./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/WGTGP/W/28
6 June 2000
(00-2238)
Working Group on Transparency
in Government ProcurementOriginal:  English
PROPOSAL FOR A WORK PROGRAMME FOR COORDINATING INTERNATIONAL
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF A POTENTIAL
AGREEMENT ON TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Communication from the United States
The following communication has been received from the Permanent Mission of the United
States with the request that it be circulated to the Working Group on Transparency in Government
Procurement.
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I. INTRODUCTION
Discussions in the Working Group to date reflect the broadly shared view that all Members
and their citizens benefit from concrete steps to ensure transparency in government procurement
practices.  Many individual Members have focused on transparency measures as a key element oftheir overall domestic efforts to build confidence in the management of government affairs, establish a
stable and predictable commercial environment, and provide a solid foundation for future growth and
development.
While it appears that all Members are committed to the principles of transparency in
government procurement, some delegations have expressed concerns about proposals to develop
WTO rules in this area.  They note that some Members may face particular administrative or technicalchallenges in applying those principles to their individual circumstances.
The United States believes that the Working Group should develop concrete and pragmatic
means of addressing these issues.  Accordingly, we propose that the Working Group, concurrently
with the ongoing work on its existing mandate, develop a focused work programme to assess the
potential challenges that some Members may face in this area and the availability of international
technical assistance to address such challenges (see below).   We believe that this approach must be
considered in close connection with the emerging substantive results of the Working Group’s work on
the elements of an appropriate agreement, and in the light of Members’ overall interests and
objectives in the rules-based international trading system.
II. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
Flexible Application of Transparency Rules : There is broad agreement in the Working Group
that a potential agreement must be flexible enough to be fully and effectively applied in each
Member’s individual circumstances.  The United States believes that effective transparency can beachieved in a wide variety of ways, as appropriate to those circumstances.  For example, while there
are clear advantages to publishing relevant information on the Internet, an appropriate agreement
should provide the flexibility to use other appropriate media, such as official gazettes or newspapers.WT/WGTGP/W/28
Page 2
In our view, this flexibility in the application of potential WTO rules in this area is relevant to
concerns about the administrative and technical challenges that some Members may face in this area.
While we agree that steps must be taken to address those challenges, we believe at the same time that
appropriate flexibility in the substantive elements emerging from the Working Group can help to
ensure that all Members will be in a position to effectively apply the elements of a potentialagreement.
Appropriate Transparency Rules Contribute to all Members’ Full Integration Into the
International Trading System : We believe these issues also should be considered in light of the
benefits to all Members of extending and strengthening the WTO system.  The predictability and
certainty provided by a rules-based transparency regime promotes economic stability and commercial
confidence, and can complement other efforts to ensure the full integration of all Member economiesinto the global trading system.  In this sense, the United States believes that all Members have a
shared interest in accelerating, rather than delaying, progress toward such an environment.  Improved
coordination between the development of appropriate rules and the efficient use of international
technical assistance, where appropriate, can help to achieve this objective.
III. A METHOD FOR PROCEEDING
The United States proposes that:
• Concurrently with, and drawing on the Working Group’s ongoing work on the elements of an
appropriate agreement,  the Working Group should establish an operational work programmedesigned to assess relevant administrative and technical assistance needs, identify potential
resources for addressing those needs, and facilitate efforts to effectively address challenges
that individual Members may face in relation to the elements under discussion.
- Such a work programme could proceed in two phases.  In the first phase, the Working
Group could collect and analyse information on potential capacity-building needs in
relation to the elements of transparency under discussion and, at the same time,
collect information on potential sources of technical assistance relating to those
needs.
- Both these types of information might be organized in appropriate categories, such as
issues relating to the development of legal and administrative procedures, trainingand other human resources issues, and physical infrastructure or other technical
needs.
- In the second phase of the work programme, the Working Group could explore how
to use this information efficiently to produce operational results.
• Prior to the Working Group’s next meeting, the Chairman should conduct informal
consultations with a broad range of interested delegations with a view to outlining the most
efficient way to proceed in developing such a work programme.
• Based on the numerous submissions that other relevant international organizations have
previously made to the Working Group, the Chairman should be authorized to consult with
those organizations with a view to drawing on their expertise in this area.
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