WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  GPA/82 
26 November 2004 
 (04-5160) 
Committee on Government Procurement  
  
 
REPORT (JULY 2003 – NOVEMBER 2004) OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNM ENT PROCUREMENT 
 
  I. GENERAL  
1. This Report covers the period since the Committee's previous Annual Report (GPA/75), that 
is July 2003 – November 2004.  It is issued pursuant to Article XXIV:7(a) of the Agreement on Government Procurement. 
2. Since the last Annual Report, the Committee has held four formal meetings – on 
22 August 2003 and on 23 April, 16 July and 17 No vember 2004 (GPA/M/21-24).  The first of these 
meetings was chaired by Mr. Jan-Peter Mout (the Netherlands), and the subsequent meetings by 
Mr. Niklas Bergström (Sweden). 
3. The Committee has also held a series of in formal meetings, pursuing negotiations under 
Article XXIV:7 of the Agreemen t on Government Procurement, in  August and November 2003 and in 
February, April, June, October and November 2004. 
4. The following WTO Members are covered by the Agreement:  Canada;  the European 
Communities, including its 15 member States as well as, since 1 May 2004, its 10 new member 
States;  Hong Kong, China;  Iceland;  Israel;  Japan;  Korea;  Liechtenstein;  the Kingdom of the 
Netherlands with respect to Aruba;  Norway;  Singapore;  Switzerland;  and the United States. 
5. Twenty WTO Members have observer status in the Committee on Government Procurement:  
Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bulgar ia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, 
Georgia, Jordan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mo ldova, Mongolia, Oman, Panama, Sri Lanka, 
Chinese Taipei and Turkey.  Requests for obser ver status by Sri Lanka (GPA/W/292, dated 
6 April 2004) and Armenia (GPA/W/ 293, dated 18 June 2004) were a pproved by the Committee at its 
meetings of 23 April (GPA/M/22, para. 3) and 16 July 2004 (GPA/M/23, paras. 7-10), respectively.  
Three intergovernmental organizations, IMF, OE CD and UNCTAD, also have observer status. 
II. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT 
A. T
HRESHOLDS  
6. In accordance with the Decision on Modalities for Notifying Threshold Figures in National 
Currencies (GPA/1, Annex 3), Korea notified its thr eshold figures expressed in national currencies for 
2003-2004 (GPA/W/251), and Switzer land notified its threshold figures expressed in national 
currencies for 2004 (GPA/W/285/Add.7).  Further, th e following Parties have provided information 
on their threshold figures expressed in national curr encies for 2004-2005:  Canada;  the European 
Communities;  Hong Kong, China;  Israel;  Japan;  Korea;  the Kingdom of the Netherlands with 
respect to Aruba;  Norway;  Singapore;  Sw itzerland;  and the United States (GPA/W/285, 
GPA/W/285/Add.1-6 and GPA/W/285/Add.8-9). GPA/82 
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 B. N
OTIFICATION AND REVIEW OF NAT IONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION  
7. In accordance with the Decision on Procedures fo r the Notification of National Implementing 
Legislation (GPA/1/Add.1),  Hong Kong, China (G PA/27/Add.1, dated 20 August 2003) and Japan 
(GPA/37/Add.1, dated 7 April 2004)  have notified a change in thei r respective national implementing 
legislation.  The Committee addressed those notif ications at its meetings of 22 August 2003 
(GPA/M/21, para. 62) and 23 April 2004, (G PA/M/22, paras. 61-62), respectively. 
8. As regards the Kingdom of the Netherlands with respect to Aruba, at the meeting of 
22 August 2003, the Committee was informed that th ere were no new developments concerning the 
eventual submission of implementing legislati on (GPA/M/21, para. 61).  At the meeting of 
23 April 2004, the Kingdom of the Netherlands with respect to Aruba said th at the Government of 
Aruba had originally intended to introduce new impl ementing legislation and to  subsequently answer 
the questions in GPA/1/Add.1 on the basis of such newly introduced legislation (GPA/M/22, paras. 63-64). 
C. S
TATISTICAL REPORTING  
9. Article XIX:5 of the Agreement on Government Procurement requires Parties to collect and 
provide, on an annual basis, statistics on their pr ocurements covered by the Agreement.  During the 
period under review, Hong Kong, China has reported statistics for 2002 (GPA/76, dated 
30 September 2003) and for 2003 (GPA/80, date d 20 September 2004), and Korea has reported 
statistics for 2002 (GPA/76/A dd.1, dated 7 January 2004). 
D. CONSULTATIONS AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT  
10. There were no matters raised under Artic le XXII of the Agreement on Government 
Procurement during the reporting period. 
E. PROCEDURAL MATTERS  
11. In accordance with the revised Decision on Pr ocedures for the Circulation and Derestriction 
of Documents of the Committee on Government Procurement (GPA/72, dated 23 October 2002), 
Parties agreed to the derestriction of th e documents listed in document GPA/77 (dated 
29 January 2004). 
III. MODIFICATIONS TO THE APPENDICES TO THE AGREEMENT 
A. ENLARGEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES  
12. The coverage of the Agreement on Government Procurement has been extended to the ten 
new member States of the European Communities (Estonia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, 
Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,  Slovakia and Slovenia) as of 1 May 2004, the date of their 
accession to the European Communities.  In line with the Decision made by the Committee (GPA/78, 
dated 4 May 2004) at its meeting of 23 April 20 04 (GPA/M/22, paras. 14-28), the modification to 
Appendices I-IV of the European Communities (GPA /MOD/EEC/1 and Add.1) took effect as of 
1 May 2004 (WT/Let/472).  As a consequence, four of the ten new member States of the European 
Communities (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sloveni a) that had submitted applications for accession 
(GPA/41, GPA/SPEC/5, GPA/66 and GPA/56, respectively) and had ongoing accession processes 
before 1 May 2004, have withdrawn their applications for accession (GPA/41/Rev.1, 
GPA/SPEC/5/Rev.2, GPA/66/Rev.1 and GPA/56/Rev.1, respectively).  GPA/82 
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 B. OTHER MODIFICATIONS  
13. Since the last annual report, the following add itional modifications to Parties' respective 
Appendices became effective: 
(a) modification by Canada  (GPA/W/203), effective as of 9 December 2003 
(WT/Let/454); 
(b) modifications by Hong Kong, China : 
(i) notification GPA/269, effective as of 6 August 2003 (WT/Let/453); 
(ii) notification GPA/MOD/HKG/1, effective as of 5 August 2004 (WT/Let/476); 
(c) modifications by Japan : 
(i) notification GPA/W/255, effective as of 14 October 2003 
(WT/Let/452/Rev.1); 
(ii) notification GPA/W/273 as well as, although only with respect to National 
Consumer Information Center of Japan , notification GPA/W/274, effective as 
of 29 January 2004 (WT/Let/469); 
(iii) notification GPA/MOD/JPN/1, effective as of 4 March 2004 (WT/Let/463); 
(iv) notification GPA/MOD/JPN/2, effective as of 14 April 2004 (WT/Let/470); 
(v) notification GPA/MOD/JPN/3, effective as of 16 April 2004 (WT/Let/471); 
(vi) notification GPA/MOD/JPN/4, effective as of 7 May 2004 (WT/Let/473); 
(vii) notification GPA/MOD/JPN/5, effective as of 20 May 2004 (WT/Let/475); 
(viii) notifications GPA/MOD/JPN/8 and GPA/MOD/JPN/9, effective as of 
17 September 2004 (WT/Let/478); 
(ix) notification GPA/MOD/JPN/11, effective as of 17 October 2004 
(WT/Let/483)*; 
(x) notification GPA/MOD/JPN/15, effective as of 20 October 2004 
(WT/Let/484)*; 
(d) modifications by Korea : 
(i) notification GPA/W/250, as regards Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corporation 
and Daehan Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd, as well as notification GPA/MOD/KOR/1, effective as of 6 October 2004 (WT/Let/481/Rev.1); 
(ii) notification GPA/W/284, effective as of 12 December 2003 (WT/Let/455); 
 
                                                     
 
* Official certification docu ment not yet circulated. GPA/82 
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 (e) modifications by the United States
: 
(i) notification GPA/W/153, as regards all relevant entities, except for the 
Uranium Enrichment Corporation, effective as of 1 October 2004 (WT/Let/482/Rev.1);  and 
(ii) notification GPA/MOD/USA/1, effective as of 14 February 2004 
(WT/Let/457). 
14. The following proposed modifications are outstanding: 
(a) proposed modifications by Japan
 relating to: 
(i) NTT  (GPA/W/91, dated 6 September 1999) 
No developments in the period under review. 
 
(ii) East Japan Railway Company, Central Japan Railway Company and West 
Japan Railway Company  (GPA/W/144, 145 and 146, dated 29 August 2001, 
and GPA/W/152 & Corr.1, dated 20 September and 10 October 2001) 
In October 2003 the European Commun ities submitted additional questions 
(GPA/W/271 and Corr.1), which Ja pan responded to in June 2004 
(GPA/MOD/JPN/6).  
(iii) Railway Construction Public Corpora tion and Corporation for Advanced 
Transport and Technology  (GPA/W/272 and Rev.1, dated 23 September and 
8 October 2003, respectively) 
In October 2003 the European Comm unities placed an objection to the 
proposed deletion of both entities (GPA/W/279 and Corr.1) and raised questions thereon subsequently (GPA/W/291).  The United States did not object to the deletion of Japan Railway  Construction Public Corporation but 
it objected to the deletion of the Corporation for Advanced Transport and 
Technology and asked questions in that regard (GPA/W/280). 
 
(iv) Japan Consumer Information Center, Water Resources Development Public 
Corporation, Japan Green Resources Corporation, the Japan Science and 
Technology Corporation, RIKEN (The In stitute of Physical and Chemical 
Research), National Stadium and Sc hool Health Center of Japan, the 
Association for Welfare of the Mental ly and Physically Handicapped, and 
National Agriculture Research Organization  (GPA/W/274, dated 
23 September 2003) 
In October 2003 the European Communities placed an objection to all 
proposed modifications (GPA/W/279 and Corr.1).  After further study, the 
European Communities did not object to the deletion of the Japan Consumer 
Information Center, but put questions to Japan in respect of the other entities (GPA/W/291).  The United States also did not object to the deletion of the Japan Consumer Information Center, it was silent on the proposed modification concerning the National Ag riculture Research Organization;  
however, it objected to the proposed withdrawal of the other entities and 
posed questions thereon (GPA/W/280).  Accordingly, the modification  GPA/82 
 Page 5 
 
 
 concerning Japan Consumer Information Center was certified as of 
29 January 2004 (WT/Let/469, dated 11 May 2004).  As to the other entities, Japan responde d to the questions by the European 
Communities and the United States in September 2004 (GPA/MOD/JPN/13). 
 
(v) National Aerospace Laboratory
 (GPA/W/275, dated 23 September 2003) 
In October 2003 the European Comm unities objected to the proposed 
deletion (GPA/W/279 and Corr.1) and asked questions thereon 
(GPA/W/291).  The United States also placed an objection and posed 
questions (GPA/W/280). 
 
(vi) Social Welfare and Medical Service Corporation and Japan Institute of 
Labour  (GPA/W/276, dated 8 October 2003) 
In November 2003 the European Communities objected to the proposed 
modification (GPA/W/282) and later posed questions (GPA/W/291), number 
9 and 10 of which Japan answered in September 2004 (GPA/MOD/JPN/12). 
 
(vii) Annex 3 of Japan's Appendix I  (GPA/MOD/JPN/7, dated 26 July 2004) 
In August 2004 the European Communities objected to this proposed 
modification and posed questions ther eon (GPA/MOD/JPN/10), which Japan 
responded to in September 2004 (GPA/MOD/JPN/14). 
 
(viii) National Center for Industria l Property Information and Training  
(GPA/MOD/JPN/16, dated 10 November 2004) 
(b) proposed modification by Korea  relating to Korea Telecom  (GPA/W/207, dated 
11 September 2002): 
The European Communities withdrew its objection to this proposed modification 
(GPA/W/214) in October 2003 (GPA/W/278 an d Corr.1).  In June 2004 the United 
States also withdrew (GPA /MOD/KOR/3) its objection (GPA/W/210).  The objection 
by Canada (GPA/W/217) remains valid.  
(c) Notification by the United States
 concerning proposed modifications to reflect 
changes in the administrative structure of the Federal Government (GPA/W/153, 
dated 25 September 2001), as regards th e Uranium Enrichment Corporation : 
Canada withdrew its objection (GPA/W/167)  to this proposed modification with 
regard to all entities concerned (GPA/M OD/USA/2).  However, at the Committee 
meeting of 23 April 2004, the European Communities withdrew its objection 
(GPA/W/163) only concerning the entities in th at notification other than the Uranium 
Enrichment Corporation (GPA/M/22, para. 40), and on 1 October 2004 Japan 
withdrew its objection (GPA/W/162) only concerning the entities in that notification other than the Uranium Enrichment Cor poration (GPA/MOD/USA/3).  Accordingly, 
the proposed modifications have been cer tified only concerning the entities in that 
notification other than the Uranium Enrich ment Corporation (WT/Let/482), while the 
objections by the European Communiti es and Japan concerning the Uranium 
Enrichment Corporation remain valid.  GPA/82 
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 15. With respect to items (a)(i) and (ii) of  the preceding paragraph, Japan submitted to the 
Committee's November 2004 meeting a document relati ng to its pending notifications pursuant to 
Article XXIV:6(b) of the Agreement on Gove rnment Procurement (GPA/MOD/JPN/17, dated 
15 November 2004).  This document was the subject of an exchange of views at that meeting. 
16. At the formal meeting of 17 November 2004, Israel raised the issue of its commitment in 
relation to offsets.  During the discussion, Israel announced its intention to formally notify a proposed 
modification to the relevant Note to its Appendix I pursuant to Article XXIV:6(a) of the Agreement 
on Government Procurement.  The Committee agre ed to hold a meeting on 16 December 2004 to 
address that notification. 
 
IV. ACCESSIONS 
17. Nine WTO Members are in the process of acceding to the Agreement on Government 
Procurement:  Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Jo rdan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Oman, Panama 
and Chinese Taipei.  A further five WTO Members ha ve provisions in their respective Protocols of 
Accession to the WTO regarding accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement:  Armenia, 
China, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Mongolia. 
18. The following developments have taken place with regard to accessions: 
(a) Georgia
 submitted its entity offer in Dece mber 2003 (GPA/SPEC/34), and in June 
2004 it responded (GPA/ACC/GEO/3) to qu estions from the European Communities 
(GPA/W/232) and Japan (GPA/ACC/GEO/1 ) as well as to comments from Hong 
Kong, China on Georgia's entity offer (GPA/W/290).  Hong Kong, China replied to 
this response in June 200 4 (GPA/ACC/GEO/4).  In April 2004 Korea submitted 
questions and comments regarding Georgia's entity offer (GPA/ACC/GEO/2, dated 21 April 2004), and the United States also posed questions regarding Georgia's entity offer in September 2004 (GPA/ACC/GEO/5 ).  In November 2004 Japan submitted 
responses (GPA/ACC/GEO/6) to Georgia's replies in document GPA/ACC/GEO/3.  
At the meeting of the Committee on Gove rnment Procurement on 17 November 2004 
the Committee agreed that the Chairman would consult with Parties about the 
possibility of holding plurila teral consultations on Georgia's accession process back 
to back with the first meeting of the Co mmittee in 2005, scheduled for the week of 
14 March 2005. 
(b) Jordan
 submitted its original entity offer in February 2003 (GPA/SPEC/29).  The 
United States submitted a first set of qu estions thereon (GPA/SPEC/30), to which 
Jordan responded in August 2003 (GPA/SPEC/31).  Additi onal questions on Jordan's 
original entity offer were receive d from Canada (GPA/ACC/JOR/2, dated 
16 April 2004), the European Communities (GPA/SPEC/32, dated 27 August 2003 and GPA/SPEC/32/Corr.1, dated 29 Oc tober 2003) and the United States 
(GPA/SPEC/33, dated 22 Oct ober 2003).  Jordan responded to those additional 
questions in documents GPA/ACC/JOR/3 (dated 12 August 2004), GPA/ACC/JOR/1 
(dated 3 March 2004) and GPA/W/289 (dated 8 January 2004), respectively. 
Two rounds of informal plurilateral consu ltations between Parties and Jordan took 
place on 23 April and 7 October 2004.  The consultations in October 2004 addressed 
Jordan's revised entity offer (GPA/ACC/J OR/4, dated 30 September 2004).  Jordan 
informed Parties that its new comprehensive legislation was expected to be finalized 
by the end of 2004 and would hopefully pass the legislative process by summer 2005.  
It was agreed that Parties should submit their comments on Jordan's revised offer by  GPA/82 
 Page 7 
 
 
 15 December 2004 through the Secretariat.  In  turn, Jordan agreed to prepare a further 
revised offer by 15 February 2005.  Th is would allow holding another round of 
plurilateral consultations at the first Committee meeting in 2005. 
For further details on Jordan's accession pro cess, reference is made to the minutes of 
the meetings of the Committee on 22 Augus t 2003 (GPA/M/21, paras. 37-45) and on 
23 April 2004 (GPA/M/22, paras. 50-56 and Annex B). 
(c) With respect to the accession of Chinese Taipei , all bilateral consultations have been 
successfully concluded with interested delegations on the substantive issues.  
However, the issue of nomenclatures rema ins outstanding.  For further details of 
efforts to resolve that issue, reference is made to the minutes of the meetings of the 
Committee on 22 August 2003 (GPA/M/21, paras. 46-59) and on 23 April 2004 
(GPA/M/22, paras. 57-60);  and 
(d) Based on the commitment made in its Protocols of Accession to the WTO 
(WT/ACC/ARM/23, paragraph 153), Armenia  submitted a request for observer status 
in the Committee on Government Procurem ent (GPA/W/293, dated 18 June 2004), 
which the Committee approved at its meeti ng of 16 July 2004 (GPA/M/23, paras. 7-
10). 
19. No developments have been reported in re lation to the respective accessions of Albania, 
Bulgaria, China, Croatia, the Kyrgyz Republic , the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 
Moldova, Mongolia, Oman and Panama. 
20. With regard to work pertaining to stre amlining the accession process, at its meeting of 
February 2003 the Committee agreed to take up this issue within the wider context of its work on the 
revision of the Agreement.  Further information on how this issue was addressed in the period under 
review is available in the minutes of the Committee meeting of 22 August 2003 (GPA/M/21, 
paras. 31-35) and 23 April 2004 (GPA/M/22, paras. 4-13), as well as in the versions of the revised 
texts of the Agreement as at the end of the vari ous informal meetings held by the Committee during 
the period under review in accordance with Ar ticle XXIV:7 of the Agreement on Government 
Procurement. 
V. NEGOTIATIONS 
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.  During the period 
under review, Parties pursued their negotiations at informal meetings in August and November 2003, 
and in February, April, June , October and November 2004. 
22. This work focused primarily on simplifica tion and improvement of the non-market-access-
related provisions in the text of the Agreement, on the basis of proposals made by delegations.  Since 
the meeting of June 2003, proposals have been cons olidated after each meeting into a single revised 
draft text, which formed the basis of the drafting wo rk at the subsequent meeting.  The discussions at 
the meetings usually addressed all provisions of the re vised draft text, with special attention to certain 
issues, such as developing countries, electronic te ndering, conditions for participation, notices of 
intended procurement, dispute settlement and modifica tions and rectifications to Parties' Appendices 
to the Agreement. GPA/82 
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 23. As regards the work pertaining to elements  2 and 3 of the work programme, namely the 
extension of coverage and the e limination of discriminatory measures and practices, at its formal 
meeting of 16 July 2004 the Committee adopted a Decision on negotiating modalities (GPA/79, dated 
19 July 2004, copy attached), taking into acc ount earlier submissions and discussions on elements 
2 and 3 of the work programme.  In accordance with such modalities, Parties shall table in writing 
their initial requests by 30 November 2004, and their initial offers by 1 March 2005, but not later than 
1 May 2005.  Parties also agreed that the Comm ittee as a whole will address the provisions in the 
draft revised text of the Agreement referred to as "market access issues", as well as issues relating to 
the presentation and structure of the appendices to th e Agreement.  One submission has been made in 
this connection (Job No. 5582, date d 26 August 2004), which was di scussed at the informal sessions 
of 8 October and 17 November 2004.  GPA/82 
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 ATTACHMENT  
 WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  GPA/79 
19 July 2004 
 
 (04-3073) 
Committee on Government Procurement  
    
MODALITIES FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS ON EXTENSION OF COVERAGE AND 
ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATORY MEASURES AND PRACTICES 
 
Decision of 16 July 2004
 
 
 
  The Committee agrees on the following modaliti es for the negotiations on the extension of 
coverage and elimination of discriminatory measures and practices:  
Objectives  
 
 In accordance with Article XXIV:7(b) and (c),  the negotiations on these matters shall aim at: 
  (i) the greatest possible extension of coverage among all Parties on the basis of mutual 
reciprocity, having regard to the provisions  relating to developing countries;  and 
 
 (ii) the elimination of discriminatory measures and practices which distort open 
procurement. 
  The Parties recognize the interdependence be tween these two objectives, as well as the need 
to maximize clarity with regard to coverage and any remaining discriminatory measures and practices. 
 
Matters to be negotiated in the Committee as a whole  
 
 The Committee as a whole will address the provisions in the draft revised text of the Agreement referred to as "market access issues", as well as issues relating to the presentation and 
structure of the appendices to the Agreement, including: 
  - whether there should be furt her harmonization of thresholds; 
  - whether there should be a uniform level of coverage of the entities covered by the 
Agreement; 
  - whether Annex 1 should follow a positive or negative list approach; 
  - whether there should be greater harmoni zation of the way entities are described, in 
particular whether Annexes 2 and 3 should be  structured on the basis of categories of  
 GPA/82 
Page 10  
 
   entities, for example as defined in the legisl ation of individual Parties or in terms of 
lists of individual entities; 
  - whether, in regard to services coverage in Annexes 4 and 5, further commonality of 
presentation is desirable and feasible, taki ng into account coverage and presentation 
under the GATS; 
  - whether the General Notes in the Annex es can be simplified and made more easily 
understandable; 
 
 - other issues that may be raised by delegations. 
  The Committee shall initiate work on the above issues in autumn 2004.  Participants are 
invited to submit initial proposals rela ting to these matters by 31 August 2004. 
 Matters to be largely negotiated bilaterally 
 
 Negotiations on the extension of coverage  of each Party's Appendix I as well as on the 
elimination of discriminatory measures and practic es in such Appendices will be largely pursued 
bilaterally but subject to monito ring by the Committee as a whole. 
 
 These negotiations shall be pursued as follows: 
  (i) by 30 November 2004, each Party sha ll table in writing its initial requests to any 
other Party and each Party shall aim to ta ble its initial offer by 1 March 2005 but not 
later than 1 May 2005; 
 
(ii) provision would then be made for rounds  of bilateral negotiations, leading to the 
presentation of revised and improved offers  by the end of October 2005.  These 
rounds of bilateral negotiations will normally  be arranged to take place back-to-back 
with meetings of the Committee. 
 
 The basis for these negotiations shall be the exis ting coverage of Parties as reflected in their 
respective Appendix I, subject to any rectifi cations and modifications notified pursuant to 
Article XXIV:6 of the GPA.  Parties concer ned will make every effort to resolve pending 
notifications.  
 Parties agree on the need to ensure collectiv e monitoring of the above bilateral negotiating 
process.  To this end:  
(i) the Secretariat shall circulate as restri cted documents to all other Parties initial 
official requests and offers as well as subsequent official revisions;  and 
 
(ii) regular stocktaking and review of the bilateral process will take place in the 
Committee. 
  Any observer government which has submitted an offer with a view to participating in the 
revised Agreement may participate in this aspect of the negotiations and receive copies of requests 
and offers circulated by the Secretariat. 
  GPA/82 
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 Conclusion of the negotiations 
 
 Parties agree that the negotiations on extension of coverage and elimination of discriminatory 
measures as well as other aspects of the Article XXIV :7 negotiations aim to be concluded by the 
beginning of 2006. 
__________