RESTRICTED  
 
GPA/M/49  
14 January 2013  
 
(13-0233)  Page: 1/6  
Committee on Government Procurement  
 
  MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF 5 DECEMBER 2012 
CHAIRMAN: MR BRUCE CHRISTIE (CANADA) 
1.   The Chairman said that in preparation for the meeting, delegations had received an Airgram1 
and an Annotated Agenda2. A draft of the Committee's Annual Report to the General Council for 
the period since the submission of the 2011 Re port had been circulated by the Secretariat3. 
Subsequently, revised versions of the Airgram an d the draft Annual Report reflecting necessary 
updates and corrections had also been circulated, in advance of the meeting4. 
2.   As set out in the Airgram, and following the usual procedures, it was proposed that the 
meeting address the following items: 
1. Request for observer status: Viet Nam; 
 
2. The bringing into force of the revised Agreement on Government Procurement; 
 
3. Accessions to the Agreement; 
 
4. Implementation of the Agreement - notifica tion of thresholds, statistical reporting, 
the review of national implementing legislation and modifications to the 
Appendices of the Agreement; 
 
5. The annual review of the implementation  and operation of the Agreement, and the 
review and approval of the Committee's Annual Report to the General Council; and 
 
6. Other business. 
3.   No items had been proposed by delegations und er the heading of "Other business"; however 
the Chairman indicated that, under this item, he would address the subject of dates for the Committee's meetings in 2013. 
4.   The Committee adopted the agenda, with th e addition proposed by the Chairman. 
1   APPROVAL OF THE REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS FROM VIET NAM 
5.   The Chairman said that Viet Nam's request for observer status had been circulated on 
3 December 20125. 
6.   The Committee accepted the request for Observer status by Viet Nam. 
7.   The Chairman extended a warm welcome to Viet Nam in its new capacity as observer to the 
GPA. 
                                               
1 WTO/AIR/4053, dated 23 November 2012. 
2 RD/INT/GPA/8, dated 26 November 2012. 
3 RD/INT/GPA/7, dated 21 November 2012. 
4 WTO/AIR/4053/Rev.1 and RD/INT/GPA/7/Rev.1, both dated 3 December 2012. 
5 GPA/W/321, dated 3 December 2012. GPA/M/49 
- 2 - 
  8.   The representative of Viet Nam expressed his delegation's high appreciation and sincere 
thanks for the support accorded to Viet Nam by gr anting it observer status in the Committee. He 
thanked the Secretariat for facilitating Viet Nam's request at short notice. 
9.   Continuing, he said that, since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007, 
Viet Nam had consistently pursued an open and transparent trade regime fully compatible with 
WTO disciplines. Transformative achievements had been recorded. Yet, it had also faced some profound challenges. The global financial and economic crisis had caused a lot of difficulties and 
adverse consequences to Viet Nam's economy, as it  had to many others. Despite all the challenges 
and economic uncertainties ahead, Viet Nam had never wavered on its commitment to further reform, or doubted the necessity and importance of fostering free, fair and sustainable trade and investment. It stood determined to restructure its economy in order to make it market-driven and 
rule-based, while solidifying its pro-active integration into the world economy in a more 
comprehensive and sustainable manner. 
10.   In that spirit, Viet Nam considered it as a logical step to initially become an observer in the 
GPA Committee. For many years, Viet Nam had spared no efforts to develop a legal framework 
that promoted enhanced fairness, transparency and the effectiveness of the government procurement activities. It had been keen on exch anging and sharing best practices, knowledge and 
experience with regard to government procurement with various countries whose legal frameworks 
were even more advanced and stable. Valuable advice from relevant international institutions had also been sought and welcomed. Viet Nam considered government procurement as a major policy instrument in its socio-economic management toolbox. In a developing country like Viet Nam, this 
tool, when used properly, was important to help the government ensure macro-economic stability 
and to cope with market failures as and when necessary in a timely manner. 
11.   On the other hand, one of many pertinent questions was how this policy tool could also 
contribute to healthy, fair market competition. Viet Nam's Law on Procurement had first been 
adopted in 2005 and amended in 2009. Positive expe rience had been gained since then. Yet, room 
for further improvement still existed. In this rega rd, the GPA, as revised earlier this year, made 
enhanced transitional measures and technical assistance available to developing countries. 
12.   The approval of Viet Nam's request for observer status presented a good and welcome 
opportunity for it to double its efforts to learn and understand more properly and holistically the multilateral framework on government procurement,  and to eventually contribute to the system. 
While looking forward to enjoying Parties' and the Secretariat's support and assistance in the time 
to come, Viet Nam stood ready to work closely with them towards this goal. 
13.   The representatives of the United States; the European Union; Japan; Canada; 
Hong Kong, China; Korea; Singapore; Chinese Ta ipei; Switzerland; and Norway extended a warm 
welcome to Viet Nam for becoming an observer on the GPA Committee. 
14.   Continuing, the representative of the United States said that her delegation had had the 
pleasure to work with Viet Nam in another set of negotiations involving government procurement 
and other issues for the last several years. The United States appreciated Viet Nam's interest in reforming its procurement system and in opening it up more broadly to foreign suppliers. Her delegation looked forward to continuing to work with Viet Nam and hoped that Viet Nam would 
begin its accession to the Agreement in the future. 
15.   The representative of the European Union welcomed Viet Nam's decision to join the 
Committee, first as an observer. Like the United States, the European Union hoped to be able to 
work with Viet Nam toward full -fledged membership. The introd uctory speech by Viet Nam's 
Ambassador had correctly pointed out how important the Agreement was in the light of the current 
economic crisis and his delegation certainly shared that view with Viet Nam. 
16.   The representatives of Japan; Canada; Hong Kong, China; and Korea joined previous 
delegations in saying that they looked forward to working with Viet Nam in the future and 
expressed their hope that Viet Nam would eventually initiate its accession process. 
17.   The representative of Singapore said that Viet Nam's request for observer status in the 
Committee had followed similar requests by other WTO Members in recent meetings and was very GPA/M/49 
- 3 - 
  encouraging. These requests reinforced once more that the revised GPA was an important and 
dynamic Agreement relevant to the realities WTO Members were currently facing. In taking this very important first step, Viet Nam had demonstrated commitment to the key principles of openness, transparency and non-discrimination in public procurement. Her delegation looked 
forward to working and sharing experiences wi th Viet Nam in the framework of the GPA 
Committee. 
18.   The representatives of Chinese Taipei; Swit zerland; and Norway also expressed their 
delegation's readiness to work with Viet Nam, an d expressed their hope that Viet Nam would apply 
for full-fledged membership in the Agreement in the future. 
19.   The Chairman, on behalf of the Committee, again congratulated Viet Nam for its new 
observer status. Parties and the Secretariat stood ready to assist Viet Nam and hoped that it would 
consider joining the Agreement in the near future. 
2   BRINGING INTO FORCE OF THE REVISED AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT 
PROCUREMENT 
20.   The Chairman recalled that about a year ea rlier, on 15 December 2011, the Committee, 
meeting at Ministerial level, had reached the political conclusion of the long-running renegotiation 
of the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). As had been well recognized at the time, 
including in the subsequent wider WTO Ministerial, this had been a very important achievement for 
the Committee, for the Agreement and for the WTO. The details of what had been achieved in the 
renegotiation were set out in the 2012 Annual Report6. Less well known, but equally important and 
no less an achievement, had been the formal adoption of the results of the negotiations on 
30 March 2012, following an intensive legal review and verification process which was completed 
according to schedule. For a number of delegations,  this had by no means been an easy process. 
21.   Subsequent to the formal adoption, certified co pies of the Protocol of Amendment had been 
circulated by the Director-General to all delegations. The remaining challenge before Parties was to 
bring the revised Agreement into effect in a timely fashion, bearing in mind the commitment made by Parties' Ministers on 15 December 2011 to s eek prompt acceptance and implementation of the 
Protocol. Timely submission of Parties' acceptances was also very important both to facilitate the 
current round of accessions, which were now premised on the coming into force of the revised Agreement, and for current GPA Parties to begin enjoying the fruits of their work. 
22.   As Parties moved toward the implementation of the revised Agreement, it was important that 
they not lose sight of related tasks mandated to the Committee, such as the development for 
adoption of the draft decisions on indicative criteria relating to the elimination of government control over listed entities, arbitration procedur es and criteria for compensatory adjustment. To 
this end, he was pleased at the work plan on these decisions that had been shared with the 
Committee by some Parties earlier. Already, delegations should also commence planning for productive work in relation to the Future Work Programmes of the Committee, which would 
formally commence following the coming into force of the revised Agreement. 
3   ACCESSIONS TO THE AGREEMENT 
23.   The Chairman said that important progress ha d also been made in relation to pending 
accessions, notwithstanding that progress had not been as swift as some had hoped, at least in a 
few cases. Equally encouraging had been the unpre cedented number of new observerships in the 
Committee that had been requested and granted during the year. While the requests for observerships could not be interpreted as implying a commitment to eventual accession to the 
Agreement, they certainly manifested a growing in terest in the GPA, following the conclusion of 
the renegotiation. The details of these develo pments were spelled out in the 2012 Annual Report
7. 
24.   He highlighted that continued progress on the accession of China , which he personally hoped 
would reach at least a political conclusion in the coming year, was vital to the future of the 
Agreement and important for the creation of a more transparent and stable framework for global 
                                               
6 GPA/116, paragraphs 6-12, dated 6 December 2012. 
7 GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, paras. 13 to 28. GPA/M/49 
- 4 - 
  trade and economic governance in the aftermath of the economic crisis. This would and should be 
a priority matter for both China and all Parties in the coming year. 
25.   As many Parties had said, completion of work on the accession of Jordan  had taken 
significantly longer than many had hoped. While there were understandable reasons for this, which 
had been explained by Jordan in the Committee, it was in the interest of everyone to move this 
work ahead decisively in the coming year. 
26.   The recent application for accession by New Zealand , on which two useful discussions had 
been held during the year, was an exciting and very positive opportunity for the Committee. It 
held the prospect of filling in a longstanding gap in the membership of the Committee, and could 
also have a positive demonstration effect for other WTO Members. He urged Parties and New Zealand to move this work to a conclusion as swiftly as possible. 
27.   A further encouraging development was the recent resumption of work on Moldova 's 
accession, and the indications that had been taken note of in the Committee that the accessions of Georgia , Ukraine  and possibly others might move forward in the coming year. Parties should not 
lose sight of these possibilities. 
28.   The observerships that had been granted during the year to Indonesia , Malaysia , 
Montenegro  and Viet Nam  were equally encouraging and certainly manifested the world's 
growing interest in the GPA as a tool of both tr ade and economic governance. While, again, these 
could not be taken as implying a commitment to accede to the Agreement as Parties, they provided an opportunity to enter into enhanced dialogue with the new observers and to raise their interest in and awareness of the advantages of accession. 
29.   The status of other pending accessions and accession commitments had been kept under 
review by the Committee throughout the year. Nonetheless, due to the Committee's past focus on negotiations, this matter had not, perhaps, received  the focused attention that it deserved. In this 
regard, it was his intention to again write to cu rrent accession candidates and WTO Members with 
outstanding commitments, to inquire regarding their intentions. 
30.   Lastly, and on behalf of the entire Committee, he thanked the Secretariat for its very active 
programme of technical assistance, which se veral Parties had commended during the year
8. It was 
an important tool to raise awareness of the Agreement among non-GPA Parties. 
31.   The Committee took note of these developments. 
4   IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT:  NOTIFICATION OF THRESHOLDS, 
STATISTICAL REPORTING, REVIEW OF NATIONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION AND 
MODIFICATIONS TO THE APPE NDICES TO THE AGREEMENT 
32.   The Chairman said that the Committee had referred several times to the effort that is 
underway across the WTO to improve the timeliness and completeness of notifications and other 
information flows, and to reduce paper burden9. Note had been taken that the Committee, working 
with the Secretariat, had already taken significant steps to streamline notifications and information 
flows. First, the process for circulation of statistical reports had been greatly simplified. Secondly, 
a high degree of synergy was evident between effort s to streamline notifications and a number of 
the changes that are incorporated in the revised text  of the Agreement, e.g. with regard to the use 
of electronic means for the fulfilment of transparency obligations. Thirdly, the project being 
initiated by the Secretariat to facilitate the use of the revised GPA schedules and related 
information as a market access information tool for businesses and government was directly supportive of the goals of improving informatio n flows and reducing paper burden. The Committee 
was also in the process of phasing out the practice  of making available hard copies of documents 
in the room at the time of the meetings. He attached much importance to these initiatives, which should receive continuing attention in the year ahead. 
                                               
8 For details, see GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, paras. 27 to 28. 
9 See also GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, para. 29. GPA/M/49 
- 5 - 
  4.1   Notification of thresholds 
33.   The Chairman said that since the circulation of the 2011 Annual Report, and as of the date on 
which the Agenda for the current meeting was prepared, information on threshold figures 
expressed in national currencies for 2012/2013 had been received and circulated for Canada; the 
European Union; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Israel; Japan; Norway; Singapore; Switzerland; 
Chinese Taipei and the United States10. These inputs were also reflected in the 2012 Annual 
Report11. 
4.2   Statistical reporting 
34.   With regard to statistical reporting, the Chairman said that, as also noted in the Annotated 
Agenda, in the course of the year, Chinese Ta ipei; Liechtenstein and Hong Kong, China had 
notified their statistical reports for 201112; and Japan; Korea and Liechtenstein had notified their 
statistical reports for 201013. These developments were also reflected in the Committee's 2012 
Annual Report14. 
4.3   Review of national implementing legislation 
35.   The Chairman said that, as delegations were aware, pursuant to Article XXIV:5(b) of the 
Agreement, Parties had to inform the Committee of any changes in their relevant laws and 
regulations and in the administration of such laws and regulations. In line with this provision, in 
the course of the year, two notifications had been received from Japan15. These notifications were 
reflected in the 2012 Annual Report16. 
36.   Continuing, he recalled that, while not the subject of an official notification, in the course of 
the year, at the request of a Party, the United States had briefed the Committee twice regarding a 
law that had been passed by the US state of Florida that would purportedly prohibit state and local 
agencies in Florida from contracting with companies with business links with Cuba and/or Syria. The United States had informed the Committee that the law in question had been enjoined by the 
United States Federal District Court in Florida, in a challenge to its constitutionality. Subsequently, 
the state of Florida had made use of its legal right to appeal that decision to the relevant US Circuit Court of Appeals, asking for a review of the preliminary injunction. The injunction would 
remain in effect while the Court of Appeals considered the appeal. The Florida law, accordingly, 
had not currently been brought into effect. The United States had assured other Parties that it would continue to monitor the situation and provide the Committee with relevant updates, as appropriate. Other Parties had indicated that they were following this situation with interest and 
appreciated being kept informed. 
37.   The representative of the United States said that since the formal meeting held on 
31 October 2012, two amicus curiae  briefs and a reply by the State of Florida in the appeal of the 
preliminary injunction to the US Circuit Court had been filed in the proceedings. However, the 
preliminary injunction barring the entry into force of the legislation remained in effect. 
38.   The representative of the European Union than ked the United States for the information and 
expressed his delegation's interest in and a ppreciation for further updates in the future. 
                                               
10 Hong Kong, China - GPA/W/314, dated 25 November 2011; Switzerland - GPA/W/314/Add.1, dated 
16 December 2011; the United States - GPA/W/314/Add.2, dated 20 December 2011; Canada - GPA/W/314/Add.3, dated 5 January 2012; Singapore - GPA/W/314/Add.4, dated 5 January 2012; Japan - GPA/W/314/Add.5, dated 6 February 2012; the European Union - GPA/W/314/Add.6, dated 23 February 2012; Israel - GPA/W/314/Add.7, dated 4 April 2012; Norway  - GPA/W/314/Add.8, dated 13 July 2012; Iceland - 
GPA/W/314/Add.9, dated 10 September 2012; and Chinese Taipei - GPA/W/314/Add.10, dated 
19 November 2012, respectively. 
11 GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, para. 30. 
12 Chinese Taipei - GPA/114, dated 3 August 2 012; Hong Kong, China - GPA/114/Add.1, dated 
13 September 2012; and Liechtenstein - GPA/114/Add. 2, dated 30 October 2012. 
13 Liechtenstein - GPA/108/Add.2, dated 2 December 2011; Korea - GPA/108/Add.3, dated 
2 December 2011; and Japan - GPA/108/Add.4, dated 23 February 2012. 
14 GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, para. 33. 
15 GPA/111, dated 9 December 2011; and GPA/37/Add.9, dated 16 April 2012. 
16 GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, para. 31. GPA/M/49 
- 6 - 
  4.4   Modifications to the Appendices to the Agreement 
4.4.1   Modifications that have been certified 
39.   The Chairman said that, as reflected in the 2012 Annual Report17, four modifications by Japan 
and one modification by the United States had been certified, given that no objections were made 
within 30 days. 
4.4.2   Other modifications 
40.   The Chairman said that a number of other deve lopments regarding modifications were noted 
in the Annual Report of the Committee prepared for the meeting18. 
41.   As a final matter concerning implementation, the Chairman noted that no matters had been 
raised during the year under Article XXII of the Agreement dealing with consultations and dispute 
settlement19. 
5   ANNUAL REVIEW AND ADOPTION OF TH E COMMITTEE'S ANNUAL  REPORT TO THE 
GENERAL COUNCIL 
42.   The Chairman said that Article XXIV:7(a) of the Agreement 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. In this regard, a draft of the Report, 
reflecting the developments that had taken place since the circulation of the Committee's Annual 
Report for 201120 to the date of the present meeting, had previously been circulated by the 
Secretariat21. Subsequently, a revised version of the draft report, reflecting some necessary 
updates and corrections, had been circulated by the Secretariat22. He proposed that the 
Committee discuss and adopt the Report with any necessary additional modifications. 
43.   Following discussion, the Committee adopted its Annual Report to the General Council for the 
period mid-November 2011 to early December 2012, with a few technical changes that were 
discussed and appropriate updating. 
6   OTHER BUSINESS 
44.   The Chairman said that the next Committee meeting would be held on 
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 and proposed that the subsequent meeting would be held on 
29 May 2013, with a possible extension to 30 May 2013 if needed. Other meetings would be 
scheduled for July and October as well as December of 2013, with the exact dates to be communicated in future meetings. 
 
 
__________ 
                                               
17 GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, para. 36. 
18 GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, para. 37. 
19 See also GPA/116, dated 6 December 2012, para. 35. 
20 GPA/110, dated 16 November 2011. 
21 RD/INT/GPA/7, dated 21 November 2012. 
22 RD/INT/GPA/7/Rev.1, dated 3 December 2012.