RESTRICTED  
  
GPA/ACC/MKD/2  
 
6 June 2017  
(17-2989) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Government Procurement  Original: English  
 
ACCESSION OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPU BLIC OF MACEDONIA TO THE AGR EEMENT 
ON GOVERNMENT PROCUR EMENT  
COMMUNICATION FROM T HE UNITED STATES  
The following communication, dated 3 0 May 2017, is being circulated at the r equest of the 
Delegation of the United States  of America.  
 
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COMMENTS AND QUESTIO NS FROM THE UNITED S TATES REGARDING THE FORMER 
YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF  MACEDONIA 'S CONSOLIDATED TEXT OF THE LAW ON PUBLIC  
PROCUREMENT AND REPL IES TO THE CHECKLIST  OF ISSUES (GPA/ACC/M KD/1)  
The United States th anks the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for submitting its replies to 
the Checklist of Issues and the consolidated text of the Law on Public Procurement 
(GPA/ACC/MKD/1) to the GPA Committee. The United States looks forward to continued 
engagement wi th the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the accession process on both the 
checklist of issues as well as in discussions of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 's future 
initial market access offer. The United States reserves the right to submi t additional questions in 
the future.  
 
1  QUESTIONS ON THE CHE CKLIST OF ISSUES  
1.1  Legal Framework  
1.1.  In its response to q uestion 1.3 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes that 
provisions of the GPA will be "transposed " into the Law on Public Procurement . Will this be done 
through legislative action to amend the law? Does the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 
intend to make any other amendments to the Law on Public Procurement?  
1.2  Scope and Coverage  
1.2.  In its response to question 2.2 ., the former Yugoslav R epublic of Macedonia notes that there 
are 3 Secretariats at the central government level (General Secretariat, Secretariat for European 
Affairs, Secretariat for Implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement). Can the former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  explain how these are different structures from Ministries and the 
purpose of these Secretariats?  
1.3.  In its response to question 2.3 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes that 
municipal public enterprises and municipal primary and secondary schoo ls fall within the category 
of Annex 2 entities. Will a list of these entities be provided?  
1.4.  In its response to question 2.6 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes that the 
Law on Public Procurement does not apply to awarding public services cont racts which include 
"purchase or lease of land, buildings or other real estate and rights arising therefrom. " The GPA 
generally does not cover real estate acquisition or rental, but are there other services that fit 
under the broad "public services " label which might not otherwise be excluded from GPA coverage?  GPA/ACC/MKD/2  
 
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  1.5.  In its response to question 2.6 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes that the 
Law on Public Procurement does not apply to "procurement of services related to purchase, 
development, produ ction or co -production of program materials by radio or TV broadcasters. " 
Further, the Law on public procurement does not apply to notary services, representation by 
lawyers, and services rendered by enforcement officers. Will the former Yugoslav Republic of 
Macedonia seek an exception for these services as part of its GPA market access schedule?  
1.3  Non-Discrimination  
1.6.  In its response to question 3.2 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes the 
existence of a procurement preference in utilities contra cts. Will this preference apply to all GPA 
Parties when the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia completes accession?  
1.4  Avoidance of Conflicts of Interest and Prevention of Corrupt Practices  
1.7.  In its response to question 4.1 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes that there 
are actions that are taken  "in case of suspicion of conflicts of interest. " How are conflicts of 
interests identified? Are responsible authorities required to fill out disclosure/reporting forms on 
their assets and personal busin ess dealings, for instance, to identify potential conflicts of interest 
such as may exist with interested suppliers?  
1.8.  In its response to question 4.1 ., can the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia provide 
further information on the answer that it has provi ded, including specific citations of laws or 
regulations that detail the actions taken in the case of a conflict of interest?  
1.9.  In its response to question 4.1 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes some 
actions that procurement officers shall avo id or should take. In the case of officers not being 
allowed to ask for or accept gifts or other benefits, is this action against a specific law? In the case 
of officers reporting such ca ses- including attempted bribes  are officers required to provide a 
report, or is it not a full requirement?  
1.5  Elements Specific to Procurement Procedures  
1.10.   In its response to question 5.1 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes that 
negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice is applied by the "classical sector. " 
This term appears throughout the checklist, but is not defined. What is meant by the term 
"classical sector "? 
1.11.   In its response to question 5.1 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia outlines the 
procedures in a "competitive dialogue. " Are there any other differences between this and a 
negotiated procedure with prior publication, aside from the adoption of a third stage of tendering? 
Is the second phase of the "competitive dialogue " used to develop either award criteria or 
technical spec ifications that will be used in the third phase?  
1.12.   In its response to question 5.2 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes that 
Article 144 of the Law on Public Procurement details selection criteria as regards the tenderers. Are 
there any provisio ns in law in Macedonia that deals with qualification (or registration systems) or 
multi-use lists as outlined in Article IX of the GPA? Article 198 -c and 198 -d of the Law on Public 
Procurement seem to relate to qualification or registration lists for utili ties. Can these lists, or 
other lists, be used for any other type of procurement?  
1.13.   In its response to 5.3 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes that competitive 
dialogue and negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice can only  be used with 
certain pre -conditions, and that such pre -conditions are in line with EU rules.  Please provide a list 
of all the pre -conditions? Are all pre -conditions in line with GPA obligations?  
1.14.   In its response to question 5.4 ., the former Yugoslav Repub lic of Macedonia notes that 
where there may not be "eco-labels " on a product, and where a tenderer is proving that the 
supplies or services meet the requirements in the tender documentation, that the contracting 
authority is obliged to accept certificates by recognized bodies established in any EU Member 
State. What is, or what will the status be, of recognized bodies established in other GPA Parties for GPA/ACC/MKD/2  
 
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  the purposes of certifying that supplies or services meet the requirements (or equivalent 
requirements)?  
1.15.   In its response to question 5.7 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia provides a table 
of timelines for submission of tenders for different procedures used above certain thresholds. 
Please identify if there are changes that need to be made to comply  with GPA requirements, and 
whether or not the flexibilities provided relating to electronic tendering will apply in reducing the 
minimum -40-day deadline.  
1.6  Information  
1.16.   In its response to question 6.6 ., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes the 
elements in a contract award notice. However, these elements miss some requirements of Article 
XVI of the GPA, including name and address of the successful suppliers, the value of the successful 
tender or the highest and lowest offers taken into account in th e award of the contract, and the 
date of award. Please identify how this information will be provided. What information is included 
in "conclusion of the contract "? 
1.7  Domestic Review Procedures  
1.17.   In its response to question 7.1 ., the former Yugoslav Republic o f Macedonia provides some 
information on existing domestic review procedures. Will there be any changes to existing 
procedures as part of the accession process to the GPA?  
1.18.   In its response to question 7.3 . a., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia notes  that an 
appeal must be lodged within eight days. Please identify how this will be changed to comply with 
the GPA obligation to provide a minimum of ten days.  
1.19.   In its response to question 7.3 . b. iii., please identify how the due proce ss protections in 
Article XVIII: 6 of the GPA are provided for; this information is not evident in other answers 
provided in section 7 of the checklist.  
1.20.   In its response to question 7.3 . e., the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia provides that 
the State Appeals Commission ca n "decide upon the requests for co mpensation for procedural 
costs". Is this the only compensation that can be provided?  
2  QUESTIONS ON THE CON SOLIDATED TEXT OF TH E LAW ON PUBLIC PROC UREMENT  
Article 33  
2.1.  Article 33, paragraph 1 of the Law on Public Procurement notes that technical specifications 
may define characteristics including "dimension, terminology, symbols ", "packaging " and "marking 
and labelling ". Given the GPA 's preference for technical specifications to be based on performance 
and functional requireme nts, what sort of weight is given for technical specifications such as 
"packaging " and the other examples listed here? How are these characteristics balanced with other 
performance and functional requirements?  
2.2.  Article 33, paragraph 2 of the Law on Public P rocurement notes that in determining technical 
specifications, the first preference should be on the use of Macedonian standards in accordance 
with European standards, while international standards is the fourth preference. Please identify 
how this will be  changed, if at all, to comply with the GPA requirement in Article X :2(b) to base the 
specifications first on international standards where such exist.  
Article 47  
2.3.  Article 47, paragraph 6 of the Law on Public Procurement outlines several situations which 
would cause bidders to get a "negative reference " that would preclude them from participating in 
future procurements for at least one and not exceeding five years depending on the number of 
negative references. Are there other means by which a bidder would g et a "negative reference "? 
Do bidders have a chance to provide information to oppose a "negative reference " such as through 
an administrative process?  
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