RESTRICTED  
  
GPA/M/61  
 
2 September 2015  
(15-4420)  Page: 1/8  
Committee on Government Procurement    
 
 MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF 3 JUNE 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. Subsequently, on 28 May 2015, a revised Airgram2 had been 
circulated. The proposed agenda was as follows:  
1. Requests for Observer Status: Costa Rica and Thailand; 
2. Revision of the Updated Checklist of Issues for the Provision of Information Relating to 
Accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement; and 
3. Other business. 
Under the heading of other business, the Chairman said that he proposed to make a brief 
statement setting out his goals and aspirations as Chairman of the Committee for the year. Thereafter, Australia would make a statement concerning its proposed accession to the 
Agreement. Subsequently, the floor would be opened for comments by delegations on his 
statement and/or on the statement by Australia. 
No other item of other business had been raised by delegations.  
The Committee adopted the agenda, as proposed by the Chairman. 
 
1  REQUESTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS: COSTA RICA AND THAILAND 
1.1.  The Chairman said that Costa Rica's reques t for observer status in the Committee had been 
circulated on 12 February 20153; this was one day following the Committee's meetings in 
February. Subsequently, on 28 May 2015, Thailand's request for observer status in the Committee had also been circulated.
4 These requests were both very significant and welcome developments 
for the Committee. The Committee should consider and grant observer status to Costa Rica and 
Thailand, respectively, pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Government Procurement. 
1.2.  The Committee agreed to grant observer status to Costa Rica and Thailand, respectively, 
pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Agreement.  
1.3.  The Chairman extended a warm welcome to Costa Rica and Thailand in their new capacities 
as observers to the Agreement.  
1.4.  The representative of Costa Rica thanked the Committee for approving its request for 
observer status. Continuing, he said that Costa Rica considered government procurement as an 
essential component of public finance. With a view to ensuring the best use of public funds, it was 
a constitutional requirement that the Government of Costa Rica conduct procurement through 
appropriate procedures. The Government had create d a legal framework that guaranteed integrity, 
                                               
1 WTO/AIR/GPA/3, dated 22 May 2015. 
2 WTO/AIR/GPA/3/Rev.1, dated 28 May 2015. 
3 GPA/W/331, dated 12 February 2015. 
4 GPA/W/332, dated 28 May 2015. GPA/M/61 
 
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  openness and transparency in procurement procedures. The global community was faced with a 
major challenge, namely, that government procurem ent needed to be seen as a development tool 
rather than just a procedure. In order to ensure th e best use of public funds, it was vital to focus 
on procurement planning, appropriate management an d the fostering of results. In the interest of 
guaranteeing greater transparency and improv ing management, one of the main prevailing 
challenges in the capital was moving ahead with the implementation of a single electronic platform. His Government looked forward to completing this important exercise in the course of 
the following two years. 
1.5.  The commitment to modernizing Costa Rica's procurement system, based on best 
international practices, had been a key driver to Costa Rica requesting observer status in the Committee. The revised GPA was being used by several WTO Members as the basis for the 
government procurement chapters in their free trade agreements. Costa Rica itself had established 
provisions based on the GPA in the chapters on government procurement contained in its Association Agreement with the European Union and its Free Trade Agreement with Singapore. The 
GPA was thus a familiar regulatory model. 
1.6.  As a separate consideration, the Committee's new Work Programmes under the revised 
Agreement were of particular interest to Costa Rica, in light of the key issues they sought to 
address. These included, for instance, the issue of measures adopted by Parties to enhance and 
encourage the participation of small- and medium -sized enterprises in government procurement 
markets; and that of sustainability in internatio nal procurement. The feedback obtained during the 
Committee meetings would prove very useful, not only  for Costa Rica's trade relations, but also for 
the development of its domestic policies. In return , Costa Rica looked forward to making a positive 
contribution to the work of the Committee, thro ugh its role as an observer on the Committee. 
1.7.  The representative of Thailand, on beha lf of the Royal Thai Government, expressed the 
appreciation and sincere thanks of her delegation to Parties for the support accorded to Thailand. 
Her delegation also expressed its sincere thanks the WTO Secretariat for facilitating Thailand's request for observer status. 
1.8.  Among its top priorities, The Royal Thai Government attached great importance to the 
promotion of good governance and anti-corruption in state administration. This policy was being applied at all levels of government. In the recent past, "Zero Corruption" projects had been launched respectively by the Ministry of Commerc e and the Ministry of Finance. The Government 
aimed to promote good governance in all its aspects. 
1.9.  On 20 April 2015, the Thai Cabinet had decided to apply for observer status in the 
WTO Committee on Government Procurement. In the view of the Government, GPA observer 
status would present an excellent opportunity for Thailand to learn and understand more properly 
and holistically the multilateral framework on  government procurement, and to eventually 
contribute to the system. 
1.10.  Thailand hoped that observer status in the Committee would facilitate its preparation for 
other negotiations in the future, elevate the country to an international standard, and contribute to good governance at the domestic level. Her delegation anticipated that the experience gained from the GPA forum would be of benefit to Thailand – in particular, to update, develop and improve the 
country's domestic laws and regulations. Thailand stood ready to work closely with the Committee 
and the Secretariat in the context of its observer status.  
1.11.  Delegations warmly welcomed Costa Rica and Thailand to the Committee as observers. They 
looked forward to an appropriate time in the future at which the two new observer governments 
might consider it in their respective interests to initiate possible accession to the Agreement, and in any event looked forward to working constructively with both Costa Rica and Thailand in the 
Committee. 
1.12.  Continuing, the representative of Japan said that Japan had developed historically strong 
economic ties with Thailand, the fourth ASEAN nation to gain observer status on the Committee. 
With four out of the ten ASEAN members now having observer status in the Committee, it was the 
hope of Japan that this would stimulate some competition as to which one among them might be 
the first to seek accession and become a full Party to the Agreement.  GPA/M/61 
 
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  1.13.  Japan strongly believed that the knowledge gained through observer status on the 
Committee would be beneficial to both countries in the context of ongoing discussion on government procurement in the context of releva nt regional and sub-regional frameworks. Japan 
stood ready to provide technical cooperation, on  request, to the new observer governments.  
1.14.  The representative of the European Union warmly welcomed the respective statements by 
Costa Rica and Thailand. The statements had focused on the need to modernize the public 
procurement system and the recognition of the ro le that public procurement and good public 
governance could play for their respective economies. The European Union very much hoped that 
Costa Rica and Thailand could take advantage of their observer status to become fully acquainted with the GPA and the work of the Committee, as we ll as of the experience of the different GPA 
Parties in the modernization of their respective public procurement systems. The European Union 
stood ready to work with the respective delegations and to provide any assistance they might need 
in respect of any future accession process.  
1.15.  The representative of Norway said that No rway was very encouraged by the statements by 
Costa Rica and Thailand recognizing the importance of government procurement rules to 
development and good governance, as well as the prevention of corrupt practices.  
1.16.  The representative of Chinese Taipei said that GPA observer status was a major step on the 
path to fully recognizing the importance and benefi ts of joining the Agreement. In this respect, 
Chinese Taipei stood ready to share its experiences in the field of government procurement with the two new observers, with a view to helping them  gain a better understanding of the Agreement.  
1.17.  The representative of the United States said that both Costa Rica and Thailand were 
important bilateral trading partners for the United States. His delegation wholeheartedly welcomed 
the steps that they had just taken and apprec iated the presentations that they had made. 
The United States was also encouraged by the number of WTO Members who were showing 
interest in becoming members of the GPA since th e renegotiation of the Agreement. His delegation 
hoped that the efforts of Costa Rica and Thailand would provide positive signals to their respective regions. Both new observers could be assured of the United States' readiness to assist them in any 
way possible in the context of a future initiation of their respective formal accession processes.  
1.18.  The representative of Switzerland said that his delegation took note of the strong 
statements made respectively by Costa Rica and Thailand. In particular, in its statement, 
Costa Rica had highlighted its interest in the new Work Programmes of the Committee, including, 
notably, those relating to SMEs and to sustainable procurement. This was a message to 
GPA Parties to accord due consideration to the importance of the access of SMEs to public procurement markets for these countries. It was al so an important message to the Committee that 
SME access to public procurement markets was potentially an important consideration for potential 
new members to the Agreement.  
1.19.  The representative of Canada said that Ca nada applauded the domestic reform efforts of the 
two new observers regarding their respective procurement regimes aimed at enhancing the 
efficiency of the procurement process and with a vi ew to furthering good governance principles. In 
the same vein as Japan, Canada hoped that Costa Rica's observer status would stimulate competition among the Latin American countries who were observers to the Committee, namely 
Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Panama, to be the first from that region to join the GPA. Canada 
stood ready, as other Parties, to be of assistance with regard to any questions about the Agreement or the work of the Committee.  
1.20.  The representative of Singapore said that as neighbours and a key trading partner, 
Singapore had been especially heartened by Thailand 's decision to participate as an observer in 
the Committee. Singapore attached a great importan ce to the GPA and the work of the Committee. 
Thailand and Costa Rica's decision was testament to the fact that the GPA was a good agreement, 
and relevant to prevailing needs and realities of the global economy. GPA Parties collectively could be proud of this situation in this respect. Of equal importance in joining the Committee as observers, Thailand and Costa Rica had also re affirmed their commitment to the principles of 
openness, transparency, non-discrimination and open-competition, which are key to the GPA. 
Singapore hoped that the examples set by Th ailand and Costa Rica would encourage other 
WTO Members currently not party or observers to the Agreement to also do the same.  GPA/M/61 
 
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  2  UPDATING OF THE CHECKLIST OF ISSU ES FOR THE PROVISIO N OF INFORMATION 
RELATING TO ACCESSION TO THE AGRE EMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
2.1.  The Chairman said that the Checklist of I ssues for the Provision of Information Relating to 
Accession to the Agreement on Government Proc urement was a key document of reference in 
regard to accessions to the Agreement. It was used  by the Committee to gain a sense of accession 
candidates' procurement legislation and system as well as, importantly, the way in which various GPA requirements were fulfilled. The need for updating of the Checklist had arisen in light of the 
coming into force of the revised Agreement in 2014 and the growing interest in accession to the 
Agreement.  
2.2.  To facilitate updating of the Checklist,  on 20 May 2015, with the Chairman's approval, the 
Secretariat had circulated a Note setting out various proposed changes to bring the Checklist into 
line with the revised Agreement.
5 Additional suggestions from delegations had been invited, and 
one delegation; Hong Kong, China; had provid ed related suggestions. Subsequently, on 
28 May 2015, a further revised version of the Note had been circulated incorporating 
Hong Kong, China's suggestions in addition to the Secretariat's proposals.6  
2.3.  In his meetings with various delegations in the course of the present meeting week, most 
delegations had expressed their clear support for updating the Checklist. At the same time, a 
delegation had indicated that more time would be needed for it to consult internally before it could 
support formal adoption of the revision. The same delegation had also indicated that it might have additional updates to propose for consideration by Parties. For this reason, it appeared that the Committee was not in a position to formally adopt the proposed revision at the present meeting.  
2.4.  In the light of this situation, he proposed  that that the Committee proceed as follows: (i) the 
Secretariat be authorized to share, on an informal basis and with any further corrections deemed necessary, the proposed revision (in other words, the Note with any typographical corrections) 
with acceding delegations for their use, pending formal approval of a subsequent version by the 
Committee; (ii) delegations be given some additional weeks to provide, for circulation to all delegations, any additional updates that they wished to propose; and (iii) the Note would be 
formally adopted, with any additional revisions on which delegations agree, at a subsequent 
meeting of the Committee. 
2.5.  The representative of Canada said that Canada had no comments on the final draft that had 
been circulated. His delegation was disappointed that the Checklist could not be adopted at the 
present meeting. Canada fully endorsed the proposal by the Chairman that the Secretariat 
circulate the Checklist on an informal basis.  
2.6.  The representative of Singapore said that his delegation supported the Checklist 
incorporating the suggested amendments by the Se cretariat. Singapore wished to highlight two 
further editorial amendments for the information of everyone.7 
2.7.  The representative of the European Union said that the European Union needed additional 
time to conduct necessary consultations back in its capital, and that the European Union might 
come forward with some additional editorial changes and suggestions for improvement and updating of the Checklist. It might need two to three weeks to do so, and looked forward providing 
its comments through the Secretariat by the end of the month of June 2015. 
2.8.  The representative of the United States sa id that his delegation had been hopeful that the 
review of the amended Checklist by the Committ ee would be completed at the present meeting, 
and that the Checklist would accordingly be adopted. It was unfortunate that the Committee had 
not been able to do so. The United States had identified a number of possible changes that had not 
                                               
5 Job No. 3981.15, dated 20 May 2015. 
6 Job No. 3981.15-Rev.1 (4226.15), dated 28 May 2015. 
7 The first concerned the title of the Checklist; in the view of his delegation, this should be amended to 
read the "revised Agreement on Government Procurement" rather than "the Agreement on Government Procurement". The second one was at the second line of the very first paragraph of the Checklist "having 
regard to the provisions of the revi sed Agreement" instead of "Agreement". At the request of the Chairman and 
with the agreement of delegations, these were duly incorporated in the version of the document to be 
circulated informally by the Secretariat. GPA/M/61 
 
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  been picked up in the Secretariat proposal; nevertheless, the United States had been content to 
close this out. In light of the day's development, the United States wished to note for the record that it may also come back with additional issues going forward.  
2.9.  The Committee took note of the statements made. It asked the Secretariat to circulate the 
amended version informally, and at a later date circulate a further version incorporating any 
proposals received from Parties, as proposed by the Chairman. 
3  OTHER BUSINESS 
3.1  Statement by the Chairman 
3.1.  The Chairman said that it was an hono ur to serve as Chairman of the Committee on 
Government Procurement, a body of WTO Memb ers which had achieved much over time. The 
Parties, being the WTO Members that had signed up to the Agreement, were the ones that had 
recorded this achievement, and it was his over arching ambition for this to continue. Without 
doubt, the Agreement was becoming more and more important, over time. This was a consequence not only of its increasing membership; its role as a bulwark of market access in the 
modern global economy; and its recent successful re negotiation but also of its growing role as an 
instrument of good governance and its significance for related internal reforms that are being pursued by many countries.  
3.2.  The growing importance of the Agreement en tailed very significant responsibilities for the 
Committee. These related not only to the progress ing of the various accessions to the Agreement 
that were pending before the Committee, but also to many other aspects of the Committee's work, for example concerning Arbitration Procedures and the agreed new Work Programmes. In pursuing 
this work, Parties needed to bear in mind the systemic importance of the Agreement and its role in 
promoting economic reforms in many countries in addition, of course, to their market access interests.  
3.3.  In his view, the Committee should, in the cour se of the year, set its sights on the following 
specific goals: (i) First, be ambitious and aim to conclude negotiations on at least one and, if possible, two or even three of the pending accession s. He sincerely believed that this was possible 
in light of the work that had already been done in the Committee and the very serious efforts that 
were being made by various acceding Members; (ii) Second, the Committee should aim to finalize and adopt, even before the end of the year, the dr aft decision on Arbitration Procedures on which 
work had been under way for an extended period. Attention could then be turned, in due course, 
to the other pending decisions; (iii) Third, it wa s important that the Committee carried forward in 
an energetic and constructive spirit the work that it had commenced on the agreed new Work Programmes. Where appropriate, it should not hesita te to draw upon outside expertise to enrich its 
understanding in pursuing this work; (iv) Fourth, the Committee needed to address conscientiously 
any outstanding issues regarding the entry into forc e of the revised Agreement, to ensure that all 
Parties can enjoy and benefit, as soon as possible, from the new flexibilities and other advantages 
of the revised text; and (v) Fifth, the Committee should encourage and support the efforts of the 
Secretariat to modernize the notification procedures and related information systems under the Agreement for the benefit of delegations, for example through continued work on the e-GPA project which had been successfully in itiated in 2013 and was continuing.  
3.4.  To help frame and move forward these goal s and ambitions, he further proposed that the 
Committee commence giving consideration to the potential benefits of holding a further Ministerial-level meeting on the margins of Tenth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Nairobi in 
December 2015 (MC10), as had been done in conjunction with the Eighth and Ninth Ministerial 
Conferences (respectively MC8 and MC9). In making this proposal, he was not suggesting that this 
was a must, but that the Committee should consider  holding such a meeting in light of the 
possibilities that take shape in the course of the day's meeting and in the coming weeks and 
months. Specifically, he proposed that at least a provisional decision on the holding of such a meeting be taken in the course of the Committee's meetings planned for mid-September. Experience had already shown that the holding of such a meeting could be a very useful tool in 
progressing the Committee's work; in pitching the Agreement's benefits to the wider 
WTO Membership; and in giving a higher profile to the Agreement generally.  GPA/M/61 
 
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  3.5.  Delegations congratulated the Chairman on his appointment.  
3.6.  Continuing, the representatives of Japan; Canada; Hong Kong, China; the European Union; 
the United States; Singapore; Norway; Switzerland and Chinese Taipei warmly welcomed the 
statement by the Chairman, expressed their suppo rt for the goals that he had outlined, and 
pledged to work with the Chairman and with each other to help to realize these goals. 
3.7.  The representative of Canada further said that the set of goals provided an appropriate 
framework for the work of the Committee over the following twelve months.  
3.8.  The representative of the European Union said that the Committee had important 
responsibilities and priorities to conclude before  the end of the year. As noted by the Chairman, 
the European Union also hoped that negotiatio ns on one, two or three accessions could be 
concluded before the end of the year; this would be a major achievement if it could be done. The 
European Union also very much hoped that work on the Arbitration Procedures could be concluded. 
The European Union fully subscribed to the call by  the Chairman to give an energetic push to the 
Work Programmes. This was an important part of the work of the Committee for the months and 
years ahead, and his delegation looked forward to  having a good discussion on the different Work 
Programmes in the coming sessions on the basis of the contributions provided by Parties. 
3.9.  With regard to the Chairman's proposal to consider holding a GPA ministerial meeting on the 
margins of MC10, the European Union was ready to  consider such a possibility. Subject to good 
progress being made, a ministerial meeting to conclude certain accessions would send a strong political message to acceding countries. 
3.10.  The representative of the United States said that his delegation would reflect on the specific 
suggestions that had been made by the Chairm an, which seemed to be a very good plan. 
3.11.  The representative of Singapore said that the goals that had been outlined by the Chairman 
would be helpful in guiding the Committee's work. 
3.2  Statement by Australia 
3.12.  The representative of Australia said that in a recent WTO Trade Policy Review of Australia, 
many WTO Members had welcomed Australia's decision to consider accession to the Agreement on 
Government Procurement, a decision that had been announced in November 2014 in Australia's 
G20 Growth Strategy. He was delighted to ad vise now that the Australian Government had 
formally decided to seek accession to the Agreem ent. This decision had been publicly announced 
by the Australian Minister for Trade and Investment on 2 June 2015.  
3.13.  Opening government procurement markets to competition from foreign suppliers was an 
important trade liberalising objective, which contributed to growth in international trade. Australia took note of the important progress that was being made with other Members' accession bids and 
wished them well for the timely conclusion of their respective negotiations.  
3.14.  The GPA and its associated disciplines prov ided an effective framework for the development 
of robust government procurement regimes. Australia was confident that it would make a strong 
contribution to the GPA and the development of future international government procurement 
trade rules.  
3.15.  Australia enjoyed a world-class government procurement system based on the principles of 
value for money and non-discrimination, and its market was open to competition from foreign 
suppliers. The Commonwealth Government had undertaken extensive negotiations with all the 
States and Territories in Australia prior to making this announcement. All Australian Governments at both the central and sub-central level were committed to working towards timely GPA 
accession. Foreign suppliers were already very active in the Australian government procurement 
market, particularly in major construction projects.  
3.16.  Australia's government procurement regime was non-discriminatory, including in relation to 
procurement-related policies. Federal, state and territory governments had government 
procurement policies to support social objectives in education, health and welfare and including for GPA/M/61 
 
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  Australia's Indigenous people and also for small and medium-sized enterprises because of the 
contribution they made to Australia's economic prosperity. These measures were not discriminatory and were maintained only to ensure that Australian firms had equal opportunities to access government contracts.  
3.17.  Australia envisaged providing an initial ma rket access offer together with its responses to 
the GPA accession Checklist in the coming months. The Australian Government looked forward to working collaboratively with GPA Parties to ensure  awareness of the country's existing government 
procurement framework and the market access opportunities available in Australia. Delegations 
were welcome to bring to the attention of his delegation any issues that they wished to raise outside the formal meeting structure. It was the intention of Australia to take forward this important initiative as a priority. 
3.18.  The representatives of Japan; Canada; Hong Kong, China; the European Union; the United 
States; Singapore; Norway; Switzerland and Chin ese Taipei warmly welcomed the statement by 
Australia. They looked forward to the early receipt of Australia's initial offer and replies to the 
Checklist of Issues to enable substantive discussions to proceed. 
3.19.  Continuing, the representative of Japan said  that his delegation looked forward to the early 
receipt of Australia's initial offer and its replies to the Checklist, if at all possible in sufficient time 
to enable a substantial exchange of views to take place in the Committee's next sessions in 
Geneva in September 2015. Japan looked forwar d to working together constructively with 
Australia and to the early conclusion of Australia's accession in this respect.  
3.20.  The representative of Canada said that, as indicated in Australia's letter to the Chairman 
and its statement in the Committee, Canada too was confident that Australia would make a strong 
contribution to the GPA and to the development of future international government procurement trade rules. Canada looked forward to this process beginning as soon as possible with the 
submission by Australia of its initial market access offer and responses to the Checklist. As had 
been the past practice, Canada and a number of GPA Parties intended to form a small group in order to facilitate the discussion between them  and to consolidate the group's questions and 
requests, with a view to reducing duplication and helping to streamline the accession process. 
Canada looked forward to holding the first small group meeting on the margins of the Committee's meeting in September 2015.  
3.21.  The representative of Hong Kong, China said  that his delegation was very much encouraged 
by the decision of Australia to accede to the Agreement. Together with the observerships of 
Costa Rica and Thailand, it showed the commitmen t of the three Members to promoting open, fair 
and transparent conditions of competition in the context of government procurement. His 
delegation looked forward to receiving the initial offer and Checklist from Australia as soon as 
possible. Meanwhile, Hong Kong, China encouraged Australia to continue to improve its government procurement system.  
3.22.  The representative of the European Union said that his delegation had already had a 
number of bilateral contacts with Australian representatives. The European Union was particularly 
glad to note that there had been extensive consultations and negotiations with the State and Territories and with the other stakeholders concerned by this accession process. 
The European Union was also glad to see that all Australian Governments were committed to 
working towards timely GPA accession. It very much hoped that Australia would be in a position to provide an initial market access offer and the replies to the Checklist before the next 
GPA Committee meeting in September 2015, in order to facilitate discussion with the Australian 
delegation. In this respect, the European Union very much hoped that Australia would be in a position to send a capital-based delegation to the Committee's next meeting in September 2015.  
3.23.  The representative of the United States said that the United States had a long-standing, 
close, bilateral government procurement relationship with Australia, and wished to express its 
commitment to fully support Australia's offer. The United States joined Japan in urging that the next step be taken as soon as possible in order to focus Parties' energies on advancing Australia's 
efforts to become full member.  GPA/M/61 
 
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  3.24.  The representative of Singapore said that his delegation had noted Australia's intention of 
acceding to the Agreement, as announced in its trade policy review that took place in April 2015. 
The rapid follow-through in the announcemen t in the Committee at the present meeting 
demonstrated Australia's commitment in this respect. Singapore looked forward to engaging in 
future dialogue with Australia with regard to its accession process.  
3.25.  The representative of Norway said that her delegation agreed that Australia's eventual 
membership would be a significant contribution to the Agreement. Norway looked forward to 
receiving Australia's initial offer and to engaging in dialogue.  
3.26.  The representative of Switzerland echo ed the intervention of the European Union. 
Switzerland remained at the disposal of Australia to facilitate and to support its accession.  
3.27.  The representative of Chinese Taipei very much welcomed this very important partner in the 
international economy. Chinese Taipei strongly believed that Australia's accession to the 
Agreement would make a solid contribution to the GPA family as well as benefit Australia's own economic development in the future. Like other delegations, Chinese Taipei very much looked 
forward to receiving Australia's initial offer and replies to the Checklist, and to working closely 
together with Australia with a view to streamlining its accession process.  
3.28.  The representative of Australia expre ssed his thanks for the support conveyed by 
delegations in response to Australia's decision to accede to the GPA. His delegation would convey 
to Canberra the interest of Parties to receive at an  early date further details including the replies to 
the Checklist and Australia's market access offer.  
3.29.  The Committee took note of the statements made. 
 
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