The World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Government Procurement, referred to as the GPA creates a framework of rights and obligations for government procurement among its signatory states. The signatories have agreed that their laws, regulations, and procedures relating to government procurement will be open and honest. They also agreed that suppliers of goods and services in other signatory countries will be treated no less favorably than domestic suppliers in procurement as covered by the Agreement.
The GPA’s development
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provided the framework for the 1979 signing of the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. As a WTO Agreement, it was updated and expanded, and it became effective on January 1, 1996. The Agreement was updated in March 2012, which also increased the scope of the purchase it covered. It became effective on April 6, 2014, following the achievement of the required number of acceptances by two-thirds of the Parties on March 7, 2014. It has no time limit.
The countries involved
The 21 Parties to the GPA are Armenia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Singapore, Switzerland, the United States, and the European Union. The member states of the EU that were party to the agreement are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. Any other WTO member government can accede to this Agreement on terms agreed by that government and the current signatories.
Beneficiaries
This Agreement may be used by any company in a signatory nation that wishes to supply goods or services covered by the GPA to a procurement entity in another signatory country. The value of government procurement opportunities covered by the Agreement is estimated by the World Trade Organization to be several hundred billion dollars yearly. According to the principles of national treatment and non-discrimination, the signatories of the GPA have agreed that in government procurement, companies from other signatory nations shall be treated equally to home companies. Foreign affiliation, ownership, or the fact that the products and services locally established businesses offer are offered are not grounds for less favorable treatment.
Areas covered by the agreement
The GPA applies to contractual procurement methods such as purchase, lease, and rental with or without an option to purchase. The Agreement applies to the acquisition of construction services, products, and services. Government procurement contracts must reach minimum value limits to be covered by the GPA. These differ according to the nature of the contract and the procurement body. The WTO’s Threshold Table contains the most recent thresholds.
Procurement Opportunities Notice
Publication of brief notices of procurement opportunities for purchases covered by the GPA is required by signatories. The official wording of the agreement includes publications that each member has identified as having these opportunities posted there. Additionally, a lot of procurement possibilities are publicized online.
Bidding Procedures
The GPA contains several provisions that are designed to ensure that bidding procedures for government procurement in signatory countries are transparent, effective, and fair. The signatories have agreed that In open bidding procedures, which are open to all interested suppliers, the period for receiving proposals must be at least 40 days from the date of the invitation to bid. Limited bidding processes, in which a procuring body contacts suppliers individually, are prohibited from being utilized as a way of favoring domestic goods or suppliers;
Challenge Procedures
Suppliers are encouraged to speak with the procurement organization to work out a solution if they think there has been a breach of this Agreement. Each signatory government is expected to offer non-discriminatory, prompt, transparent, and effective mechanisms that would allow suppliers to contest alleged violations of the Agreement if such consultations are unable to provide a satisfactory resolution. Suppliers may be compelled to start a challenging procedure within a certain amount of time (at least 10 days) after learning the reason for the complaint. A court or an independent, unbiased review body without a stake in the procurement’s outcome must hear challenges. Procedures for challenges must be finished in a timely fashion. A signatory government may request the start of WTO dispute settlement procedures if it thinks that another signatory is denying or impairing its rights under this Agreement.
Bid Challenges Review Body
To enable providers to contest irregular government procurement, party states established the Review Body on Bid Challenges. Such Bodies are autonomous and make an effort to handle each instance quickly. A first-instance basis for a bid challenge must be found before the Review Body can recommend Rapid Interim Measures, which can be approved in a matter of days.
