Jul 27 2010
World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Government Procurement
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has an agreement solely on the issue of government procurement and it is the WTO’s Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). The WTO is an international organization that is run by its member governments with all major decisions being made by the member countries as a whole. The rules and agreements are then enforced by the members themselves.
The GATT entered force before the GPA but the issue of government procurement was explicitly excluded in the GATT. However, there was a growing awareness of the trade-restrictive effects of discriminatory procurement policies which prompted the desire to bring government procurement under international agreed trade rules. This desire lead to negotiations to bring about the GPA.
The GPA entered force on April 15, 1994. It is a plurilateral agreement which means that not all WTO member countries are bound by it. Only those member countries that affirmatively agree to the GPA will be bound. Out of the WTO’s 153 member countries, only 40 are party to the GPA and another 25 are observers. The GPA is centered around 2 main principles: non-discrimination and transparency.
Parties to the GPA agreed to treat the products, services, and suppliers of any other party to the Agreement “no less favorably” than they would give their own domestic products, services, and suppliers. Parties may not discriminate against the products, services, and suppliers of other Parties and must not treat domestic suppliers differently because of affiliation or ownership. Furthermore, the GPA stresses procedures for providing transparency of laws, regulations, procedures, and practices regarding government procurement at all stages of the process. There is a general requirement of publishing laws, procedures, regulations, and judicial opinions as well. Only those countries party to the WTO’s GPA are bound by it which means that any country that is not party to the GPA may still have discriminatory government procurement policies.