GPA/137/Add.8  
 
28 November 2017  
(17-6517) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Government Procurement  Original: English  
 
STATISTICS FOR 2015 REPORTED UNDER  
ARTICLE XVI:4 OF THE  REVISED GPA  
REPORT BY THE UNITED  STATES OF AMERICA1 
Addendum  
The following submission, dated 15 November 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the United States of America.  
 
 
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The United States has submitted both the fiscal year (FY) 2011 statistics  (GPA/114/Add.8)  and the 
FY 2015 partially reported statistics. The decision to submit the FY 2015 partially reported 
statistics is the result of a U S effort to pro vide timelier statistical reporting. Th is is the first time 
that the U S has submitted partially reported statistics. For transparency purposes, the United 
States is providing the following additional information.  
 
1  FY 2011 – CUMULATIVE OBLIGATIO NS STATISTI CS 
1.1.  The United States took steps in 2011 to clarify and improve the accuracy of the reporting of 
federal procurement data with respect to GPA -covered procurements. The Trade Agreements 
Report, which is publicly available on the US Federal Procurement Data S ystem (FPDS) website 
(https://www.fpds.gov ), was changed to capture the total dollars obligated against GPA -covered 
contracts rather than the potential value of those contract awards. The United States made this 
change because not all potential options or ordering limits result in a ctual obligations. U S federal 
contracts often include a base year and options that typically last an additional four to five more 
years from the base year.  
1.2.  Under the methodology established in  2011 – the cumulat ive obligations methodology – US 
data for FY 2011 includes the amount of money spent on the FY 2011 contracts during the FY 2011 
base year, and the subsequent dollars obligated pursuant to the FY 2011 contracts in the following 
additiona l years - 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Obligations against contracts represent the 
actual funds the government has committed for the good to be delivered or the work to be 
performed. Note that both the FY 2009 (GPA/104/Add.8) and FY 2010 (GPA/108/Add.9 ) US 
statistical submission to the WTO GPA are based on this methodology.  
2  FY 2015 – PARTIALLY REPORTED S TATISTICS  
2.1.  While the cumulative obligations methodology provides an accurate value of U.S. federal 
procurement opportunities made available to GPA partie s, it results in a delay in statistical 
submissions. Article XVI.4 of the revised GPA states that "Each report shall cover one year and be 
submitted within two years of the end of the reporting period. " 
2.2.  For better timeliness, the United States is submittin g partially reported statistics within two 
years of the end of the reporting period. The U S government fiscal year runs from 1 October to 
                                                
1 In English only.  GPA/137/Add.8  
 
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  30 September. Most federal agencies are required to record all procurements in FPDS by the end 
of the FY. However the Department of Defense is required to report procurements by 1 January 
following the end of the fiscal year. For example, the end of the FY 2015 reporting period for the 
Department of Defense was 1 January  2016. As such, the presented US FY 2015 partially r eport 
statistics captures two full years of data – FY 2015 and FY 2016.  
2.3.  Since the partially reported statistics do not reflect the full value of multi -year contracts, nor 
do they reflect the total value of procurement oppor tunities made available to GPA P arties, the 
United States will update the partially reported statistics once the cumulative obligations are 
available. For example in 2021 the United States will submit final revised 2015 statistics, using the 
cumulative obligation methodology. The partiall y reported statistics will be updated at that time.  
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The United States' statistics for 2015 are available at the following links:  
 
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2017/GPA/USA/17_5176_00_e.xlsx  
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2017/GPA/USA/17_5176_01_e.xlsx  
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2017/GPA/USA/17_5176_02_e.xlsx  
http://members.wto. org/crnattachments/2017/GPA/USA/17_5176_03_e.xlsx  
 
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