GPA/132  
 
14 October 2015  
(15-5388)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Government Procurement    
 
 CHECKLIST OF ISSUES FOR PR OVISION OF INFORMATION  
RELATING TO ACCESSION TO  THE REVISED AGREEMENT  
ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT1 
The revised WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (the "Agreement") entered into effect 
on 6 April 2014. Having regard to the provisions of the Agreement and to facilitate consultations relating to accession to it, please provide a description of the government procurement regime 
applied in your country by replying, to the extent  possible, to the questions in the checklist of 
issues below. If there is no specific provision on a particular issue, the response should state this.  Please provide, either separately or attached to your  replies to this checklist, a copy of the text of 
your national procurement legislation. In the event that the legislation is not drafted in one of the 
three official WTO languages, please also provide for consideration by the WTO Committee on Government Procurement a translation into one of the WTO languages.  
 
The information to be provided in this context is without prejudice to any additional information which Parties to the Agreement may wish to request from acceding governments on any other 
aspects of their procurement regimes. For each item  on the checklist, please identify any legal or 
administrative actions that will need to be taken in order to align your government procurement regime with the requirements of the Agreement and ensure full implementation of the Agreement 
following accession. 
 
If your government is aware of any need for training or other capacity-building efforts relating to any of the items on this checklist, please describ e the need in as specific and concrete terms as 
possible, and describe any steps your governme nt is taking, whether independently or in 
cooperation with other Members or international organizations, to address that need.  
For clarity, this Checklist supersedes the ear lier Checklist relating to the 1994 Agreement on 
Government Procurement that is contained in GPA/35 of 21 June 2000.  
_______________ 
 
                                               
1 For use by WTO Members pursuing  accession to the Agreement. GPA/132 
 
- 2 - 
 
  1  LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
1.1.  Is there a single central law on procurement? If so, please specify? 1.2.  What are the other laws, regulations, decr ees, administrative rulings, decisions, policy 
guidelines and other instruments governing government procurement? Please provide a summary 
of the subject areas dealt with by each of th ese instruments. Please also explain the main 
differences (if any) that exist between their application at the central and sub-central levels of government and at other types of procuring entities. 
1.3.  To what extent will the provisions of th e Agreement be applied directly or need to be 
transposed into the relevant law? In the event of direct application of the Agreement over conflicting provisions of domestic law, please indicate the relevant legal basis. 
2  SCOPE AND COVERAGE 
2.1.  Please summarize the organization of the government in your country at each level. 
2.2.  Please list all central government entities (ministries, departments, agencies, etc.) procuring 
goods, services and construction services. 
2.3.  What entities at the sub-central level of go vernment (states, provinces, municipalities, etc.) 
procure goods and services? 
2.4.  Which are the enterprises owned or controll ed by the government that are subject to the 
rules on government procurement? Which are the other entities or categories of entities 
(Annex 3-type entities) owned and controlled by the government that engage in procurement? 
Please specify. 
2.5.  Do procuring entities listed in response to  questions 5, 6 and 7 apply in their procurement 
the main law (if one exists), other legislation provided by the federal or central level of 
government or are they autonomous from federal or central government in their procurement rules and practices? Where any of these procuring entities are not subject to the main 
procurement law, please list the procuring entities  concerned and indicate which laws, regulations, 
etc., they are subject to. How will your governme nt ensure the implementation of the Agreement 
by such procuring entities below the central/federal government level? 
2.6.  Are there any general exceptions from the scope of application of the national procurement 
rules, for instance for essential national defence or security reasons? Please provide details. 
2.7.  Please provide available statistics on the pr ocurement by government entities in your country 
in the last two years, including, to the extent available, a breakdown by procuring entity and by 
categories of goods and services. 
3  NON-DISCRIMINATION 3.1.  Identify the specific provisions in the legislation which reflect the non-discrimination 
commitments of Article IV:1-2 of the Agreement. 
3.2.  Please provide details of any provisions in national legislation according domestic goods, 
services and suppliers treatment more favourable th an that accorded to foreign goods, services or 
suppliers or according goods, services or suppliers  of any country more favourable treatment than 
those of any other country. 
3.3.  Please provide details of any provisions in national legislation allowing a locally established 
supplier to be treated less favourably than another locally established supplier on the basis of its 
degree of foreign affiliation or ownership or discriminating against locally established suppliers on 
the basis of the country of production of the good or service being supplied. 
3.4.  Please specify to what extent, if at all, more favourable treatment is granted to any sectors of 
the economy, regions or specific categories of suppliers or goods/services. GPA/132 
 
- 3 - 
 
  3.5.  Please specify any provisions requiring or a llowing the use of offsets or measures with similar 
effect, such as domestic content, licensing of technology, investment, counter-trade or similar requirements in the qualification or selection of suppliers, goods or services or in the evaluation of tenders and award of contracts. 
4  AVOIDANCE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND PREVENTION OF CORRUPT PRACTICES 
4.1.  Article IV:4(b) and (c) of the Agreement require procuring entities to conduct covered 
procurement in a transparent and impartial manner that "avoids conflicts of interest" and 
"prevents corrupt practices". Please indicate the measures taken in your procurement system to 
ensure compliance with these provisions - whether under your procurement legislation or under related legislation. 
5  ELEMENTS SPECIFIC TO PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
5.1.  Please provide a general description of yo ur existing procurement methods and procedures, 
including the main procurement methods used and a brief description of each method, and the extent to which qualification of suppliers and open, selective and limited tendering for each level of 
government is used. 
5.2.  Identify the provision in your country's legislation requiring non-discrimination as regards the 
qualification and selection of suppliers in terms of Article IX of the Agreement. Indicate any 
exception to this requirement. What are the prov isions ensuring non-discriminatory access of new 
suppliers to existing qualification lists? 
5.3.  In situations where qualification procedures and selective tendering may be used, to what 
extent do procuring entities allow suppliers to become qualified during the procurement process? 
To what extent do procuring entities maintain multi-use lists of suppliers? 
5.4.  In the light of Article X:6 of the Agreemen t, please specify whether there is any measure in 
your procurement system to allow procuring en tities to prepare, adopt or apply technical 
specifications to promote the conservation of national resources or protect the environment. 
5.5.  What are the conditions and circumstances foreseen in your legislation allowing the use of 
the limited tendering method under Article XIII of the Agreement? What measures exist in order to 
ensure that this method is not used with a view to avoiding maximum possible competition or in a 
manner which would constitute a means of discriminating among foreign goods/services/suppliers or in favour of domestic goods/services/suppliers? 
5.6.  Article XII of the Agreement allows for negotiation under certain conditions. Are procuring 
entities allowed to proceed to negotiations? If so, which categories and what are the conditions 
imposed? 
5.7.  Article XI of the Agreement sets out the minimum time-periods for tendering and delivery. 
What are the rules and practices regarding time-periods in your legislation? Does the legislation 
reflect the various minimum time-periods as set out in the Agreement? If not, give information on any different time-periods which have been established in your national legislation. 
5.8.  Briefly describe the procedures for the submission, receipt and opening of tenders and 
awarding of contracts, in particular the procedures and conditions guaranteeing regularity of the openings and consistency with the non-discrimination provisions of the Agreement. How is the information on the proceedings related to the receipt, opening and evaluation of tenders 
maintained by procuring entities? 
5.9.  Please identify the provisions in your legislation setting the parameters for the prescription of 
technical specifications by procuring entities as part of the evaluation criteria. 
5.10.  Identify the measures in national legislat ion ensuring that awards are made in accordance 
with the evaluation criteria and essential requirements specified in the tender documentation. GPA/132 
 
- 4 - 
 
  6  INFORMATION 
6.1.  Article VI of the Agreement foresees the pub lication of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, 
administrative rulings of general application and procedures regarding government procurement. Please give the name of the relevant publication(s) and indicate the media used for this purpose. 
Please also provide, where available, the addres s of an Internet website where the legislation 
referred to in questions 1 and 2 can be found. 
6.2.  Article VII:1 of the Agreement foresees the publication of a notice of intended procurement 
for each covered procurement undertaken by a procuring entity. Please give the name of the 
relevant publication(s) and indicate the media to be used for this purpose. Please also provide, where available, the address of an Internet  website where such notices are published. 
6.3.  Please specify the types of information that your legislation requires to be included in notices 
of intended procurement or in tender documentation, and identify the relevant provisions of your 
legislation. 
6.4.  Article IX:7 of the Agreement foresees public ation of multi-use lists of suppliers by procuring 
entities maintaining such lists. Please give the name of the relevant publication(s) and indicate the 
means used for this purpose. Please also provid e, where available, the address of an Internet 
website where such lists are published. 
6.5.  Article XVI:2 of the Agreement foresees the publication of details of contract award notices 
by procuring entities. Please give the name of th e relevant publication(s) and indicate the means 
to be used for this purpose. Please also provid e, where available, the address of an Internet 
website where such notices are published. 
6.6.  Please specify the types of information that notices of contract awards should contain in your 
country and identify the relevant provisions in your legislation. 
6.7.  Please specify the relevant provisions in your legislation and/or administrative procedures 
enabling, as foreseen in Article XVI:1 of th e Agreement, the provision of information to 
unsuccessful tenderers regarding the reasons why a tender was not selected. 
6.8.  Please specify the procedures that your government will have in place to ensure, as foreseen 
in Article XVII:1 of the Agreement, the prompt pr ovision to any other Party, on request, of any 
information necessary to determine whether a procurement was conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with the Agreement, including information on the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful tender. 
7  DOMESTIC REVIEW PROCEDURES 
7.1.  Please provide information on existing domestic review procedures. 7.2.  Are there specific provisions enabling access of foreign suppliers to domestic review 
procedures? 
7.3.  To the extent that this information does not fully respond to the following points, please 
provide the supplementary information necessary to do so: 
a. The time-limit to launch a complaint contained in the Agreement is "not less than 
10 days" from the time when the basis of the complaint is known or reasonably should have been known. What are the limits in your domestic legislation? 
b. What body is responsible for the domestic review procedures? Is this a "court" or an 
"impartial and independent review body"? If the latter: 
i. How are its members selected? 
ii. Are its decisions subject to judicial review? GPA/132 
 
- 5 - 
 
  iii. If not, how will the requirements of para graph 6 of Article XVIII of the Agreement be 
taken into account? 
c. What is the applicable law by reference to which the review body will examine 
complaints? 
d. Which rapid interim measures are provided to correct breaches of the Agreement and to 
preserve commercial opportunities? 
i. Do these measures include the possibility to suspend the procurement process? On 
what conditions? 
e. How do domestic review procedures provide for correction of breaches of the Agreement 
and/or of your measures implementing  the Agreement? What types of compensation for 
loss or damages suffered can the review body order? 
f. Give any available information on the time-periods for the stages of the domestic review 
process, including to obtain interim measures and a final decision. 
g. What are the usual costs to conduct a domestic review procedure? Are there possibilities 
foreseen to do so free of charge? 
8  OTHER MATTERS 8.1.  To what extent is information technology being used in the process of government 
procurement? Are notices of intended procurement and/or notices of contract awards published 
electronically? Please provide the address of such electronic publications. 
8.2.  Is there a contact point in your country for responding to enquiries from suppliers, other 
governments and the wider public relating to laws, regulations and procedures and practices 
regarding government procurement at the central and/or sub-central level? Please provide the 
address. 
__________