RESTRICTED  
  
GPA/ACC/AUS/21  
 
7 February 2017  
(17-0725) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Government Procurement  Original: English  
 
ACCESSION OF AUSTRALIA  TO THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREME NT 
COMMUNICATION FROM NEW ZEALAND  
The following communication, dated 3 February 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of New Zealand.  
 
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COMMENTS AND REQUEST S FOR IMPROVEMENT FROM  NEW ZEALAND REGARDIN G 
AUSTRALIA 'S REVISED OFFER (GPA /ACC/AUS/17)  
New Zealand thanks Australia for its revised offer (GPA/ACC/AUS/17) which was circulated to the 
Committee on 30 September 2016. New Zealand hereby submits its questions seeking clarification 
and requests for improvement in Australia 's revised offer and reserves the right to withdraw, 
amend, reduce or extend its comments in the light of negotiations with Australia and the 
comments of other GPA Parties.  
 
General request s 
 
1. New Zealand notes that the revised offer does not cover the procurement of motor vehicles 
by many entities listed in Annexes 1, 2 and 3. Can Australia please clarify what types of vehicle 
are included in its definition of motor vehicles? For example, are sp ecialist vehicles such as fire 
engines excluded from coverage or is it just passenger vehicles?  
2. Where services are not included in the revised offer, can Australia please provide the 
Provisional Central Product Classification (CPC) codes for these services ? 
Annex 1 – Central Governmental Entities  
 
3. In Notes to Annex 1, point 4.d ., Australia states "In res pect of paragraphs 1 and 2 
(Non-Discrimination) of Article IV of the Agreement (General Principles) the Australian 
Government reserves the right, pursuant t o paragraph 1 of Article III (Security and General 
Exceptions) to maintain the Australian industry capability program and its successor programs and 
policies ". 
4. Can Australia please clarify the role of the Australian industry capability program and any 
successor programs and policies, as well as its role and involvement in the security and defence 
procurement that is covered by this offer?  
Annex 2 – Sub-Central Governmental Entities  
 
5. In Annex 2, Australia lists the thresholds for sub -central government entit ies as 
SDR 355,000 for goods and services. New Zealand notes this is inconsistent with the Annex 2 
thresholds of most GPA Parties, which is SDR 200,000 for goods and services.  
a. We request that Australia amends the thresholds for sub -central government entit ies 
listed in Annex 2 to SDR 200,000 to align with the majority of GPA Parties.  GPA/ACC/AUS/21  
 
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  6. New Zealand notes that the number of sub -central government entities listed for each State 
Government in Annex 2 varies from State to State. These range from 17 for the Austral ian Capital 
Territory and Tasmania to 74 for Western Australia.  
a. Can Australia please clarify whether all State -level entities are covered in Annex 2? If 
not, can a list of the State -level entities not covered by Annex 2 be provided?  
7. In Notes for Queensland , point 1.b ., Australia states that the Agreement does not cover 
"procurement undertaken by departments, or parts of departments, which deliver health, 
education, training or arts services ". 
a. Can Australia please advise which departments or parts of departm ents deliver health, 
education, training or arts services?  
b. Can Australia please explain why it is seeking to exclude these departments from the 
Agreement?  
Annex 3  – Other Entities  
 
8. New Zealand requests that Australia expand Annex 3 by covering the followin g Australian 
Government Business Enterprises: Australian Postal Corporation; Defence Housing Australia; ASC 
Pty Limited; Australian Rail Track Corporation Limited; Moorebank Intermodal Company Limited; 
and NBN Co Limited.  
Annex 7  – General Notes  
 
9. In Annex 7, point 1 ., Australia states that the Agreement does not apply to "any form of 
preference to benefit small and medium enterprises ". New Zealand is concern ed about the 
inclusion of this G eneral Note and considers it not appropriate in the multilateral fram ework on 
government procurement.  
a. Can Australia please provide information on the preference schemes currently in place to 
benefit small and medium enterprises at the Federal and State level?  
b. Is the purpose of these preference schemes to benefit Australian  small and medium 
enterprises, or also small and medium enterprises from other countries?  
 
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