RESTRICTED  
  
GPA/M/72  
 
5 October 2018  
(18-6148) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Government Procurement   
 
MINUTES OF THE FORMA L MEETING OF 27 JUNE 2018  
CHAIRMAN: MR JOHN NE WHAM (IRELAND)  
The Chairman said that, in preparation for the meeting, delegations had received an Airgram1 setting 
out the proposed agenda, in addition to two related faxes. The proposed agenda was as follows:  
 
1. Chairmanship of the Committee;  
2. Request for Observer Status by Belarus; and  
3. Other Business, if any.  
In regard to Other Business, the Chairman said that  he would draw attention to the dates that had 
been reserved for further substantive meetings of the Committee during the second half of the year . 
 
No other items of other business were proposed by delegations.  
 
The Committee adopted  the agenda, with the a dditional information item on the meeting dates.  
 
1  CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE  
1.1.  The Chairman recalled that , at its meeting in March  2018, the Committee mandated him to 
conduct consultations to facilitate the confirmation of the next Chairman in the cours e of the 
Committee's  meetings in June 2018 . 
1.2.  At the start of his consultations, three candidates had expressed interest in the Chairmanship. 
These were: Dr. Yu -Ping Lien of Chinese Taipei; Mr Alberto Sanz Serrano of Spain; and Mr Carlos 
Vanderloo of Canada.  At every step of the process, delegations had repeatedly mentioned to him 
their appreciation for the very high quality of all three candidates . He share d this sentiment. In 
particular, he appreciate d both the high quality of  all the candidates and the ver y constructive spirit 
in which Parties had participated throughout the exercise . 
1.3.  As detailed in his communication to delegations dated 13 June 2018 , his consultations had 
been carried out in two phases. In the course of the consultations, Parties had menti oned a number 
of factors underlying their positions . These included:  a desire for rotation and regional inclusion; the 
experience of the candidates; the challenges ahead for the Committee; and the ambitions of the 
candidates for the Committee . No Party, at  any stage, had signalled any difficulty in working with 
any of the candidates – on the contrary, all Parties had made clear their readiness to accept the 
result of the consensus.  
1.4.  In the light of the process that had been conducted, there now remained only  one candidate 
for the Chairmanship position, namely Mr Carlos Vanderloo of Canada.  
1.5.  The Committee elected  Mr Carlos VANDERLOO (Canada ) as its Chairman for the remainder of 
2018, with effect from the conclusion of the present  meeting . 
1.6.  The newly elected Chairman  thanked delegations for the confidence reposed in him. It was a 
true honour to be confirmed as the new Chair man of the Committee. He recognized  and thank ed 
                                                
1 WTO/AIR/GPA/ 14, dated  15 June 2018.  GPA/M/72  
 
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  the other candidates, Mr Alberto Sanz Serrano  and Dr Yu -Ping Lien. All would agree that the y were 
excellent candidates with considerable talent, knowledge and experience. It was his hope and trust 
that they would remain engaged on GPA issues, and continue to contribute to the success of the 
Committee . 
1.7.  Continuing, he observed that the fact that  the Committee had such a strong cast of candidates 
running for the position of Chairman should not come as a surprise. The WTO Committee on 
Government Procurement had a deserved reputation in the Organisation  for getting things done and 
for advancing issues  in a pragmatic and realistic manner. Members worked together collaboratively 
and openly in sharing knowledge, views and positions . This open and collaborative spirit had served 
the Committee well, and it was his intention to continue to sharpen and promot e it during his tenure 
as Chair man. 
1.8.  Going forward, there was no shortage of opportunities for the Committee. For instance, there 
were accessions to advance and conclude and work programmes to complete. There was also  the 
issue of Brexit  which would require  the foc used attention of the Committee . He was a great  believer 
that delegations could learn from each other based on their respective national experiences, 
practices, and accumulated knowledge. He would , therefore,  strongly encourage the exchange of 
views and perspectives among Members  in regard to how best to promote a greater exchange of 
knowledge and increase winning opportunities within the Committee. As Chairman, his door would 
always remain open to Members whenever they wished to discuss any issue.  
1.9.  Concluding, h e recognized and thanked the outgoing Chair man, Mr John Newham (Ireland) for 
his services to the Committee. The Committee had been very fortunate to have had Mr Newham  as 
its Chairman over the past years . Delegations  would miss his calm and co ol demeanour, 
straightforward approach, and sense of humour . 
1.10.   The representatives of Korea, Republic of ; Japan ; the European Union ; the United States of 
America ; Hong Kong, China ; Switzerland ; the Republic of Moldova ; the Separate Customs Territory 
of Taiwa n, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu ; Singapore ; Norway ; New Zealand ; Liechtenstein ; Ukraine ; 
and China  warmly congratulated Mr Vanderloo on his election as Chairman. They wished him success 
in his new role, and looked forward to working with him in a constructive spirit to carry forward the 
work of the Committee. They took time to recognise the other candidates for putting their names 
forward and for their gracious participation in the process. The Committee was indeed fortunate to 
have had such high quality candid ates. They also warmly thanked the outgoing Chairman for his 
leadership, his sense of humour, and his effectiveness. They expressed their deep appreciation to 
him for the achievements of the Committee during his tenure, and wished him the best for the 
future. 
1.11.   The representative of Ukraine  expressed the deep appreciation of his delegation to the 
outgoing Chairman for the excellent support his country had received in the course of its accession 
to the Agreement . 
1.12.   The representative of China  expressed  the deep appreciation of his delegation to the outgoing 
Chairman  for his contribution to China's accession. His delegation  looked forward to the conclusion 
of China's GPA accession  negotiations under the tenure  of the incoming Chairman.  
1.13.   Concluding, the outgoing Chairman , Mr Newham, expressed his deepest confidence in the 
incoming Chairman, Mr Vanderloo. He thanked all delegations for their kind words . 
2  REQUEST FOR OBSERVER  STATUS BY BELARUS  
2.1.  The Chairman  said that the request for observer s tatus in the Committee had been  circulated 
by Belarus in May 2018 .2 Pursuant to Article XXI:4 of the revised GPA, any WTO observer may 
submit a written request to the Committee to participate in the Committee as an observer, and may 
be accorded observer st atus by the Committee. To date, no delegation had signalled any reservation 
regarding Belarus' request . He invited the Committee to consider Belarus's request in that light.  
                                                
2 GPA/W/346, dated 9 May 2018.  GPA/M/72  
 
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  2.2.  The Committee  agreed  to grant observer status to Belarus, pursuant to its request and to the 
relevant provisions of the Agreement . 
2.3.  The Chairman , on behalf of the Committee , extend ed a warm welcome to Belarus in its new 
capacity as observer to the Agreement on Government Procurement.  
2.4.  On behalf of his Government, the representative of Belarus3 conveyed his deep appreciation to 
Parties for their acceptance of his country's  request. It was a pleasure to be participating, for the 
first time, in the Committee  as an Observer . Belarus was working hard on its WTO accession and 
looking forward to  joining the ranks of WTO members. His country had a lot to offer , and  its 
successful accession would  have a great and positive impact on the economic development and 
growth not only of his country, but, potentially , also of other WTO members . 
2.5.  While currently focused on  negotiating its obligation s under the core multilateral WTO 
agreements  in its WTO accession process , Belarus was also actively considering the benefits that 
participation in plurilateral agreements under the WTO umbrella could bring to  its economy . It was 
in that vein  that Belarus had sought to join the Committee as an observer. This request reflected 
the commitment of Belarus to its WTO accession process and thus to the multilateral trading system , 
of which the GPA was an integral part . Observer status in the GPA Committee would provide an 
opportunity for Belarus to participate in the discussions in the Committee, gain access to relevant 
information, and become acquainted with the operation and administration of the Agreement. In this 
regard, it was the hope and belief of Belarus that this first step would allow it to learn more about 
the Agreement. The request for observer status that had  just been granted should thus be taken as 
a sign of the importance that Belarus attached to good go vernance in the public procurement sphere,  
as well as to the alignment of the country's institutions with best practices internationally . 
2.6.  Public procurement account ed for a substantial part of the country 's economy . For instance, in 
2017, public  procuremen t expenditure in  Belarus  amounted to  EUR 2.8 billion , equivalent to  more 
than 6% of GDP . All public procurement in Belarus was governed by the "Law of the Republic of 
Belarus on Public Procurement of Goods, Works and Services " dated 13 July 2012. The sourc e of 
funding determined what constituted public procurement, independently of the entity actually doing 
the procuring . The types of procurement procedure used in Belarus comprised: open tendering; 
restricted tendering; electronic auction; request for propo sals; single source procurement and 
exchange trading. The choice of the type of public procurement procedure was determined by  the 
subject matter of the procurement and the estimated value of the annual demand for the procured 
goods or services . Taking int o account the threshold values of the various  procedure s, only 
procurements conducted through open tendering and electronic auctions potentially fell within the 
scope of application of the GPA . 
2.7.  In 2016, 115 ,000 electronic auctions and 4 ,600 open tender ing procedure s were undertaken. 
These  resulted in contracts worth more around EUR 500 million and EUR 89 million respectively. 
These types of public procurement procedures in Belarus were conducted in electronic format. The 
submission of bids under open tendering procedure s was carried out either through the official 
website http://www.icetrade.by , or via two other web sites that were  independent of each other. All 
information on public  procurement in Belarus, including on relevant legislation, was also access ible 
through the above -noted  official website . To be able to submit the tender, a bidder was required to 
obtain an accreditation on the electronic  trading platform and receive an electronic digital signature. 
Pursuant to the procurement legislation of Belarus, foreign suppliers were eligible to be issued with 
electronic digital signatures, and were subsequently able to participate in the procurement  
procedures conducted in Belarus. This was one indication of the openness of Belarus in the sphere 
of public procurement . Indeed, among  the principles of public procurement in Belarus were those  of 
fair trade and the impartial treatment of all potential su ppliers. Belarus' Public Procurement Law 
guarantee d the right of suppliers to bring complaints . 
2.8.  The representatives of the United States of America ; the European Union ; Japan ; the Separate 
Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu ; Korea , Repub lic of ; Switzerland ; 
Singapore ; the Republic of Moldova ; Canada ; and Norway  warmly congratulated Belarus and 
                                                
3 The delegation of Belarus was led by Mr Artur Karpovich , First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Antimonopoly 
Regulation and Trade.  GPA/M/72  
 
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  welcomed it to the Committee as observer. They thanked the representative of Belarus for his 
statement, and looked forward to working together with  his delegation in a fruitful manner .  
2.9.  Continuing, the representative of the United States of America  encouraged Belarus to take 
advantage of its observer status to learn more about the Agreement , in order to  help improve the 
transparency of its public procurement system . 
2.10.   The representative of the European Union  encouraged Belarus to move forward in an 
expeditious manner in its WTO accession process . 
2.11.   The representative of the Republic of Korea  looked forward to Belarus becoming a GPA Party 
in the future upon completion of its WTO accession process.  
2.12.   The representative of Switzerland , echoing the United States, also encouraged Belarus to take 
full advantage of its observer status to align its regulatory regime to international standards. This 
would facilita te its WTO accession process.  
2.13.   The representative of the Republic of Moldova  said that her delegation looked forward to 
smooth negotiations in the ongoing WTO accession process of Belarus, and to the country 
undertaking deep and comprehensive commitments i n the multilateral trading system.   
2.14.   The representative of Canada  said that her delegation looked forward to working with Belarus 
to facilitate its WTO accession process.  
2.15.   The representative of Norway  said that his delegation considered the GPA as a valuab le 
instrument in at least two regards: firstly, it provided market access to its Parties' economic 
operators; and secondly, it enhanced the competitiveness of the domestic economy. Both aspects 
were important for increased productivity and economic growth.  Norway accordingly hoped that 
Belarus would also want to accede to the GPA in the future and if so, that it would use the opportunity 
to enter the GPA accession negotiations with high ambitions.  
2.16.   The representative of Belarus  thanked delegations for their  warm words of encouragement 
and support. His delegation looked forward to future joint and fruitful work.  
3  OTHER BUSINESS  
3.1.  The Chairman  recalled that the date s that had previously been reserved for the remaining 
substantive meeting week of the Committee in 2018, beyond the present meeting, as set out in a 
fax by the Secretariat4, was the week beginning 15 October 2018 , including  plurilateral sessions 
to take place  on Wednesday,  17 October 2018 . 
3.2.  For completeness, the above dates were exclusive of the Committe e's end -of-year 
housekeeping meeting, to be scheduled, at which participation by Geneva -based officials only would 
be expected, and any other short meetings, similarly covered by Geneva officials, that might be 
necessary to respond to contingencies.  
 
_____ _____  
                                                
4 RD/GPA/55, dated 7 November 2017.