RESTRICTED  
  
GPA/M/63  
 
21 January 2016  
(16-0444)  Page: 1/9  
Committee on Government Procurement    
 
 MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF 11 NOVEMBER 2015 
CHAIRMAN: MR JOHN NEWHAM (IRELAND) 
The Chairman said that, in preparation for the meeting, delegations had received an Airgram1 
setting out the proposed agenda, and an Annotated Agenda.2 Further, an initial draft of the 
Committee's Annual Report to the General Council had been circulated on 2 November 2015.3 
Subsequently, a revised and updated version of th e draft Annual Report, reflecting minor updates, 
had been circulated by the Secretariat.4 
 The proposed agenda for the meeting was as follows:  
1. Adoption of the Committee's revised draft decision on Ukraine's accession to the 
Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA); 
2. The entry into force of the revised GPA;  
3. Accessions to the Agreement;  
4. Implementation of the Agreement – notification  of thresholds, statistical reporting, the 
review of national implementing legislation and modifications to the Appendices to the 
Agreement;  
5. The Committee's draft decision on Arbitration Procedures;  
6. The Committee's agreed new Work Programmes;  
7. Review and approval, with any amendments, of the Committee's draft Annual Report 
to the General Council; and 
8. Other business, if any. 
No item of other business had been proposed.  
The Committee adopted the agenda, as proposed by the Chairman. 
 
1  UKRAINE'S ACCESSION TO THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
1.1.  The Chairman noted that the Committee's revi sed draft decision on Ukraine's accession to the 
Agreement on Government Procurement had been circulated on 9 October 2015, reflecting terms 
that had been discussed and provisionally agreed.5 As foreseen, he now invited the Committee to 
adopt the draft decision. 
                                               
1 WTO/AIR/GPA/5, dated 30 October 2015. 
2 RD/GPA/30, dated 6 November 2015. 
3 GPA/W/334, dated 2 November 2015. 
4 GPA/W/334/Rev.1, dated 9 November 2015. 
5 GPA/ACC/UKR/27/Rev.1, dated 9 October 2015. GPA/M/63 
 
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  1.2.  The Committee adopted the decision, inviting Ukraine to accede to the Agreement on the 
terms agreed.6 
1.3.  On behalf of the Director-General of the WTO, Mr Roberto Azevêdo, and on his own behalf, 
the Deputy Director-General, Mr Xiaozhun Yi, congratulated both Ukraine and the existing Parties 
to the Agreement. The historic decision that had just been taken represented a major achievement for Ukraine, for the Committee on Government Procurement, and for the WTO. 
1.4.  Continuing, the Deputy-Director-General said that Ukraine had shown commitment, 
perseverance and determination in the course of the negotiations. The delegation had richly 
earned the esteem of its colleagues among the Parties for its hard work, integrity and professionalism. The Deputy-Director-General had closely followed the progress of Ukraine's accession negotiations, and had been aware of the challenging moments and tough discussions 
that had had to be held, and decisions that had had to be made. These were, nonetheless, the 
hallmarks of any successful negotiation and were well justified by the outcomes. 
1.5.  Accession to the GPA was eminently worthw hile for Ukraine and other countries currently 
pursuing or contemplating accession to the Agreem ent. It would give Ukrainian suppliers access to 
an estimated market worth $1.7 trillion annually that was open to international competition for GPA Parties. It would assist Ukraine in its efforts to strengthen good governance in the area of 
public procurement; contribute to its fight agai nst corruption; and increase the transparency of 
government procurement practices. GPA accession was fully in line with Ukraine's ongoing efforts to modernize its procurement system through greater use of e-procurement methods. It would also fulfil the relevant commitment made by Ukraine at the time of its WTO accession. 
1.6.  Government procurement itself was hugely significant, not only in economic terms, but also 
because of the impact it had on both trade and economic prosperity. And, it had a very direct 
effect on people's lives, through the provision of important public services, such as health, 
education, defence and public security. Accordingly, he applauded Ukraine for making the 
necessary reforms to develop a modern procurement system that would be in line with international best practices as embodied in the GPA. 
1.7.  Ukraine's accession was also very much in alignment with the Committee's other successes in 
recent months and years. Such achievements in cluded: (i) the successful renegotiation of the 
Agreement and the entry into force of the revi sed Agreement in 2014; and (ii) the successful 
conclusion of several accessions to the Agr eement. For example, in the summer of 2015, 
Montenegro and New Zealand had deposited their respective instruments of accession and had 
subsequently become full Parties to the GPA. And,  in September 2015, the terms of accession of 
Moldova had been approved by the Committee. In short, he said that this was a Committee that 
delivered.  
1.8.  The conclusion of work on Ukraine's accessi on was, however, unlikely to be the end of the 
story. Australia had launched its bid for accession earlier in the year, and Tajikistan's accession 
was also in the pipeline. Work was continuing on the accessions of China and of other WTO 
Members, with more to come in the future. In light of this, he was pleased to, once again, congratulate both Ukraine and the Committee for the important milestone that had been reached. He saluted the work done by the Committee's Chairman, Mr Newham, and by his predecessors, in 
facilitating the important result that had been achieved. The recently concluded accessions of 
Ukraine and of Moldova highlighted both the growing interest in the GPA on the part of a diverse 
set of the WTO's Members, and the increasing impo rtance of the Agreement as an emerging pillar 
of 21
st century trade and development and central underpinning of the world economy. 
1.9.  The representative of Ukraine said that Uk raine had had a long and turbulent road since 2011 
when it had applied for accession to the Agreemen t, to arrive at this final stage where it was 
poised to become a member of the GPA family. Parties had shown a keen interest in Ukraine's 
market access offer and legislation. The requests  and comments that Ukraine had received in the 
course of its accession process had provided a powerful impetus to the improvement of its national legislation and the public procurement process of Ukraine, in general.  
                                               
6 Subsequently circulated as GPA/133, dated 16 November 2015. GPA/M/63 
 
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  1.10.  Major reforms had been under way regarding Ukraine's procurement system over the past 
several years. One important outcome of the proces s had been the adoption by Ukraine of its Law 
on Public Procurement, which entered into forc e on 20 April 2014. This Law simplified public 
procurement procedures, improved the transpar ency and openness of procurement processes, 
created the conditions for fighting corruption in public procurement processes, and bridged the gap 
between national legislation and international best practices. As a result of these bold and important reforms, Ukraine now offered an open , transparent and preference-free access to its 
public procurement market for all participants irrespective of nationality.  
1.11.  The reforms had also included the introduction of e-procurement tools in the country's 
procurement processes. This process, which was still ongoing, was a major development and key element of the public procurement reforms in th e country. Efficient e-procurement systems were 
considered to be a key enabler of and powerful tool to facilitate foreign entrants into Ukraine's 
public procurement market.  
1.12.  Accession to the GPA was a highly important issue for the Ukrainian government. It was not 
considered as a mere formality. On the contrary , for the Government of Ukraine, GPA accession 
was considered additionally to be a practical instrument providing reciprocal access to the very significant global GPA covered procurement market, as well as access by foreign suppliers to 
Ukraine's equally very attractive domestic procurement market. Increased competition arising 
from suppliers' participation in Ukraine's public tenders would help to deliver added value for the country.  
1.13.  Ukraine greatly appreciated the strong support  that it had received in its accession process, 
from GPA Parties and from the Secretariat. This had been an important consideration for Ukraine 
all along. The Government of Ukraine had big ambitions with regard to its GPA accession. It was looking forward to the effective implementation of the GPA throughout the country, supporting 
Ukrainian businesses through education and other means to effectively participate in foreign 
tenders, and playing an active role in the Co mmittee's meetings and related work. Ukraine had 
received invaluable technical assistance from a variety of sources during the course of its 
accession process. These included: (i) several Pa rties, among them the European Union, Japan, 
and the United States; (ii) the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); (iii) the European Free Trade Association (EFTA); and (iv) the WTO Secretariat. This support and 
assistance had been gratefully received, and mo re would be needed. Ukraine looked forward to 
building on the friendly and constructive relationships that had developed in its interactions with 
delegations and in carrying forward the work of the Committee as a Party. 
1.14.  The representatives of Canada; Japan; the United States of America; the European Union; 
the Republic of Korea; Montenegro; Chinese Taip ei; Switzerland; Singapore; Norway; Israel and 
Hong Kong, China warmly congratulated Ukraine for the successful conclusion of its accession 
negotiation. They looked forward to Ukraine comp leting its domestic processes and depositing its 
instrument of accession, and accordingly to welcoming Ukraine as a full-fledged Party, in due 
course.  
1.15.  Continuing, the representative of Canada, echoing the statement by the Deputy 
Director-General, reiterated the significance of  the day's development both for the Committee and 
more broadly also for the WTO. This was a success that primarily belonged to Ukraine, thanks to 
its hard work and flexibility. Ukraine had established a clear link between its GPA accession and its fight against corruption, and had maintained its GPA accession as a national priority even during 
very challenging national circumstances. Canada looked forward to working with Ukraine as a full 
Party in the Committee on important issues such as the Work Programmes and GPA accessions. 
1.16.  The representative of Japan, referring to a meeting between the Japanese Prime Minister, 
Mr Shinzo Abe, and the Ukrainian President, Mr Petro Poroshenko, in September 2015, noted the 
deepening bilateral relations between the two count ries. Japan would continue to provide support 
to Ukraine in various areas, including a previously-announced USD 18.4 billion assistance to Ukraine continue its domestic reform effort. Japan was also pleased to announce to the Committee 
that an agreement between Ukraine and Japan on the promotion and protection of investment was 
due to enter into force on 26 November 2015. Ja pan looked forward to Ukraine's GPA accession 
encouraging and accelerating the ongoing reforms by the Ukrainian government. This would 
enable Ukraine to gain further bilateral and multilateral support and facilitate the eventual 
realization of the sustainable development of its economy and people. GPA/M/63 
 
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  1.17.  The representative of the United States of  America congratulated the delegation of Ukraine 
for its hard work and effort, and its constructive engagement throughout the process leading to 
the day's significant result. This hard work had embraced two goals: (i) accession to the GPA; and (ii) the country's domestic reform process. This dual purpose was both notable and consistent with 
the way many delegations viewed the GPA. The United States reaffirmed its continued 
commitment to supporting Ukraine's implementation  of the Agreement. In July 2015, the United 
States Department of Comme rce's Commercial Law Development Programme (CLDP) had 
organized a training workshop on the Agreement in  Kiev, and it looked forward to organizing a 
similar event in early 2016. The smooth implemen tation of the Agreement by Ukraine would be 
essential in order that all GPA partners would be able to reap the benefit of Ukraine's accession to the Agreement. This was, accordingly, an important consideration for his delegation. The United 
States reaffirmed its readiness to provide needed assistance and support to Ukraine in this 
respect. 
1.18.  The representative of the European Union said that her delegation was particularly pleased 
to see Ukraine, a country with which it already maintained very close relations, acceding to the 
Agreement. The European Union and Ukraine were  already conducting productive exchanges on 
public procurement in the framework of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade 
Agreement (DCFTA), which had been concluded in 2014 and was due to be provisionally applied as 
of 1 January 2016. The DCFTA had moved the cooperation between the two partners to yet another level. The Chapter on Public Procuremen t contained an ambitious agenda, at the end of 
which Ukrainian companies and companies from the European Union would enjoy unprecedented 
reciprocal access to their respective procurement markets, provided that Ukraine gradually 
approximated its public procurement legislation to  the EU rules. Ukraine's GPA accession was very 
timely in this respect, and would further help strengthen the reform efforts that were already 
under way in the country. The European Union praised Ukraine for its efforts to modernise its 
public procurement legislation, and would continue the technical assistance that it had been providing to Kiev in this respect. 
1.19.  Continuing, she said that the accession of  Ukraine to the GPA was also a very important 
signal to the international community, in particular, in light of the difficulties that Ukraine had been facing in recent years. The European Union congratulated Ukraine for the reaffirmation of its commitment in the EU-Ukraine DCFTA to achieve an  open public procurement market, by applying 
the principles of the GPA. It expressed its appreciation to Ukraine for its commercially very 
valuable final offer, which widely opened Ukraine's procurement market to all GPA Parties. This offer provided comprehensive coverage in terms of entities, goods and services, and construction 
services. In conclusion, the European Union very much looked forward to Ukraine playing an active 
role in the future work of the Committee as a fully-fledged Party, and to continuing its cooperation with the delegation of Ukraine in the future in this respect. 
1.20.  The representative of the Republic of Kore a expressed his delegation's appreciation to the 
delegation of Ukraine for its sincere engagement during the accession negotiation process. Korea 
hoped that Ukraine's accession would serve as an important stepping stone to the country's prosperity. 
1.21.  The representative of Montenegro said that as one of the two youngest members of GPA 
family, it would be the honour and pleasure of her delegation to work with the delegation of 
Ukraine in its new capacity as a Party. Montenegro fully shared the points that had been made by 
the Deputy Director-General regarding the growing relevance of the GPA for economic integration, 
good governance and economic reform in the 21st century. Montenegro looked forward to 
cooperating further with the delegation of Ukraine in Geneva, and reaffirmed the constructive 
relations between the two countries. 
1.22.  The representative of Chinese Taipei sa id that the adoption by the Committee of the 
decision on Ukraine's accession was a positive and encouraging signal to the world in a difficult 
time. Chinese Taipei expressed its deepest apprec iation to Ukraine for the prompt and effective 
resolution of its concerns. It looked forward to the early completion by Kiev of its internal 
procedures and to continuing its close cooperation with Ukraine within the GPA family.  
1.23.  The representative of Switzerland said that Ukraine had provided an excellent market 
access offer and in turn had gained access to the very significant reciprocal access to their 
procurement markets that was provided by the existing Parties. Switzerland believed this could GPA/M/63 
 
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  serve as an inspiration in future accessions. Switzerland congratulated Ukraine for its constructive 
stance throughout its accession process. It also acknowledged the excellent contribution that had been made by Parties and international organizations such as the EBRD in this process, in addition to the WTO Secretariat.  
1.24.  The representative of Singapore, noti ng his delegation's constructive engagement 
throughout the process, expressed Singapore's appreciation to Ukraine for its steadfast 
commitment to its accession process, and to the Chairman, his predecessors and the Secretariat 
for facilitating the process. Singapore looked fo rward to working with Ukraine in the Committee. 
1.25.  The representative of Liechtenstein commended the delegation of Ukraine for its 
commitment, constructive engagement and hard work throughout the negotiations process.  
1.26.  The representative of Norway said that it  was the hope of his delegation that Ukraine's 
successful accession would stimulate further interest in, and contribute to more future accessions 
to the Agreement. Ukraine's accession had contributed to the GPA remaining at the centre of efforts to promote trade, value for money, good governance and transparency worldwide. This was 
good news for the global trading system. Norway hoped the accession would also contribute to 
strengthening the reform efforts of the Ukrainian government. Together with his capital-based colleagues, he expressed his personal and his delegation's appreciation to the Ukrainian team. 
Ukraine had shown great competence and a spirit of cooperation throughout its accession process 
and it had been a pleasure to work with them.  
1.27.  The representative of Israel said that ea ch successful accession was not only good news to 
the Parties but also to the WTO as a whole, and Ukraine's was no exception. A key goal of the 
revision of the GPA was to attract interest in the work of the Committee, and the growing number 
of accessions to date was evidence of its success.  It was the hope of his delegation that this 
momentum would be maintained and that it would lead to a domino effect, paving the way for 
further accessions. 
1.28.  The representative of Hong Kong, China echoed the statement by the Deputy 
Director-General. His delegation looked forward to the early deposit by Ukraine of its instrument of 
accession and to working with Ukraine as a fully-fledged Party in the foreseeable future. 
1.29.  Responding, the representative of Ukraine ex pressed the deep appreciation of his delegation 
for the kind words, congratulations, encouragemen t and support by Parties. Ukraine would pursue 
its domestic ratification process expeditiously and looked forward to depositing its instrument of 
accession and joining the GPA family in the foreseeable future.  
1.30.  In concluding, the Chairman said that th e decision that had been adopted was, indeed, a 
historic one. He extended his personal congratulations to both Ukraine and the Parties for their 
hard work and determination which had made th e result possible. Ukraine's accession showed 
clearly the growing importance of the GPA as a tool of global integration, good governance and economic reform in the twenty-first century. He applauded Ukraine for demonstrating great 
determination, patience and flexibility, which were equally common characteristics of all Parties of 
the GPA. He looked forward to Ukraine's partic ipation as a full member  of the GPA family.  
2  THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE REVISED AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT 
PROCUREMENT 
2.1.  The Chairman said that this agenda item  concerned two matters: (i) further developments 
during the reporting period regarding the entry into force of the revised Agreement, which of 
course had come into force for an initial set of Parties on 6 April 2014; and (ii) the "e-GPA 
project", which aimed to provide enhanced access  to information concerning the Agreement.  
2.2.  With regard to the entry into force of the revised Agreement, the Chairman recalled that 
during the period under review, Armenia had submitted its instrument of acceptance on 
7 May 2015 and the revised Agreement on Government Procurement had entered into force for it 
on 6 June 2015.7 The Agreement had also entered into force for two newly acceded Parties 
                                               
7 WT/Let/1039, dated 11 May 2015. GPA/M/63 
 
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  30 days after the submission of their respective instruments of accession to the Agreement, i.e. for 
Montenegro on 15 July 20158 and for New Zealand on 12 August 2015.9 As a result of these 
additional acceptances and accessions, the revised Agreement was now in force for Armenia; Canada; the European Union, including its 28 member States; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Israel; 
Japan; Liechtenstein; Montenegro; the Kingdom of the Netherlands with respect to Aruba; 
New Zealand; Norway; Singapore; the Separate Cu stoms Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and 
Matsu ("Chinese Taipei"); and the United States. Korea and Switzerland had still to provide their 
acceptances of the revised Agreement. In both ca ses, they had provided regular updates to the 
Committee on developments in their capitals and had affirmed their intention to provide their respective acceptances as soon as possible. 
2.3.  Regarding the e-GPA project, at its informal sessions in February
10 and September 201511, 
the Secretariat had provided brief updates to the Committee on the implementation of the project. 
This new online information resource was intended to provide enhanced access to Parties' market access schedules and other information that Parties provided, pursuant to the Agreement. It 
synergized importantly with particular elements of the revised GPA text that was aimed at 
promoting the use of electronic tools. In Novemb er 2014, an initial version of the e-GPA portal 
("Phase I") had been completed and made publicly accessible.
12  
2.4.  Subsequently, in early 2015, Phase II of the project, which incorporated further 
enhancements, had been launched. Significant progress had been made with its implementation in the course of the year, and it was envisaged that, following successful testing, the Phase II product ("e-GPA version 2.0") would be made publicly accessible in 2016. Further details were 
provided in the Annual Report.
13  
2.5.  The Committee confirmed the importance that it attached to the e-GPA system as a 
significant innovation that not only promoted enhanced transparency and accessibility of 
information on coverage under the Agreement, but also facilitated: (i) the efficient administration 
of the revised Agreement; (ii) the realization of the Agreement's full potential benefits; and (iii) accessions to the Agreement. The work be ing done was vital to ensure the continuing 
relevance of the GPA in the 21
st century, and to support its increasing role in the global economy. 
It thanked the Secretariat for its work and made clear that it looked forward to the further enhancement of the system, over time. 
3  ACCESSIONS TO THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
3.1.  The Chairman said that very significant progress had been recorded with respect to 
accessions to the Agreement in the course of the reporting period. During the said period: 
(i) Montenegro and New Zealand had formally co mpleted their accessions to the Agreement and 
become full Parties; (ii) Moldova and Ukraine had concluded their respective accession 
negotiations; (iii) work had been initiated on the accessions of Tajikistan and Australia; and (iv) useful discussions had occurred with respect to the accession of China. 
3.2.  In late-breaking developments, Tajikistan's  replies to the Checklist of Issues had been 
received in the Secretariat just prior to the present meeting
14, and a number of delegations had 
forwarded questions or comments to Australia regarding its initial offer and/or its replies to the Checklist of Issues.
15 Subsequently, Australia had provided a response to the questions and 
comments posed by Hong Kong, China.16  
                                               
8 WT/Let/1046, dated 2 July 2015. 
9 WT/Let/1049, dated 20 July 2015. 
10 RD/GPA/22, dated 12 February 2015, para. 1.8. 
11 RD/GPA/27, dated 18 September 2015, para. 1.9. 
12 The site is accessible from the governme nt procurement gateway of the WTO website 
(https://www.wto.org/gpa ) or via the WTO's Integrated Trad e Intelligence Portal (i-TIP): 
https://www.wto.org/ english/res_e/stat is_e/itip_e.htm . 
13 Subsequently circulated as GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015, paras. 2.3 to 2.5. 
14 Subsequently circulated as GPA/ACC/TJK/8, dated 12 November 2015. 
15 Hong Kong, China (GPA/ACC/AUS/3, dated 25 Se ptember 2015); Chinese Taipei (GPA/ACC/AUS/4, 
dated 28 October 2015); and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland (GPA/ACC/AUS/5, dated 
4 November 2015). 
16 GPA/ACC/AUS/6, dated 6 November 2015. GPA/M/63 
 
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  3.3.  With regard to the accession of China, th e Chairman noted his understanding that discussions 
were ongoing between capitals and that the European Union intended to visit China in due course to assist understanding. Separately, with regard to the accession of the Kyrgyz Republic, further 
inputs were expected to be received from its delegation in the foreseeable future. 
3.4.  During the year, the Committee had also returned several times to the matter of other 
pending accessions and GPA accession commitments undertaken by some new WTO Members. In the course of its formal meeting on 16 Septem ber 2015, several delegations had referred to the 
importance that they attached to the fulfilment of the relevant commitments.  
3.5.  In a related matter, the Committee's Checklist of Issues for Provision of Information Relating 
to Accession to the Revised Agreement on Government Procurement had been updated to reflect the new features of the revised Agreement.
17 Without doubt, this would facilitate future work on 
accessions. 
3.6.  With regard to technical assistance acti vities related to accessions, the Secretariat had 
provided the Committee with brief periodic reports on its relevant work in the course of the year. 
The Secretariat had also updated the Committee, from time to time, on its ongoing efforts to 
achieve greater coherence/synergies in the work of international organizations active in this area. 
3.7.  The Committee: (i) expressed its satisfaction  with the progress that had been made with 
regard to accessions to the Agreement; (ii) looked  forward to the timely provision by Moldova and 
Ukraine of their respective instruments of accession; (iii) looked forward to the conclusion of work on at least one or two further accessions in 2016; (iv) reiterated its keen interest in steps being taken to initiate or reinitiate relevant work in 2016 by WTO Members having outstanding accession 
commitments or whose accessions had been inactive for an extended period; (v) reaffirmed its 
continuing support for the Secretariat's technical assistance activities aimed at enhancing awareness and understanding of the Agreement and facilitating accessions to it, which it saw as an 
important complement to the Committee's work in administering the Agreement; and 
(vi) reconfirmed its support for ongoing efforts to promote greater coherence and synergies in the work of international organizations active in the area of government procurement. 
4  IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMEN T – NOTIFICATION OF THRESHOLDS, 
STATISTICAL REPORTING, THE REVIEW OF NATIONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION AND MODIFICATIONS TO THE A PPENDICES TO THE AGREEMENT 
4.1.  The Chairman said that a number of relevant developments regarding implementation of the 
Agreement were set out in the Committee's A nnual Report (2015) to the General Council.18 These 
included: 
 developments concerning notification procedures during the period of co-existence of the 
revised and unamended Agreements19; 
 threshold figures in National Currencies20;  
 notification and review of national implementing legislation21; 
 statistical reporting22; and 
 notifications relating to the Appendices to the Agreement, including a number of 
outstanding proposed modifications.23  
4.2.  The Committee took note of the notifications made in the course of the reporting period and 
encouraged delegations that had not yet provided relevant notifications to do so. 
                                               
17 GPA/132, dated 14 October 2015. 
18 Subsequently circulated as GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015, Part 5. 
19 GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015, Part 5.1. 
20 GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015, Part 5.2. 
21 GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015, Part 5.3.  
22 GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015, Part 5.4. 
23 GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015, Part 5.5. GPA/M/63 
 
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  5  THE COMMITTEE'S DRAFT DECISION ON ARBITRATION PROCEDURES 
5.1.  The Chairman said that based on the discussion that had taken place in the Committee at its 
meeting on 16 September 2015, and the updated text had been provided by Canada on 
10 November 2015, the text of the draft decision on arbitration procedures was very close to 
finalization. Indeed, it appeared that only one issu e of substance remained outstanding. In light of 
this, the Committee might consider committing to finally adopt the draft decision in the course of its meetings scheduled for Wednesday, 17 February 2016. 
5.2.  The representative of Canada confirmed that  in the view of his delegation, and subject only 
to some minor formatting adjustments, and to the internal consultations by some Parties to 
confirm provisionally agreed issues, there indeed  appeared to be only one pending issue of 
substance. His delegation would make a submissi on accordingly with the necessary formatting 
corrections to facilitate the said internal consultations by Parties. 
5.3.  The representative of Japan, citing Japan's experience with regard to the extended time it 
had taken for its proposed modification on Japan Railways to be solved, reiterated the importance 
that his delegation attached to the Committee establishing an effective arbitration procedure mechanism as early as possible. His delegation accordingly supported a commitment by the Committee to commit to formally conclude work on the Draft Decision at its February 2016 
meeting. Japan also thanked Canada for its work and committed to continue to work closely with 
other delegations to reach final consensus in time for a firm decision in February 2016. 
5.4.  The representative of Hong Kong, China said that there appeared to be a majority in favour 
of one of the two options on the pending substant ive issue, noting also that his delegation had 
favoured the other option. Given the substantial progress that had been achieved, it was not the intention of his delegation to block consensus and the eventual adoption of the draft decision. In 
this connection, and without prejudice to its position on the related negotiations under the Dispute 
Settlement Understanding, Hong Kong, China would accommodate the position of the other Parties on the particular issues and was ready to join the other Parties in adopting the draft decision at the Committee's next meeting. 
5.5.  The representative of the United States of  America expressed his deep appreciation to the 
delegation of Canada for the work that it had undertaken and to Hong Kong, China for the 
flexibility that it had just expressed. This was a very significant development. His delegation was 
supportive of Canada's proposal in this respect, and looked forward to making any needed 
clarifications to the text with a view to adopting the draft decision as soon as possible and, in any 
case, by the time of the Committee's next meeting.  
5.6.  The representative of the European Union said that his delegation also welcomed this very 
positive and highly significant development. While his delegation was absolutely in favour of the 
adoption by the Committee of the draft decision as soon as possible, any agreed timeline needed to take account of its requirements for internal consultations and decision making.  
5.7.  Upon clarifications by Canada of the needed formatting corrections and agreement by the 
Parties, the Chairman proposed that the Secretar iat circulate the now clean draft decision for the 
consideration of and to facilitate internal consultations by delegations24, and for adoption by the 
Committee at its meeting scheduled for 17 February 2016. 
6  THE COMMITTEE'S AGREED WORK PROGRAMMES 
6.1.  The Chairman said that important factual details regarding the Committee's agreed Work 
Programmes were set out in the draft 2015 Annual Report of the Committee. The Committee took 
note of those details.25 Particular reference was made to the following submissions made by 
Parties subsequent to the Committee's meeting in September: (i) submissions by Norway and the 
                                               
24 Subsequently circulated as GPA/W/335, dated 19 November 2015. 
25 Reflected in the subsequently approved Report (2015) of the Committee on Government Procurement 
(GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015), part 4.2. GPA/M/63 
 
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  United States regarding the Work Programme on SMEs26; (ii) a submission by Japan regarding the 
Work Programme on Sustainable Procurement27; and (iii) a submission by the United States 
regarding the Work Programme on Collection and Reporting of Statistical Data.28 The level of 
progress was potentially indicative that it might be timely and appropriate to request the 
Secretariat to prepare the various compilations of Parties' submissions that were called for in the 
Committee's relevant decisions.  
6.2.  The representative of Canada expressed his delegation's appreciation to all the Parties who 
had circulated their submissions regarding the Work Programmes that had been initiated following 
the entry into force of the revised GPA. Canada looked forward to Parties with outstanding submissions circulating them as soon as possible. Canada itself anticipated circulating an extensive submission on SMEs in the foreseeable future. Echoing the Chairman, he noted that most of the 
decisions establishing the work programmes called for a compilation to be prepared based on the 
submissions of the Parties. As well, the decisions provided for further actions to be taken by the 
Parties, in due course. Such actions included, for instance: requests for additional information in 
the case of exclusions and restrictions; and the identification of best practices and promotion of 
their use in the case of sustainable procurement and SMEs. 
6.3.   Following a proposal by Canada and a short discussion, the Committee requested the 
Secretariat to prepare and circulate, preferably in ti me for the Parties to be able to discuss them at 
the meeting of the Committee scheduled for Februa ry 2016, the following two compilations: (i) the 
compilation of submissions on the collection and reporting of statistical data as per paragraph 3 of the relevant decision (GPA/113, Appendix 2, Annex D); and (ii) a compilation of the submissions 
on exclusions and restrictions in the Parties' Annexes as per paragraph 3 of the relevant decision 
(GPA/113, Appendix 2, Annex F). The compilations should be objective, factual, and based on the core elements presented in the various Parties' submissions.  
6.4.  The Committee took note of the timeline s and submissions regarding the various work 
programmes that were referenced in its draft Annu al Report and in the Annotated Agenda for the 
meeting29, and looked forward to future discussions based on the submissions received from 
Parties, the resulting compilations to be prepared by the Secretariat and the related provisions of 
the relevant decisions. 
7  REVIEW AND APPROVAL, WITH ANY AMENDMENTS, OF THE COMMITTEE'S DRAFT 
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL 
7.1.  The Chairman noted that Article XXI:3 of the revised GPA required the Committee to review 
annually the implementation and operation of the Agreement, and to inform the General Council of 
developments during the periods covered by such reviews.30 In light of these requirements, a draft 
of the report had been circulated to delegations in advance of the meeting.31 Subsequently, a 
revised and updated version, incorporating suggestions received from a number of delegations and minor corrections spotted by the Secretariat, had also been circulated.
32 In addition, Tajikistan's 
replies to the Checklist of Issues had been received in the Secretariat.33 
7.2.  The Committee adopted the Annual Report with the appropriate updates.34 
__________  
                                               
26 Norway (GPA/WPS/SME/10, dated 22 September 2015) and the United States (GPA/WPS/SME/11, 
dated 29 October 2015).  
27 GPA/WPS/SP/3, dated 26 October 2015. 
28 GPA/WPS/STAT/9, dated 27 October 2015. 
29 See Report (2015) of the Committee on Government Procurement (GPA/134, dated 16 November 
2015), part 4.2, and the Committee's past Decisions referenced therein. 
30 See also the 1994 Agreement, Article XXIV:7(b). 
31 GPA/W/334, dated 2 November 2015. 
32 GPA/W/334/Rev.1, dated 9 November 2015. 
33 Subsequently circulated as GPA/ACC/TJK/8, dated 12 November 2015. See also Part 3. 
34 Subsequently circulated as GPA/134, dated 16 November 2015.