WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONGPA/30
21 October 1999
(99-4569)
REPORT (1999) OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
I. GENERAL
1. This Report is submitted pursuant to Article XXIV:7(a) of the Agreement on Government
Procurement, which requires the Committee to revi ew annually the implementation and operation of
the Agreement and to inform annually the General Council of developments during the periods
covered by such reviews.
2. The Agreement on Government Procurement entered into force on 1 January 1996.  The
period covered in this Report is November 1998-October 1999, but the Report also reflects, where
necessary, the work of the Committee up to November 1998 (GPA/8 and Add.1, GPA/19 and
GPA/25).  The Committee on Government Procuremen t held two meetings in 1999:  on 23 February
and 5 October 1999 (GPA/M/11 and 12).1
3. The following WTO Members are Parties to the Agreement:  Canada; the European
Community and its fifteen member States;  Hong Kong, China;  Israel;  Japan;  Korea;  Liechtenstein;
the Kingdom of the Netherlands with respect to Aruba;  Norway;  Singapore;  Switzerland;  and the
United States.  Fourteen WTO Members have observer status:  Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Chile,
Colombia, Estonia2, Iceland, the Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Mongolia, Panama, Poland, Slovenia and
Turkey.  Four non-WTO Members, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Georgia and Lithuania, and three
intergovernmental organizations, the IMF, the ITC and the OECD, also have observer status.
II. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT
Modifications of Appendices to the Agreement
4. Article XXIV:6 of the Agreement requires Parties to notify rectifications of a purely formal
nature or other modifications relating to Appendices I through IV, which set out the mutually agreedcoverage provided under the Agreement.  Consequential rectifications or modifications become
effective once they are agreed to pursuant to the procedures under this Article.  Since the 1998 Report
of the Committee, modifications relating to thei r respective Appendices, in accordance with the
procedures of Article XXIV:6, were made by the European Community (GPA/W/51/Add.2) with
entry into force on 8 October 1998 (WT/Let/294), by Japan (GPA/W/78, 79 and 88) with entry intoforce respectively on 13 November 1998 (WT/Let/274), on 27 November 1998 (WT/Let/275), and on
8 August 1999 (WT/Let/308) and by Singapore (GPA/W/82) with entry into force on 19 March 1999
(WT/Let/297).  Proposals for modifications relating to Appendix I have also been notified by Japan in
documents GPA/W/91, 93, 94 and 98.  With regard to the proposed modifications notified by Japan in
document GPA/W/91, Canada, the European Community and the United States communicated theirobjection to the proposed modifications taking effect pending further consultations with Japan
regarding the withdrawal of an entity from its  Annex 3, Appendix I.  Hong Kong, China and
Switzerland also asked for further clarifications from  Japan with regard to the proposed modification.
                                                     
1 GPA/M/12 will be circulated shortly.
2 Estonia will become a WTO Member as of 13 November 1999.GPA/30
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Loose-leaf system for Appendices
5. At its meeting of 4 June 1996, the Committee agreed to establish a loose-leaf system with
legal effect to maintain up to date the Appendices to the Agreement.  With a view to providing a
starting point for the loose-leaf system, the Secretariat circulated in February 1997 a draft of theloose-leaf system of Appendices reflecting the Appendices attached to the Agreement as signed at
Marrakesh and the subsequent rectifications, modifications and new concessions made under the
procedures adopted by the Interim Committee and under the Agreement itself (GPA/W/35).  This
draft was subsequently updated incorporating all the modifications effective on 1 July 1999
(GPA/W/35/Rev.1) and circulated to Parties for comments concerning the accuracy and completeness
of the consolidation of the Appendices.  The loose-leaf system for Appendices to the Agreement will
be certified by the Director-General  in accordance with the normal procedures in respect of
rectifications under WTO instruments.  Subsequent modifications to the loose-leaf system will be
made following the procedures agreed by the Committee (GPA/W/35/Rev.1, paragraph 4 and
GPA/M/5, paragraph 20).  In addition to being made available in hard copy form, the loose-leaf
system was circulated to Parties and other WTO Members in electronic form through the WTO
Document Dissemination Facility.  An up-to-date copy of the loose-leaf system is also available to thegeneral public through the government procurement site on the WTO Home Page on the Internet
(http://www.wto.org/wto/gov t/loose.htm).  Any future new or replacement pages will be circulated in
electronic as well as hard copy form.
Thresholds
6. In accordance with the Decision on Modalities for Notifying Threshold Figures in National
Currencies (GPA/1, Annex 3), during the period under review, Korea notified threshold figures in its
national currency for the period 1999-2000 (GPA/W/81).
Notification and review of national implementing legislation
7. Pursuant to the Decision on the Procedures for the Notification of National Implementing
Legislation and the Checklist of Issues (GPA/1/A dd.1), seven delegations – Canada;  the European
Community;  Hong Kong, China;  Korea;  Norway;  Switzerland;  and the United States - have
notified their national implementing legislation including their responses to the Checklist of Issues
(GPA/10, GPA/20, GPA/27, GPA/12/ Rev.1, GPA/13, GPA/15 and Add.1 and GPA/23, respectively).
At its meetings on 23 February and 5 October 1999, the Committee continued the review of the
national implementing legislation, initiated in October 1998 (GPA/25), by taking up the legislation ofSwitzerland, the United States and Canada, in addition to taking up the outstanding points relating to
the review of the national implementing legislat ion of the European Community and Korea.  In
accordance with the arrangements and the schedule for the review agreed by the Committee, the
review was conducted on the basis of responses provided by the Parties being reviewed to written
questions put by other Parties in advance of the review of the respective national legislation.
8. The Committee discussed the follow-up to Canada's offer, contained in its Appendix I,
Annexes 2 and 3, to cover sub-central government en tities and enterprises in all ten Provinces, on the
basis of commitments received from the Provinces,  with a final listing to be provided within
18 months after the conclusion of the Agreement.  Canada's stated position since the entry into force
of the Agreement, linking the tabling of its schedule at the sub-central level to achieving increasedmarket access in sectors of priority interest to Canadian suppliers and improving security of market
access through circumscribing the use of small business and other set-aside exceptions under the
Agreement, remained unchanged.  Some other Pa rties expressed their disappointment over the
situation, stressed the need for Canada to honour its commitments and considered that the problems
raised by Canada with respect to expanded coverage of the Agreement could only be addressed onceCanada had come forward with offers pursuant to  its commitments in its Annexes 2 and 3.  Canada
has asserted that it did not undertake obligations regarding Annexes 2 and 3, and has reiterated that itsGPA/30
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coverage was to be based on commitments received from the Provinces.  Canada has also asserted
that, as no commitments have been received, it is under no obligation to put forward an offer under
these Annexes.
Statistical reporting
9. Article XIX:5 requires Parties to collect and provide on an annual basis statistics on their
procurements covered by the Agreement.  During the period under review,  Switzerland provided
statistics for 1996 (GPA/21/Add.2 ), Norway for 1997 (GPA/22/A dd.1) and Hong Kong, China for
1998 (GPA/29).
Consultations and dispute settlement
(i) United States – Measures affecting government  procurement
10. In July 1997, the European Communities and Japan requested respectively consultations with
the United States, pursuant to Article XXII of the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and
Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedur es Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU),
regarding the Act Regulating State Contracts with Companies Doing Business with or in Burma(Myanmar) enacted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on 25 June 1996
(WT/DS88/1-GPA/D2/1 and WT/DS88/2;  WT /DS95/1-GPA/D3/1 and WT/DS95/2).  On
21 October 1998, pursuant to the requests of the European Communities (WT/DS88/3 of
8 September 1998) and Japan (WT/DS95/3 of 8 Sept ember 1998), the DSB established a single panel
in accordance with Article 9 of the DSU and with standard terms of reference pursuant toArticle XXII:4 of the Agreement on Government Procurement (WT/DSB/M/49).  The Panel was
constituted on 6 January 1999.  In a communication to the Chairman of the DSB, dated
10 February 1999, the Chairman of the Panel stated that, in the context of a United States court ruling
barring the implementation of the measure at issue, the European Communities and Japan had
requested the Panel to suspend its work in accordance with Article 12.12 of the DSU and that thePanel had agreed to this request (WT/DS88/5 and WT/DS95/5).
(ii) Korea – Measures affecting government procurement
11. In a communication dated 16 February 1999, the United States requested consultations with
Korea pursuant to Article 4 of the DSU and Article XXII of the GPA (WT/DS163/1 and GPA/D4/1)
with respect to certain procurement practices of the Korean Airport Construction Authority and other
entities concerned with the procurement of airport construction in Korea.  The European Communityand Japan requested to join these consultations (WT/DS163/2 of 4 March 1999 and WT/DS163/3 of
9 March 1999).  These requests were not accepted by Korea.   Pursuant to the request by the United
States, dated 11 May 1999 (WT/DS163/4), the DSB established a panel on 16 June 1999 in
accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of the DSU and Article XXII of the GPA, with the
standard terms of reference provided for in Article XXII:4 of the GPA (WT/DSB/M/64).  TheEuropean Community participates as a third  party in the Panel proceedings in relation to the
complaint raised by the United States and Japan rese rved its rights in this respect.  The Panel was
constituted on 30 August 1999 (WT/DS163/5).
Other matters raised in the Committee
12. During the period under review, the Committee considered the adoption of a declaration by
Parties extending the benefits of the Agreement to all the least developed WTO Members.GPA/30
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Procedural matters
13. In accordance with its Decision on Procedures for the Circulation and Derestriction of
Documents (GPA/1/Add.2), Parties are considering a proposal for the derestriction of the documents
listed in document GPA/W/92 as of 20 November 1999.
Government procurement site at the WTO home page
14. A site on government procurement was established at the WTO home page on the Internet in
order to provide information to the public at large on WTO activities relating to the area of
government procurement.  The section of the site on the Agreement on Government Procurement
includes an overview, the text of the Agreement, an up-to-date copy of the loose-leaf system for
Appendices, a list of Parties and observers, a table of thresholds of individual Parties and notificationsof threshold figures as expressed in national currencies, information on the work of the Committee
(decisions of the Committee on procedural matters, notifications of national implementing legislation,
annual report to the General Council), statistics provided under Article XIX:5 and information on
dispute settlement.  Other sections on this site relate to the activities of the Working Group on
Transparency in Government Procurement and of the Working Party on GATS Rules.  Moreover,hyperlinks have been established with internationa l and national websites containing information on
government procurement.  The site address is http://www.wto.org/wto/govt/govt.htm.
III. ACCESSIONS
15. Iceland applied for accession to the Agreement on 22 June 1998.  During the period under
review, Iceland carried out bilateral consultations with interested Parties on the basis of its draft offer
(GPA/W/73).  A communication received from Icel and containing responses to questions put to
Iceland in connection with its accession and information on national legislation on government
procurement will be made available to Parties.
16. In accordance with a commitment undertaken by Panama in the Report of the Working Party
on the Accession of Panama to the WTO (WT/ACC/PAN/19, paragraphs 68 and 116 and Protocol,
Part I, paragraph 2), Panama applied for accession to the Agreement and tabled an initial offer on
24 June 1997 (GPA/W/53 and GPA/SPE C/3).  During the period under review, Panama pursued the
bilateral consultations with interested Parties on the basis of a revised offer submitted on
10 December 1998 (GPA/SPEC/3/Rev.1).
17. Chinese Taipei applied for accession to the Agreement in June 1994 (GPA/IC/5) and
submitted a draft offer which was subsequently revised on 19 March 1997 (GPA/SPEC/1/Rev.1).
18. In accordance with a commitment undertaken by the Kyrgyz Republic in the Report of the
Working Party on the Accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the WTO (WT/ACC/KGZ/26,
paragraph 120), the Kyrgyz Republic applied for accession to the Agreement and tabled an initial
offer on 11 May 1999 (GPA/SPEC/4).
19. In accordance with a commitment undertaken by Latvia in the Report of the Working Party
on the Accession of Latvia to the WTO (WT/ACC/LVA/32, paragraph 99), Latvia applied for
accession to the Agreement and tabled an initial offer on 16 June 1999 (GPA/SPEC/5).  Information
on Latvia's national legislation on government procurement was made available to Parties in
document GPA/28.
20. During the period under review, the Committee discussed streamlining the overall process of
accessions.  At its request,  the Secretariat drew  up, for the consideration of the Committee, a draft
Checklist of Issues that the acceding countries could use in providing information on the mainGPA/30
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features of their national legislation and procurement regimes.  The Committee has requested the
Secretariat to prepare a draft indicative time-frame for the accession proceedings.
IV. NEGOTIATIONS UNDER ARTICLE XXIV:7
21. Article XXIV:7(b) and (c) of the Agreement calls on the Parties, not later than the end of the
third year from the date of its entry into force,  to undertake further negotiations, with a view to
improving the Agreement and achieving the greatest possible extension of its coverage among all
Parties and eliminating any remaining discriminatory measures and practices.  As stated in its
1996 Report to the General Council, the Committee agreed to undertake an early review which was
initiated in February 1997 in informal consultations, with an examination of modalities.  This review
has covered, in particular, the following elements:  simplification and improvement of the Agreement,
including, where appropriate, adaptation to advances in the area of information technology;  statistical
reporting;  expansion of the coverage of the Agreement;  and elimination of discriminatory measuresand practices which distort open procurement.  An objective of the negotiations under Article XXIV:7
is the expansion of the membership of the Agreement by making it more accessible to non-Parties.  In
this connection, a communication was sent by the Chairman of the Committee to the WTO Members,
drawing their attention, as well as the attention of governments which are in the process of acceding
to the WTO, to this work and inviting them to participate as observers in the meetings of theCommittee (WT/L/206). During the period covered by this report, Parties pursued their consultations
in six informal meetings held between December 1998 and October 1999 on the basis of an informal
Checklist of Issues (the latest revision of which was circulated as Job No. 5189) and an informal note
reflecting the draft texts of the modifications to the Articles of the Agreement proposed by various
Parties side-by-side with the text of the Agreement (circulated as Job No. 5713).
22. Parties have also considered the timetable for the completion of the negotiations and the
overall work programme that should be envisaged within that time-frame.  There is agreement that
good progress has been made on improving the text of the Agreement, that the momentum of the
work needs to be maintained and that all three elements need to be covered.  Parties will revert to this
matter at their next meeting, to be held in March 2000.  At that time, Parties will also focus on:framework and similar types of contracts, statistical reporting and the Article-by-Article review of the
Agreement.  In addition, Parties will continue monitoring progress in the elimination of
discriminatory measures.
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