RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/WGTGP/M/15 
9 January 2003 
 (03-0077) 
Working Group on Transparency 
in Government Procurement  
 
 
 
 
REPORT ON THE MEETING  OF 10-11 OCTOBER 2002 
 
Note by the Secretariat  
 
 
1. The Working Group on Transparency in Governme nt Procurement held its fifteenth meeting 
on 10-11 October 2002 under the chairmanship of Ambassador Ronald Saborío Soto (Costa Rica). 
2. The agenda for the meeting consisted of:  (i ) transparency-related provisions in existing 
international instruments on government procur ement and national procedures and practices;  
(ii) technical assistance and capacity building;  (iii) observer status of international intergovernmental 
organizations;  and (iv) date of the next meeting.  The Working Group agreed  to adopt the agenda as 
proposed. 
A. TRANSPARENCY -REALTED PROVISIONS IN EXISTING  INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS ON 
GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT AND NATI ONAL PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES  
3. By way of general comments under this ag enda item, the representative of China  said that 
transparent procurement procedures enabled governme nts to obtain the greatest value for expenditure, 
contributed to a predictable and stable investme nt environment and to reducing and eliminating 
corruption.  As part of its WTO accession pro cess, China had made commitments to ensure 
transparency in its government procurement syst em.  Since its accession to the WTO, China had 
promulgated the National Procurement Law on 29 June 2002 which would enter into effect on 
1 January 2003.  The Law stipulated the transparen cy principle both in the general chapters and under 
specific chapters relating to qualification of suppliers , contract awards, bid cha llenge and supervision.  
China believed that the new Law and the deta iled implementing regulations had ensured the 
establishment of a fully open and predictable proc urement environment.  Al l laws and regulations 
relating to government procurement procedures had b een published in the Gazette and on the Internet.  
Turning to the work of the Working Group, he said that the discussions should be limited to the 
transparency aspects of government   procurement as per the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  
Considering that transparency was a complicated is sue and that the obligatio ns on transparency in 
other WTO areas entailed a heavy burden on deve loping countries, the Working Group should be 
cautious in defining the scope and coverage of futu re transparency obligations.  The Group's current 
work should focus on agreeing on general principles of transparency rather than on developing 
detailed provisions. 
4. The representative of Japan  introduced the communication from her delegation stating Japan's 
position with respect to an agreement on transp arency in government procurement contained in 
document WT/WGTGP/W/37. 
5. The representative of Malaysia  disagreed with the view expressed in the communication by 
Japan that the Working Group had largely accomplished the study mandated by the Singapore 
Ministerial Conference which implied that the Group' s work could move into the next phase without a 
consensus.  The Group should continue its study of  elements based on the "List of Issues Raised and WT/WGTGP/M/15 
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Points Made".  The representative of the Philippines
 said that it would be premature to discuss a 
framework agreement at the present stage. 
6. The representatives of the European Community , Switzerland  and Australia  said that their 
delegations supported the thrust of the view s expressed by Japan in its communication. 
7. The representative of the European Community  said that the Group had exhausted the 
discussion of the items in the List of Issues.  Th e work should now focus on identifying the elements 
to be included in a transparency agreement even  though the matter of how those issues could be 
reflected in a future agreement should be left asi de for the time being.  Developing countries should 
be provided flexibility in the application of the futu re obligations but how this should be done was a 
matter that should be addressed in the negotiations. 
8. With regard to the six elements suggested  by Japan, the representative of Switzerland  said 
that some additional elements could be considered.  The representative of Pakistan  asked how the 
elements proposed by Japan fitted in with the tw elve elements under discussion in the Group.  The 
representative of Korea  supported the elements listed by Japan. 
9. Referring to the non-discrimination principle liste d by Japan as being an important element of 
a future agreement, the representative of Malaysia  asked how Japan saw the relationship of this 
principle to transparency.  The representative of Egypt  asked how the non-discrimination principle 
could be made compatible with the future provisions on special and differential treatment .  I n  
response, the representative of Japan  said that foreign suppliers should be granted non-discriminatory 
treatment in the application of transparency rules and procedures.  However, this should not preclude 
the right of countries to give preferences to domestic suppliers. 
10. The representative of the United States  introduced the communication by her delegation 
setting forth its ideas regarding the organization of the work of the Group over the period leading up 
to the Cancún Ministerial Conference contained in  document WT/WGTGP/W/35.  She said that the 
proposed organization of the discussion under four categories of elements would help to refine the debate on the outstanding issues and could provide a basis for the identification of the elements that 
could be included in a future agreement. 
11. The representatives of Korea
;  Brazil ;  Hungary ;  the European Community ;  Israel ;  Canada ;  
Switzerland ;  Australia ;  and Hong Kong, China  supported the suggestion of the United States as a 
basis for moving the Group's work forward. 
12. The representative of Brazi l said that the work should focus on the Group's mandate to 
identify the elements of an agreement although it mi ght be difficult to agree on the appropriateness of 
including certain elements. 
13. The representative of Malaysia  said that, while a convergence of views seemed to be 
emerging in some areas, it was premature to begin the categorization of issues at this stage.  The Group had yet to conclude its work on the clarif ication of certain issues before it could reach 
consensus on any of the elements pursuant to the Doha Ministerial mandate.  Developing countries 
had difficulties essentially with two elements, namely  domestic review procedures and the application 
of WTO dispute settlement procedures.  Although the de tails of some of the other elements might also 
cause some difficulties, by and large, they were acceptable.   The categorization of elements could 
only be feasible if there were an explicit consensu s to proceed with the negotiations at the Cancún 
Ministerial meeting built on the progress achieved by that time. 
14. The representative of the Philippines
 said that the submissions by the United States and Japan 
sought to introduce a qualitative change in the discussion of the twelve elements.  WT/WGTGP/M/15 
 Page 3 
 
 
15. The representative of Singapore  said that a transparency agreement would benefit all 
countries including developing countries.  The application of transparency principles to procurement helped to achieve the objective of better value fo r money in government procurement and improved 
procurement decisions.  However, the Group would need to take into account developing country 
concerns on certain issues.  For instance, th e application of the WTO Dispute Settlement 
Understanding (DSU) to a transparency agreement need ed to be carefully considered.  Supported by 
the representative of Egypt
, she added that any reference to the issue of corruption in public 
procurement might not be helpful to the process under way. 
16. The representative of the European Community  said that the time had come to build 
consensus in the Group around the basic principles that  should be included in a future transparency 
agreement and to identify the elements to be negotia ted.  The work plan proposed by the United States 
was in line with the refere nce to the modalities for negotiations in the Doha mandate.  It was crucial to 
use the time-period until the Cancún Ministerial Conf erence to address the issues before the Group.  If 
the discussion in the Group were left open-ended, the Ministers would not be able to reach a decision 
on modalities of negotiations, such as the content of the future discussions and the time-frame for the 
negotiations.  Basic transparency principles incl uded, among others, subjec ting national rules and 
practices to domestic review procedures. 
17. The representative of Canada  said that the United States suggestion to pursue the discussion 
of the elements under four categories would help to reach a better understanding of the progress made 
in the Group on the study of these elements.  The fina l form and the contents of an agreement could 
only be refined through negotiations. 
18. The representative of Switzerland  said that the approach suggested by the United States 
would enable the Group to have a more in-depth ex amination of any outstanding issues.  The Group 
should  consider the modalities of future negot iations, which could include a time-frame for 
negotiations and the possible elements. 
19. The representative of Australia  said that the Group's work should be speeded up.  The 
suggested categorization of the elements would enable a more substantive discussion of the items in 
the List of Issues. 
20. The representative of Hong Kong, China  said that transparency in government procurement 
fostered competition.  Her delegation supported th e early conclusion of a multilateral agreement. 
21. The representative of Egypt  said that the Group's mandate excluded any commitments on 
market access.  Supported by the representatives of Pakistan  and the Philippines , he said that, 
although the issues before the Group had been discu ssed several times, there was no convergence of 
views among delegations on certain issues, for inst ance relating to definition and scope, procurement 
methods, time-periods, domestic re view procedures and the appli cation of WTO dispute settlement 
procedures. 
22. The representative of India  said that the categorization of elements was premature.  The 
Group's main task was to achieve a better unders tanding of what transparency in government 
procurement meant.  Matters relating to administra tion of domestic laws and regulations did not fall 
within the purview of transpar ency.  The Working Group should address any burden that future 
requirements might incur on developing countries.  One question with respect to the benefits of 
transparency was whether the additi onal cost of a transparent procurement system could be justified 
by its incremental benefits.  Transparency could not be the overriding priority in all procurement 
cases.  It might have to be balanced against certain other objectives, for example providing local 
manufacturers with certain advantages under employ ment-generating programmes or better utilising 
locally available factors of production.  The Group' s work should focus on the type of information 
that should be provided to suppliers on a Member 's government procurement system.  On the other WT/WGTGP/M/15 
Page 4  
 
hand, the need for transparency in specific procurements would depend on the purpose of the 
procurement and the policy objectives sought.  Whil e the information provided in tender notices 
would have to be adequate for the preparation of responsive bids and should be uniformly provided to 
all suppliers, the provision of information on who shoul d be eligible to respon d to a particular tender 
should take into account policies targeting certain supp liers.  As to the ramifications of transparency 
beyond government procurement, the fight against corruption required better policing, a matter which 
went beyond the concern of the WTO.  Finally,  Members generally agreed to the benefits of 
transparency but several elements discussed in th e Group did not pertain to transparency at all and 
some only to the extent that the future requirement s would be limited to provision of information.  
Whether a future agreement would be a binding agr eement or a principle-based one could be decided 
once Members had a clearer view of  what transparency meant.  Her delegation was not convinced of 
the need for any linkage to the WTO Dispute Settle ment Understanding given that only transparency 
in government procurement was under consideration. 
23. The representative of Cuba
 said that, in order to comply with the Doha mandate which 
referred to development priorities, the Group should carry out its work on the basis of the List of 
Issues.  If the discussions were to be speeded up,  the Group would find itself with the same problems 
that it had faced with the proposals that had been ta bled prior to the Seattle Ministerial Conference.  
At that time, a number of developing country Member s had not been in a position to go along with the 
proposals that had gone beyond the Singapore mandate. 
24. The representative of the United States  said that, under the mandates of both the Singapore 
and the Doha Ministerial Declarations, the Group was not required to decide on how the specific 
details of the elements under discussion would be re flected in a future agreement.  The Group was 
still carrying out its work under the Singapore Minist erial mandate.  Members would only be able to 
build on the progress made in the Working Group as per the Doha Ministerial mandate if the Group 
could examine in more detail those issues that were of particular concern to developing countries, for 
instance the linkage to the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding.  Her dele gation believed that any 
agreement had to be a legally binding one in orde r to fit into the overall WTO system.  However, a 
special mechanism could be envisaged to address any developing country issues before invoking  
WTO dispute settlement procedures.  The Group's work  should be geared to de veloping a constructive 
approach aimed at accommodating the concerns of  developing countries in the negotiations. 
25. The Working Group took up items VI-XII in the informal note by the Chairman "List of 
Issues Raised and Points Made" contained in JOB(99)6782 of November 1999, commenting on each 
item in turn and using the summary note by the Secretariat "Work of the Working Group on Matters 
Related to Items VI-XII of the List of Issues Ra ised and Points Made" contained in document 
WT/WGTGP/W/33.  The Group also had before it a communication by Canada on contract awards contained in document WT/WGTGP/W/36 and a not e by the United States on capacity-building 
considerations relating to transparency in government procurement contained in document 
WT/WGTGP/W/34.  In addition, a non-paper w as presented by Australia on the transparency of 
decisions on qualification contained in JOB(02)/142. 
Transparency of Decisions on Qualification
 
26. The representative of Canada  introduced the communication by her delegation on 
transparency of contract award decisions whic h also addressed the issue of transparency of 
qualification decisions contained in document WT /WGTGP/W/36.  She said that a transparency 
agreement should allow for flexibility in respect of the establishment of the criteria for qualification 
and registration processes. 
27. The representative of the European Community , joined by the representatives of Switzerland  
and Brazil , said that, notwithstanding entities' rights to  define the evaluation criteria, a future 
agreement should ensure that decisions on qualifi cation and contract awards were taken based on  WT/WGTGP/M/15 
 Page 5 
 
 
clear and objective criteria that were pre-disclosed and made known to all inte rested suppliers well in 
advance. 
28. The representative of the European Community  said that time-limits were an important aspect 
of transparency and they should be taken into acc ount in the qualification process, for instance in 
relation to transmission and receipt of certificat es related to qualification and other relevant 
documents. 
29. The representative of Japan  said that transparency in qualification and in contract award 
decisions was among the core transparency princi ples in the area of government procurement. 
30. The representative of the United States , joined by the representatives of Canada , Switzerland , 
Australia , Japan  and Brazil , supported the views expressed in Canada's submission.  The 
representative of Switzerland  said that transparency in decisions at the qualification stage was 
important.  Procuring entities should be required to  declare any limitations to participation on the 
basis of nationality and any new information shou ld be made available in a non-discriminatory 
manner.  The procedures for qualification and th e basis for selecting suppliers in the lists of 
qualification systems should be made available to all interested parties.  Participation in qualification 
lists should not be exclusive a nd should be regularly updated w ith new suppliers meeting the 
qualification criteria. 
31. The representative of Australia  introduced the non-paper recen tly submitted by his delegation 
on qualification decisions contained in JOB(02)/142. 
32. The representative of Brazil  said that the provisions on qualification in a transparency 
agreement should be limited to se tting out general principles and criteria and should not be overly 
prescriptive.  While it should be up to national legi slation to define the general criteria for the 
qualification of potential suppliers, such criteria shoul d not have the effect of restricting access of any 
supplier who demonstrated capability to fulfil the re quirements of the tender.  The main objective of 
qualification procedures was to facilitate the wo rk of procuring entities in identifying suitable 
suppliers for their needs.  Maintenance of qualifica tion systems was not incompatible with the general 
concept of transparency as long as related decisi ons were not used as barriers to access by interested 
suppliers.  While it may be desirable to have a co mmon national system for qualification, this should 
not exclude the possibility of setting forth specific criteria in individual tenders.  There was no need to address the issue of time-periods that applied to the different stages of administrative procedures.  
Under the draft procurement Bill that was before  the Brazilian Congress, tendering procedures could 
occur before the stage of qualification proce dures as a way of speeding up the tendering process and 
making it less burdensome for the procuring entities. 
33. The representative of Thailand
 said that his delegation had questions regarding the extent to 
which information on qualification criteria could be  made available since confidential information 
would not be disclosed under a transparency agre ement, and also on how confidential information 
related to government policies would be treated. 
Transparency of Contract Award Decisions  
34. Referring to her delegation's communication c ontained in document WT/WGTGP/W/36, the 
representative of Canada  said that the transparency of contract award decisions was one of the main 
elements of a future agreement.  The award crite ria expressed the government's needs and priorities as 
they were to be carried out in a procurement pro cess.  Members therefore needed the flexibility to 
establish the appropriate criteria, such as price, th e preferred characteristics of the product and other 
preferences.  The Doha Ministerial mandate made  it clear that Members had flexibility to establish 
criteria for the award of a contract.  The transpar ency agreement would not restrict the scope of 
Members to give preferences to domestic supplies a nd suppliers as per the Doha Declaration.  The WT/WGTGP/M/15 
Page 6  
 
Working Group should address the means by which such flexibility could be implemented while 
ensuring transparency of decisions.  There should be provisions assuring that transparency of award 
decisions be achieved by specifying the award criteria and other requirements in the tender 
documents;  taking award decisions solely on the b asis of the criteria provided;  and making award 
decision information available to suppliers and ot her parties.  There was general agreement that 
governments should not have to disclose confidentia l information.  Turning to the question of 
benefits, she said that transparency of award deci sions was consistent with the rules-based trading 
environment embodied in the international trading system.  The importance of transparency, predictability and consistency in th e application of measures relating to international trade had been 
recognized since the inception of the GATT 1947.  The benefits of the transparency of award 
decisions included economic efficiency for procur ing entities, taxpayers and suppliers as well as 
predictability and confidence in the procurement system. 
35. The representative of Switzerland
 said that Members should have  flexibility in choosing the 
criteria but full transparency should be provided of the chosen criteria.  The possibility of changing 
the criteria during an ongoing procurement process  should be allowed only under limited conditions 
and in clearly defined circumstances.  The criteri a should be made availabl e to all involved in the 
procurement process.  Any new information, for in stance any negotiations foreseen or clarification 
given during the process, should be made known to all interested parties. 
36.  With respect to ex post  information, the representative of Switzerland said that decisions of 
procurement entities should be made public or, at l east, made known to interested parties.  The 
representative of the European Community , joined by the representa tive of the United States , said that 
a future transparency agreement should have a provision requiring that unsuccessful bidders be 
informed of the rejection of their bid, and, on requ est, be given information as to the reasons why their 
bid had been rejected and the winning bid had been chosen. 
37. The representative of Malaysia  said his country responded to requests for information from 
unsuccessful bidders.  However, a mandatory requireme nt in a multilateral agreement in this respect 
should be should be drafted in such a way as to avoid burden on developing countries. 
38. The representative of Canada  said the Working Group seemed close to reaching a consensus 
on the value of making information on award decisi ons available to suppliers and other interested 
parties.  Future requirements in this respect should cover both successful and unsuccessful suppliers, 
as the information provided was helpful to both. 
39. The representative of Brazil  said that, in order to allow flexibility in the application of the 
agreement, the provisions in respect of contract  award decisions should be limited to general 
principles and criteria, leaving more deta iled regulation to national legislation. 
40. Referring to the issue of negotiations in the procurement process, the representative of Brazil 
said that a transparency agreement should not pr eclude the use of negotiations in accordance with 
national legislation subject to conditions of transparen cy.  This method was used to great effect in his 
country as a means of achieving enhanced conditions , in both technical and financial terms, in 
tenders.  The representative of the United States  said that it was important that suppliers were made 
aware of the possibility of negotiations in advance,  for instance by stating this in tender documents.  WT/WGTGP/M/15 
 Page 7 
 
 
Domestic Review Procedures  
41. The representative of the European Community  said that a transparency agreement should 
have provisions to ensure the existence of an inde pendent domestic review body which could either be 
a judicial or an administrative body.  Members sh ould have flexibility regarding the way in which 
they would implement domestic review procedures.  The purpose of the provisions would not be to 
address the substance of the decisions made by a procurement entity but to set out certain principles 
for access to reviews by bidders.  Since many Member s appeared to have domestic review systems in 
place, complying with a requirement to ensure the independence of the review bodies should not 
entail any additional burden on them. 
42. The representative of Singapore  considered that a bid challenge mechanism was an integral 
part of national procurement systems. 
43. The representative of Brazil  said the Group should avoid adopting an overly prescriptive 
approach to domestic revi ew procedures.  Since the agreement would be limited to transparency, there 
should not be any presumption or indication that it was creating commitments between Members in this respect.  There was no need for provisions pr escribing a common system of review for Members.  
However, it was essential to have a provision requ iring the existence of review mechanisms and 
setting forth some general principles that should be respected, such as transparency, legality and equality of treatment.  It was important to ensure  that national legislati on established appropriate 
mechanisms for reviews of complaints by suppliers .  Further, recourse to an administrative review 
body should not preclude suppliers who felt that th eir complaint had not been adequately addressed 
from having recourse to judicial review.  Foreign s uppliers should have the same access to national 
administrative and judicial reviews as national supp liers.  In the case of tenders limited to national 
suppliers, only those national suppliers  that were entitled to take part in the tender should be eligible 
for an administrative or judicial review. 
44. The representative of India
 said that most WTO Members had reasonably adequate domestic 
administrative audit and judicial mechanisms to en sure that actions of all parties involved in a 
procurement process complied with the relevant rule s and procedures.  The primacy of domestic laws 
and procedures should be preserved, and there should be no requirements to change such laws and 
procedures.  Given that the Group's work was on the transparency aspects of procurement, the 
existence of domestic mechanisms s hould be adequate to satisfy any transparency requirements.  The 
development of a uniform review mechanism woul d involve an administrative burden for developing 
countries.  The cost of challenge procedures and obtaining remedies would outweigh the benefits of 
the ex post  information that this mechanism provided to suppliers.  In addition to the availability of 
recourse to national courts or independent surv eillance bodies, entities had in place audit teams for 
large procurements.  The establishment of separ ate review bodies may be far too expensive and 
impractical. 
45. The representative of China  said that many Members had review mechanisms in place under 
their domestic laws or regulations.  The creation of a uniform mechanism under the agreement would 
go beyond transparency. 
46. The representative of Cuba  said that transparency in this respect should mean providing 
information to suppliers on the existence and opera tion of Members' domestic review procedures.  
The type of review mechanisms and procedures to be used should be left up to each Member on the 
understanding that the mechan ism itself was transparent. 
47. The representative of Malaysia  said that the issue of domestic review procedures delved into 
the realm of market access.  Questioning the procur ement decisions of a procurement authority went 
beyond transparency. WT/WGTGP/M/15 
Page 8  
 
48. The representative of Pakistan
 said that Members had their own domestic legislation and 
administrative arrangements to guarantee that aggrieve d parties had the possibility of seeking redress.  
It would be counterproductive to go beyond transpar ency-related issues into the realm of sovereign 
decisions by governments. 
49. The representative of the United States  said that domestic review procedures could be an 
important means of ensuring compliance with the basi c obligations of an agreement.  However, there 
should be flexibility to implement the procedures in accordance with Members' own domestic systems 
provided that they met certain basic standards whic h should be negotiated as part of the transparency 
agreement.  Meanwhile, all Members needed to ag ree that a domestic review procedure was an 
important element of the future agreement. 
Other Matters Related to Transparency  
(i) Maintenance of records 
50. The representative of Brazil , joined by the representatives of China , Morocco  and India , said 
that, while it was important to maintain records of procurement proceedings, any provisions in a 
future agreement should allow dom estic legislation to determine the periods and the means of 
maintaining the records. 
51. The representative of the European Community  said maintenance of records by procuring 
entities and domestic review bodies was essential to f acilitating access to information by unsuccessful 
suppliers about how the procurement had been carried out. 
52. The representative of the United States , joined by the representative of Japan , noted that, 
though an important requirement, at this stage the maintenance of records needed only to be 
recognized as one of the elements of an agreemen t, leaving details such as time-periods to be 
addressed in the negotiations.  
(ii) Information technology 
53. The representative of Switzerland  said his delegation had been impressed by the presentations 
made by the speakers from Singapore and Brazil in  the Symposium held the previous day on the 
benefits of information technology in promoting transparency.  Supported by the representative of 
China , he suggested that a future agreement should in corporate, at least, a best-endeavours clause in 
relation to the use of information tec hnology.  The representative of Brazil  said that his country 
considered information technology to be very usef ul for increasing transparency, reducing costs, and 
for the speeding up of procurement processes.  However, since Members were at different levels of development, rather than setting forth any prescriptiv e provisions in this area, the future agreement 
could encourage the application of information technology.  Brazil woul d be willing to extend 
technical cooperation in this area, within  its means, to interested parties. 
54. The representative of India
 said that procuring agencies in a great number of Members 
provided information electronically through websites.  This improved efficiency of the system, added 
value to its users and also helped in controlling br ibery.  However any international rules in this 
respect should take into account local conditions in developing countries. 
55. The representatives of the European Community , the United States , Rwanda , China  and 
Morocco  supported a best-endeavours type obligation in  respect of application of information 
technology to government procurement.  WT/WGTGP/M/15 
 Page 9 
 
 
56. The representatives of Rwanda , Mali  and China  said that, although the application of 
information technology to government procurement was cost effect ive and enabled the dissemination 
of information widely, developing countries lack ed capacity, both in terms of human resources and 
technology, to apply the new systems.  To be on  the same footing with the systems in developed 
countries would require technical assistance. 
(iii) Language 
57. The representative of Brazil , joined by the representatives of the United States  and China , 
said that the national language should prevail in pr ocurement-related matters.  Any requirements to 
provide information in one of the WTO official languages would impose overly burdensome obligations on those Members whose national langu age was not a WTO language.  This would not 
preclude any Member that had an interest in a ttracting foreign suppliers from issuing tenders in 
foreign languages.  The representative of the United States
 said that suppliers wishing to operate in 
foreign markets needed to have language capability. 
58. The representative of the European Community  said that, although it may be burdensome, 
Members should be encouraged to  use at least one of the WTO languages in order to make those 
tenders that might be of interest to foreign bidders widely accessible. 
59. The representatives of Japan , Korea  and Morocco  said that, notwithstanding the need for 
flexibility in this regard, certain types of informa tion, such as the notification of enquiry points, and 
matters to do with dispute settleme nt or consultations, should be ma de available in a WTO official 
language.  
60. The representative of Korea , joined by the representativ e of the European Community , said 
that at least a list of national laws and regula tions should be notified a nd made public in a WTO 
official language. 
(iv) Fight against bribery and corruption 
61. The representative of the European Community , joined by the repr esentative of the United 
States , said that the issue of bribery and corruption di d not need to be dealt with in a transparency 
agreement, notwithstanding the fact that a mean ingful transparency agreement would indirectly 
contribute to the fight against bribery and corruption. 
62. The representative of Mali  said that the President of his country had urged the entire 
administration to fight financial corruption and financia l offences, factors that were directly related to 
transparency in government procurement. 
Information to be Provided to Other Governments (Notification)  
63. The representative of the European Community  said that, as was the case with other WTO 
agreements, Members should promptly notify laws a nd regulations relating to transparency to the 
WTO Secretariat in one of the original languages and, if available, in other languages.  Joined by the 
representative of the United States , he said that, since the submission of legislation in a WTO 
language might be too burdensome, at least a list of  the relevant laws and regulations should be made 
available in a WTO language.  The re presentative of the United States,  supported by the 
representative of Pakistan , said that a balance should be found between the need for improved 
understanding of the procurement systems of Me mbers and the burden of providing the necessary 
information.  The representative of Pakistan said th at there was a need to balance future obligations 
with Members' capacity to meet them. WT/WGTGP/M/15 
Page 10  
 
64. The representative of Brazil
 noted that the principle of ensuring transparency of legislation 
applicable to procurement was broadly accepted.   Though notification was useful, providing 
translations of legislation could be unduly bur densome.  Supported by the representatives of the 
United States  and Switzerland , he suggested that an alternative a pproach could be envisaged such as 
the use of a questionnaire or a checklist of points to  allow Members to broadly describe their systems.  
A similar approach was applied in the Trade Po licy Review process and in the FTAA context.  
65. The representative of Switzerland  said that notification of nationa l legislation remained one of 
the cornerstones of a future  transparency agreement.  The representative of Japan  said that notification 
should be an element in a future agreement but the discussion of the details of the relevant provisions 
should be left to a later stage. 
66. The representative of India  said that the requirement to provide information on national 
legislation was widely accepted as a transparency i ssue.  However, any requirements to provide full 
and complete information should be tempered w ith practicality, and should take into account the 
capacity of Members to provide such information.  Any examination of the national rules and laws in 
view of prescribing amendments to laws would go beyond the mandate of the Working Group. 
67. The representative of Pakistan  said the Working Group could base its work on this matter on 
the provisions of GATT 1994 Article X, noting th at any provisions which went beyond those 
provisions would be burdensom e to developing countries. 
68. The representative of the European Community  said that Members should provide 
explanations of laws, regulati ons, procedures and practices on request by other Members.  With 
regard to requirements on the establishment of e nquiry points, the representative of Switzerland  said 
that his delegation considered enquiry points an important element of transparency especially for 
small countries.  The representative of Korea  said that there should be a single access point in each 
country for obtaining information.  The difficulties associated with obtaining appropriate information 
in advance could become a barrier to suppliers' ac cess to the international government procurement 
market. 
69. The representative of Brazil  said that the practice of accessing information through enquiry 
points was not new to the Parties to the Agre ement on Government Procurement or to APEC 
Members and should be encouraged.  The representative of the United States  supported the 
establishment of enquiry points in indivi dual Members.  The representative of Japan  said that the 
requirements on the establishment of enquiry points could be similar to the obligations under the 
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade and, th erefore, would not be too burdensome.  The 
representative of Pakistan  said that, in the case of Pakistan , and possibly other countries, the 
involvement of various government department s in the tendering process imposed practical 
difficulties that made it virtually impossible to set up enquiry points.  In response to the representative of Pakistan, the representative of Switzerland
 said that an enquiry point should not have to answer all 
technical questions, but should be the gateway to  ensuring questions went to the right place and 
answers came back within a suitable ti me-period.  The representative of Korea  said that the use of 
electronic media could be one way of overcoming the difficulties of coordination between agencies and departments, in particular in Members with decentralized systems. 
70. On notification of procurement sta tistics, the representatives of Brazil
, Cuba  and Malaysia  
said that any requirement for notification of st atistical data on indivi dual procurement processes 
would be burdensome and would go beyond the mandate of the Working Group.  The representative 
of the United States  said that statistical reporting had not been particularly effective under the 
Agreement on Government Procurement.  Her dele gation did not anticipate that a transparency 
agreement would include requirements in this  respect.  The representative of Switzerland  said that, 
although it might be burdensome, statistical reporting  was an important tool to show the effectiveness  WT/WGTGP/M/15 
 Page 11 
 
 
of a procurement system and therefore, if the information was available, it would be useful to share it with WTO Members on a voluntary basis. 
WTO Dispute Settlement Procedures
 
71. The representatives of the European Community , Switzerland  and the United States  said that 
the WTO DSU should apply to a future agreement in order to ensure the consistency of the overall 
WTO system. 
72. The representative of Brazil  said that, notwithstanding the systemic importance of a 
transparency agreement, his delegation had doubts about the efficiency of the linkage between a 
transparency agreement and the DSU.  Any disputes would have to be limited to issues of compliance 
with the requirements of a transparency agreemen t.  However, he did not see how subjecting an 
agreement to the DSU would ensure the enforceability  of the rules, for instance through recourse to 
compensation or retaliation, in the absence of market trade interests. 
73. The representative of the European Community  said that the DSU should only apply to ensure 
compliance with basic transparency principles.  While his delegation recognized that the absence of 
market access obligations made it more difficult to  conceive application of dispute settlement, the 
existence of the dispute settlement  mechanism in itself had some value-added in a transparency 
agreement.  The DSU should apply in order to respect  the integrity of the WTO system.  The fact that 
the DSU could apply to the agreement could co ntribute towards establishing confidence in its 
application and operability.  It would also help to  ensure uniform interpretation of the obligations 
under the Agreement. 
74. The representative of Switzerland  said that the possibility of being taken before the DSB was 
a sufficient deterrent against any br each of  transparency obligations. 
75. The representative of Hungary  said that her delegation considered that the application of 
dispute settlement procedures was an important com ponent of a future agreement on transparency in 
government procurement. 
76. The representative of the United States  said that application of the DSU was an issue that 
required special consideration within the Working Group.  For instance, the types of disputes that 
would arise under a transparency agreement, a ppropriate remedies and the possibility for cross-
retaliation needed further discussion.  Her delegati on suggested that this issue be the subject of 
focused discussions at the next meeting of the Working Group based on submissions by Members. 
77. The representative of Japan  said that a future transpar ency agreement should contain 
provisions on dispute settlement including provis ions on consultations and the application of 
additional and specific procedures.  However, th e application of those procedures could not be 
discussed in detail before the framework of the future transparency agreement and its specific 
obligations were known. 
78. The representative of India , joined by the representatives of Egypt , Malaysia , China  and 
Pakistan , said that transparency-related provisions would not call for a linkage to the DSU and there 
was no need for further work in th e Working Group on this issue. 
79. Commenting on the implications of the applicati on of the DSU to a transparency agreement, 
the representative of Egypt  said that the absence of market acc ess commitments in itself was not a 
safeguard against a threat of cross-retaliation.  His delegation had reservati ons on leaving the details 
of this issue to negotiations, and was convinced that the proper way would be to reach consensus 
beforehand. WT/WGTGP/M/15 
Page 12  
 
80. The representative of Canada
 said that the issue of how th e application of the DSU could 
work in the context of a transparency agreement should be explored further. 
81. The representative of Pakistan  said that Members should rethink the usefulness of applying 
dispute settlement to a future agreement, as the is sue, being contentious, could prove to be a deal-
breaker. 
82. The representative of Nigeria  said that his delegation remained unconvinced about the 
relevance of dispute settlement to transparency-rela ted issues.  Members should look at the possibility 
of developing generally acceptable principles a nd guidelines that could facilitate transparency. 
83. The representative of Malaysia  said that his delegation remained unconvinced of the need to 
have a linkage to the DSU since it would not apply to individual procurement decisions but to 
transparency practices.  Whether or not an elem ent on enforcement would be necessary would depend 
on the nature of the future agreement.  The future pr ovisions could be in the form of a declaration, an 
understanding among Members or an agreement with no linkage to the DSU.  In his delegation's view, 
there was no need to have a binding agreement in the WTO on this subject. 
84. The representative of the European Community  said that the Singapore Ministerial 
Conference mandated the development of elements to  be included in an appropriate agreement and 
not in an understanding.  The transparency agreemen t would be an agreement th at would fit within the 
WTO system.  There was no reason to treat this agreement differently from all other WTO agreements which were subject to the DSU.  How would co mpliance with the future agreement be assured 
without the possibility of recourse to the DSU? 
Technical Cooperation and Special and Differential Treatment
 
 
85. On special and differential treatment, the representative of Brazil , joined by the 
representatives of the United States  and Japan , said that the concept was important but the detailed 
examination of specific provisions should take place at  an appropriate stage.  The representative of the 
United States  said that transitional periods rather th an exclusions from obligations should be 
considered. 
86. The representatives of Jordan , Morocco  and China  supported special and differential 
treatment for developing countries including transitional periods for the implementation of the obligations. 
87. The representative of Malaysia
 said that the structure of a fu ture agreement on transparency 
should reflect the developmental needs of developing countries, noting that tran sitional provisions for 
compliance with the obligations were no longer sufficient. 
88. The representative of Rwanda , referring to economic, human re source and technical capacity 
constraints in some developing countries, underscore d the need for capacity building to assist such 
countries to attain a good standard of transparency in  their procurement systems.  He called on donor 
agencies and other countries which had develope d systems to help build capacity to ensure 
transparency. 
89. The representative of Brazil  said that his country had put considerable effort into improving 
its government procurement system.  In addition to the achievements in the application of information 
technology, other key areas of progress had include d legislative reform, capacity and institution 
building and human resource development.  Braz il would be available to provide technical 
cooperation and capacity building with in its limited resources.  Interested Members could contact his 
authorities to determine the areas of cooperation.  WT/WGTGP/M/15 
 Page 13 
 
 
90. The representative of China  said that technical assistance should be provided to enhance the 
competitivity of suppliers from developing countries in procurement markets of developed countries.  
Furthermore, cooperation among interna tional agencies should be enhanced. 
91. The representative of the European Community  identified two key areas where technical 
cooperation was required:  first, to address any po tential conflict between a future agreement and 
domestic legislation of Members;  and second, to build institutional capacity to comply with the 
provisions of a future agreement.  The guiding principles of technical cooperation in these two areas should be, concerning the first area, the promotion of good governance and the rule of law, and, 
concerning the second, the development and stre ngthening of a modern and effective public 
administration.  The European Community was ope n to specific requests for advice and assistance in 
this area. 
B. 
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING  
92. The representative of the United States  introduced her delegation's communication entitled 
"Capacity Building Considerations relating to Tran sparency in Government Procurement" contained 
in document WT/WGTGP/W/34. 
93. The representative of Brazil  said that the United States communication underscored the 
important role technical cooperation could play in  the process embarked upon in the Working Group.  
In Brazil's experience, developing capacity in government procurement, including legislation, 
development and information technology aspects, required time and considerable effort.  Brazil 
therefore considered the issue of technical assist ance and capacity building to be both a vital and 
urgent requirement, noting that the sooner that this  could be embarked upon, the greater would be the 
ease in working in the Working Gro up.  The work that the WTO w as doing was very important but it 
was limited to the aspect of build ing awareness.  It should also have a complement of getting 
technical cooperation working on the ground.  Joined by the representative of India , he suggested that 
the stakeholders in this area, including the mu ltilateral agencies, donors and recipients should be 
brought together.  It could be a useful contribution to the work of this Group if the Secretariat could 
build in a component on technical cooperation in the Symposium planned for next year to allow 
discussion on possible ways and solutions to enhan ce cooperation among the bilateral and multilateral 
donors and interested recipients. 
94. The representative of Canada  said that her delegation encouraged all Members to consider the 
answers to the practical questions raised in the United States paper related to implementation within 
their own economies.  Many of these questions had also been identified in the communication by 
Canada on transparency of contract awar ds contained in document WT/WGTGP/W/36. 
95. The representative of the Secretariat  provided information on the technical assistance 
activities that it had been engaged in since the Ma y 2002 meeting.  A sub-regional workshop for the 
Central American countries had been organized join tly with the Inter-American Development Bank in 
San José, Costa Rica on 5-6 September 2002.  Twen ty-five participants from the seven countries in 
the region, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,  Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican 
Republic, and representatives from Ecuador and Colomb ia had participated in the Workshop.  The 
Secretariat would hold a similar workshop for th e Caribbean countries in Kingston, Jamaica on 
12-14 November 2002 with the funding provided by  the Inter-American Development Bank through 
its affiliate INTAL.  Furthermore, the Secret ariat had organized a Symposium in Geneva for 
Geneva-based delegations on 9-10 October 2002.  A considerable number of capital-based delegates 
had also taken advantage of this activity, and to facilitate the participation of such delegates from 
least-developed countries the Secretariat had been able to draw upon the Global Trust Fund for Technical Cooperation.  The Secretariat was expl oring the possibility of organizing a couple of 
national workshops before the end of 2002 for the co untries which were on the list of the Secretariat's 
Coordinated Plan for 2002.  Turning to the plans for 2003, he said that the Secretariat had four types WT/WGTGP/M/15 
Page 14  
 
of activities in mind.  Probably the most importa nt were regional workshops.  The Secretariat's 
intention was that before Cancún there would ha ve been one regional workshop in each of the 
developing country regions.  The Secretariat woul d do this, wherever possible, in cooperation with 
other intergovernmental organizations, in part icular with the World Bank and the regional 
development banks who had the expertise in this ar ea.  In the first quarter of 2003, the Secretariat 
would have two regional events in Africa, one in mid-January for the English-speaking African 
countries, and another one in April for French-s peaking African countries.  In the second quarter 
of 2003, the Secretariat would have a regional even t in the Asia-Pacific region, and a regional seminar 
for the Latin American countries that had not alr eady been covered by the sub-regional events 
in 2002.  The Secretariat would also like to have a regional event for the Central and Eastern 
European countries and the Central Asian countries, which had expressed their interest.  This event 
would probably have to be held after the Canc ún Meeting.  The second line of activity of the 
Secretariat would be national events.  The Secretar iat had a number of countries inscribed in the plan 
for 2003.  Thirdly, the Secretariat was planning to hold a further Geneva symposium in July 2003 which would be held back-to-back with a meeting of the Working Group, so as to facilitate the 
participation of as many interested people as possibl e.  Fourthly, there were a large and quite rapidly 
increasing number of general Secretariat training ac tivities of a national or regional kind, both in 
Geneva and in developing countries.  These cove red either WTO issues as a whole or Singapore 
issues, and the Secretariat would be contributi ng to these activities with regard to government 
procurement matters.  Finally, in response to the point that had been raised by Brazil, he recalled that, 
precisely for the reasons identified by the representa tive of Brazil, in March 2002 the Secretariat had 
had an inter-agency meeting in Washington in order to try to maximize coordination and cooperation, 
and to seek the assistance of other intergovernmental  organizations who were active in this area to 
help in responding to the terms of the Doha Declar ation.  That had been an inter-Secretariat event, 
which was not in itself a replacement for the broa der concept referred to by the representative of 
Brazil.  If there were an interest in organizing an ev ent of that sort, the Secretariat would be ready to 
help in organizing it. 
96. The representative of Korea
 said that more efforts should be devoted to strengthening 
developing countries' capacity through symposia and re gional seminars.  In parallel with this effort, a 
more systematic way to help build transparency into their procurement systems should also be considered.  In this vein, efforts were also need ed by developing countries to identify their specific 
needs because a demand-driven approach fo r capacity building was more effective. 
97. The representative of Morocco
 said that capacity building and technical assistance would be 
crucial to enable governments to benefit from tran sparency.  Technical assistance could focus on 
certain specific issues, such as the application of information technology to government procurement, 
the training of procurement professionals, the pr eparation of handbooks and management guides. 
98. The representative of Lesotho  said that the Symposium had come at a time when Lesotho was 
actively engaged in a rigorous and comprehensive programme to reform government procurement.  
He requested further assistance for Lesotho in te rms of pursuing that reform initiative which his 
government was deeply committed to. 
99. The representative of Malawi  said that his country had recently embarked on procurement 
reforms with the assistance of the World Bank.  Ca pacity building was an important element of that 
reform.  He therefore called on the WTO and deve loped country Members to provide the necessary 
assistance, for instance to train procurement official s to carry out procurement transparently.  Malawi 
viewed capacity building as an important tool not  only for promoting transparency in government 
procurement, but also for the successful implementati on of an eventual transparency agreement.  Not 
all developing countries were at the same level of  development and those developing countries that 
were advanced in their government procuremen t reforms could assist Malawi in this area.  WT/WGTGP/M/15 
 Page 15 
 
 
100. The representative of Australia  said that his delegation was encouraged by the positive reports 
on the range of technical assistance activities unde rtaken by the WTO.  Australia acknowledged the 
important role of technical assistance and capacity  building but also believed that developing and 
least-developed countries were best placed to asses s their own technical assistance and capacity-
building needs.  Therefore, he encouraged those co untries to articulate and communicate their specific 
needs and priorities to both the Secretariat and to the Working Group.  Technical assistance should 
stay focused on WTO-specific issues, particular ly enhancing Members' understanding of the 
implications of a multilateral agreement on transpar ency in government procurement.  The Working 
Group should focus on issues directly related to decisions that would be taken at the Fifth Ministerial Conference. 
101. The representative of Canada
 expressed his delegation's satisfaction with the collaborative 
efforts of the WTO with the Inter-American Devel opment Bank.  She encouraged the Secretariat's 
plans for further inter-agency collaboration to ensu re that human and financial resources dedicated to 
technical assistance and capacity building be fully a nd effectively utilised.  Further, she agreed that 
developing and least-developed countries were best placed to identify their technical assistance and 
capacity-building needs.  Canada remained ready to contribute to the collective effort to address those 
needs as they were identified by de veloping and least-developed countries. 
102. The representative of Mali  said that human resources devel opment was important to ensure 
sufficient capacity for seeking as well as awarding gove rnment contracts.  Therefore, it was desirable 
to strengthen companies' capacity.  In Mali there was a gap between the information available for 
awarding contracts and the ability of enterprises and co mpanies to use that information.  Appropriate 
ways  should be developed to bridge that gap for the small and medium enterprises and local 
communities. 
103. The representative of the European Community  said that the United States submission was a 
useful contribution to the debate on technical assi stance and capacity building.   The organization of 
the Symposium back to back with the meeti ng of the Working Group was welcome because the 
discussions in the Working Group also had a pedagogic component, which was very useful for many 
countries that often did not have the opportunity to attend the meetings of the Group.  He hoped that capital-based participants would be able to con tinue attending the meetings of the Working Group. 
104. The representative of Nigeria
 said that the communication by the United States had raised 
thought-provoking issues and showed that the United St ates was really taking time to look at technical 
assistance and capacity building.  Notwithstanding th e question raised by the representative of India 
about measuring the benefits of transparency, his de legation believed that the benefits were tangible 
and enormous.  The problem lay with the transparen cy of the procurement rules and procedures, and 
obtaining information on specific procurements.  Referring to the issues raised in the session on 
technical cooperation and capacity building at the Symposium the previous day, he said that there was a mismatch between the commitments to be undert aken and the capabilities that were available.  
Furthermore, resource shortage, limited expertise,  weak public administrations and the lack of 
supporting institutions were all critical issues that went beyond the kind of technical assistance that 
the WTO could provide.  The issues related to infr astructures in place in capitals were crucial and 
should be addressed in cooperation w ith multilateral development banks. 
105. The representative of Brazil
 said that, although he agreed with the view that enhancing 
awareness of the benefits of an agreement on transparency in government procurement was a 
fundamental aspect of technical assistance, he coul d not agree that technical assistance should be 
limited to that, for the following reasons.  First, in light of the experience of the Uruguay Round, there were still several developing and least-develope d countries requesting assistance to understand the 
agreements they had signed up to and to implemen t the commitments they ha d undertaken.  Whatever 
measure one took, seven-and-a-half years to get thi ngs working could only be described as a failure of 
the negotiating process, and Members should avoid re peating the same mistake in the forthcoming WT/WGTGP/M/15 
Page 16  
 
Round.  Second, Members needed to be more am bitious in technical cooperation because awareness 
gave Members a theoretical, abstract knowledge of  the issues.  In contrast, technical cooperation 
would give them a hands-on experience of the i ssues being dealt with.  There was nothing that 
contributed to hesitation more than lack of knowledge.   Therefore, the best service to the work of the 
Group would be to get concrete and practical know ledge into all developing and least-developed 
countries as to the mechanics of transparency in government procurement. 
C. 
OBSERVER STATUS OF INTERNATI ONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS  
106. The Chairman  said that, at its past meetings, the Working Group had considered requests for 
observer status from three intern ational intergovernmental orga nizations (OECD, SELA and the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference) and agreed to revert to these requests in the light of the 
ongoing consultations in the framework of the Genera l Council.  Given the overall status in the WTO 
regarding this matter, he suggested that the Working Group revert to this matter at its next meeting in 
the light of developments in those consultations. 
D. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING  
107. The Chairman  said that, as agreed at the informal meeting held in March, the third meeting of 
the Working Group would be held on 29 November  2002.  The meeting would be primarily for the 
purpose of approving the Group's Report to th e General Council on its activities in 2002. 
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