Executive Fellow at the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto.

Mark Warner was featured in the Wall Street Journal talking about some of the reasons for the Canadian difficulty of delivering COVID19 vaccines. (April 8, 2021) Mr. Warner is a Canadian and U.S. lawyer who has practiced in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York and Brussels and has advised governments on trade policy and trade negotiations and previously worked on trade and competition issues as counsel in the OECD Trade Directorate.

Mr. Warner has assisted pharmaceutical clients in the global distribution of HIV / AIDS anti-retroviral drugs and the development of innovative patient access programs in the developing world, advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company and its French and South African subsidiaries in a cartel investigation involving 11 leading global Pharmaceutical companies in South Africa and advised a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company on competition law issues relating to the distribution of various nuclear medicine imaging agents in Canada. Mr. Warner was Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Trade and advised Ontario on the negotiations of the Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA) including on IP, patent litigation and drug reimbursement issues and on economic development, research and innovation grants and loans to corporations, including leading global pharmaceutical companies for research, manufacture and clinical trial projects. As Legal Director of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, Mr. Warner also led Ontario’s legal team in creating the $250 million Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund with an emphasis on life-sciences companies, drafted funding agreements, including for the Ontario Research Fund and Ontario Brain Institute, and advised on legal and corporate governance issues in the formation of Clinical Trials Ontario.

In addition, Mr. Warner, led the Province’s legal team for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler in the difficult context of the 2008-2009 Recession.