WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
GPA/M/48 
19 November 2012  
 
(12-6357) 
Committee on Government Procurement  
  
 
MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF 31 OCTOBER 2012 
 
Chairman:  Mr Bruce Christie (Canada) 
  
1. The Chairman said that, in preparation for the meeting, delegations had received an Airgram
1 
setting out the following proposed agenda: 
A. Approval of requests for observer status received from Montenegro and Indonesia; 
B. Other Business. 
2. Under the heading of "Other Business", the Ch airman proposed that the Committee consider 
two matters.  First, the United States would upda te the Committee on the situation regarding the 
so-called Florida Procurement Law which had been  discussed briefly during the Committee's formal 
meeting in July.  Secondly, the Chairman proposed  to speak briefly about WTO-wide efforts to 
improve the timeliness and completeness of notifi cations and other information flows and their 
implications for the Committee, and to provide an opportunity for related input from the Secretariat. 
3. The Committee adopted the agenda, with the additions proposed by the Chairman. 
A. APPROVAL OF THE REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS FROM MONTENEGRO AND INDONESIA  
4. The Chairman said the Committee had before it for approval two requests for observer status, 
from Montenegro and Indonesia, respectively.  Montenegro's request had been circulated on 
24 July 20122, and Indonesia's request on 25 September 2012.3  
5. The Committee accepted the requests for Observe r status by Montenegro and Indonesia. 
6. The Chairman extended a warm welcome to M ontenegro and Indonesia in their new capacity 
as observers to the GPA. 
7. The representative of Indonesia thanked the Co mmittee for its decision to grant Indonesia 
observer status in the Committee.  She noted that government procurement is of increasing 
importance to Indonesia's economic development.   The implementation of a sound government 
procurement system was, therefore, considered as essential in helping to promote competitiveness and 
create a robust business environment in Indonesia.  Furthermore, transparency in government procurement had proven to be an important tool to combat corruption. 
8. Continuing, she said that Indonesia's government  procurement system had undergone several 
significant stages of reform since 1998.  These re forms had focused on the legal framework and 
capacity building.  The reforms had led to the enactment of Indonesia's government procurement 
regulation that mandated the establishment of a more transparent, accountable and competitive 
                                                      
1 WTO/AIR/4023, dated 12 October 2012. 
2 GPA/W/319, dated 24 July 2012. 
3 GPA/W/320, dated 25 September 2012. GPA/M/48 
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  government procurement market.  In the contex t of these reforms Indonesia had developed and 
implemented an e-procurement system.  Since 2008, the e-procurement system had served as the medium for conducting government procurement tr ansactions by ministries and other government 
institutions and in all 33 provinces of Indonesia. 
9. Similarly and in the context of these reforms, Indonesia had sought to ensure the conformity 
of its government procurement system with internati onal standards and best prac tices.  In this regard, 
in 2007 and 2008, Indonesia had par ticipated in the OECD Baseline Indicator assessment survey, in 
which it had scored 61.59 %.  Compliance with this standard was considered imperative to address 
government procurement issues in the context of  several comprehensive economic partnership 
negotiations in which Indonesia was currently e ngaged with its prominent trading partners. 
10. In conclusion, Indonesia considered participati on in the Committee in an observer capacity as 
the right way for it to enrich its knowledge of international government procurement issues in a 
comprehensive manner, and to support its own ef forts towards creating and maintaining a more 
transparent, accountable and competitive governme nt procurement system consistent with 
international best practices.  Indonesia was grateful  to be accorded observer status in this respect. 
11. The representatives of the European Union;  the United States;  Switzerland;  Japan;  
Singapore;  Canada;  Hong Kong, China;  Chinese Taipei;  Saudi Arabia;  Norway;  Liechtenstein and 
the Netherlands with respect to Aruba extende d a warm welcome to Indonesia for becoming an 
observer on the GPA Committee. 
12. Continuing, the representative of the European Union said that he was pleased that Indonesia 
considered its GPA observer status as a learning pr ocess and as a means of helping it to upgrade its 
procurement laws to the GPA standard.  The Eu ropean Union stood ready to offer Indonesia any 
possible assistance that it needed and looked fo rward to eventually welcoming Indonesia as a 
full-fledged Party to the Agreement. 
13. The representatives of the United States, Switzerla nd, Japan and Korea, echoing the European 
Union, also offered to provide any needed support to Indonesia.  Joined by the representatives of 
Norway and Liechtenstein, they looked forward also  to subsequently welcoming Indonesia as a Party 
to the Agreement in the future. 
14. The representative of Singapore said that Indonesia's request for observer status, coming 
shortly after the Committee had similarly welcomed  Malaysia as an observer at its July meeting4, was 
indeed a very encouraging development.  As a friend, a neighbour and a key trading partner, 
Singapore applauded, and was fully supportive of, th e decision by Indonesia to participate in the GPA 
Committee in an observer capacity.  Singapore att ached great importance to the work of the 
Committee, and Indonesia's decision stood as a confirma tory testament to the enhanced relevance and 
heightened international profile of the revised Agreem ent that Parties had worked so hard to produce.  
In demonstrating a desire to deepen its understa nding of the work of the Committee, Indonesia had 
re-affirmed its commitment to improve its procurement practices and adapt them to the principles of 
openness, transparency, and non-discrimination espou sed under the Agreement.  Singapore hoped that 
the action by Indonesia would inspire others to do the same. 
15. The representative of Canada, echoing Singapor e, expressed his pleasure at the positive 
impact that the revised Agreement was having on th e level of interest among non-Parties in the 
context of both observer status and accessions to the Agreement.  Canada deeply appreciated 
Indonesia's interest in the Agreement and looked forward to working with Indonesia in the coming 
months. 
                                                      
4 GPA/M/47, dated 20 August 2012, paragraphs 2 and 12-24.  GPA/M/48 
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  16. The representative of Hong Kong, China said that Indonesia's participation in the Committee 
in an observer capacity would deliver mutual bene fits to both Indonesia and the Parties as they 
learned from each other's experiences.  Recalling Indonesia's role as the host for the 2013 WTO Ministerial Conference, he commended Indonesia for its efforts to contribute to the further development of a modern global trading system.  His delegation looked forward to Indonesia taking 
the next step toward becoming a Party to the Agreement. 
17. The representative of Saudi Arabia said th at Indonesia's request for observer status 
demonstrated the growing interest that  the Committee's work was attracting. 
18. The Chairman, on behalf of a ll Parties and observers, again congratulated Indonesia for its 
new status and looked forward to working with it in the coming months. 
19. Regarding its own assumption of observership, the representative of Montenegro thanked the 
Committee for granting Montenegro its request and e xpressed its appreciation to the Secretariat for its 
support.  Montenegro considered the issue of gove rnment procurement to be a very important one, 
and her delegation in this regard  very much looked forward to contributing to the work of the 
Committee. 
20. The representatives of the European Union;  th e United States;  Singapore;  Chinese Taipei;  
Canada;  Japan;  Norway;  Switzerland;  Hong K ong, China and Korea extended a warm welcome to 
Montenegro for its new status as observer on the GP A Committee.  Parties also looked forward to 
working closely with Montenegro in the Committe e and to Montenegro fulfilling its commitment to 
join the Agreement in the course of time. 
21. The Chairman, on behalf of all Parties and Ob servers, again congratulated Montenegro for its 
status as an observer on the Committee, and looked forward to working with Montenegro in the 
Committee and with regard to its  eventual accession to the Agr eement in the fullness of time. 
B. OTHER BUSINESS  
1. The Florida State Procurement Law 
22. The Chairman recalled that, in the course of the Committee's formal meeting on 18 July 2012, 
following a request by the European  Union, an initial discussion had taken place regarding a law that 
had been passed by the US state of Florida that would generally prohibit state and local agencies in 
Florida from contracting with companies with business links with Cuba and/or Syria.5  In the course 
of that discussion, the United States had offered to monitor the situation and to inform Parties of any 
new developments at the next meeting of the Committee.6  In that context, the United States now 
wished to provide a furthe r update to the Committee. 
23. The representative of the United States recalled that  at the July meeting, she had informed the 
Committee that the law in question ha d been enjoined by the United St ates Federal District Court in 
Florida in a challenge to its constitutionality, and al so that the state of Florida had a legal right to 
appeal that decision to the relevant US Circuit Court of Appeals before the end of  July.  In this regard, 
she was able to confirm that the state of Florida ha d indeed appealed to the Circuit Court of Appeals, 
asking for a review of the preliminary injunction.   The Court of Appeals was now considering the 
appeal of the preliminary injunction and, while this was being done, the District Court injunction 
remained in effect.  The law, accordingly, had not  been brought into effect and GPA Parties' rights 
with regard to US covered procurement remained  unaffected.  Her delegation would continue to 
monitor the situation and provide the Committee with updates, as appropriate. 
                                                      
5 GPA/M/47, dated 20 August 2012, paragraphs 2 and 25-37. 
6 GPA/M/47, dated 20 August 2012, paragraph 37. GPA/M/48 
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  24. The representative of the European Union welcom ed the update and thanked the delegation of 
the United States for its efforts.  He noted that his Party's economic interests were not, for the time 
being, affected given that the law was not yet in  force.  While acknowledging the independence of 
legislative processes in a democracy, he, neverthele ss, expressed concern about the issue of extra-
territorial effect in some Parties' domestic la ws that potentially affected the European Union's 
businesses and economic interests.  His delegati on looked forward to future updates from the 
delegation of the United States with regard to the pa rticular law under discussion.  In any event, the 
European Union would continue to follow and raise such issues either in th e Committee or bilaterally 
with the United States. 
25. The representative of Canada also welcomed th e update and said that Canada was monitoring 
this issue closely, and looked forward to receiving future updates from the United States.  
2. The improvement of notification processes and information flows 
26. The Chairman recalled the effort that wa s underway across the WTO to improve the 
timeliness and completeness of notifications and othe r information flows, and to reduce paper burden.  
To that end, in September, he had attended, t ogether with the Chairs of other WTO Committees, a 
meeting with the Director-General at which the DG had stressed the importance that he attached to 
these efforts.  In the course of the meeting, the Chairman had also reported on related developments in 
the GPA Committee. 
27. Continuing, he noted that the Committee, worki ng closely with the Secretariat, had already 
taken significant steps to streamline notifications and information flows.  As an example, the process 
for circulation of statistical reports had been grea tly simplified.  Secondly, there was a high degree of 
synergy between efforts to streamline notificatio ns and a number of the changes that had been 
incorporated in the revised text of the Agreement.  Furthermore, he believed that efforts to streamline 
notifications and ultimately reduce paper burden were  in alignment with the project currently being 
initiated by the Secretariat to explore technical po ssibilities to facilitate the use of the revised GPA 
schedules and related information as a market ac cess information tool for both businesses and 
government.  He invited the Secretariat to provide further information on these matters and developments. 
28. The representative of the Secretariat recalled that the process for circulation of statistical 
reports had indeed been greatly simplified.  Furt her to the procedures which had been previously 
informed to the Committee, statistical reports were  now being routinely mounted on the WTO website 
in the format in which they were  received, with only a one page notification being circulated to 
delegations regarding the availab ility of the report, and providing a link to it.  This was already 
providing substantial savings.  He noted, as well, that  the ideal format for submission of statistical 
reports was a searchable  PDF format. 
29. Secondly, and as had already been alluded to by the Chairman, several elements of the revised 
text of the GPA explicitly addressed the issue of simp lification of notifications and streamlining of the 
processes for their circulation.  Specifically, in sever al instances, the revised text contemplated the use 
of electronic means in substitution for the circulation of hard copy information.  While it would take 
some time to fully operationalize these new measu res and procedures, they nonetheless represented 
significant innovations.  In this regard, the outcomes of the renegotiation of the GPA appeared to have 
anticipated the WTO-wide drive to simplify notification procedures. 
30. With regard to the technical possibilities that th e Secretariat was explorin g to facilitate use of 
the revised GPA schedules and related information as  a market access information tool for businesses 
and governments (the so-called e-GPA project), he  noted that a short informal note had been  GPA/M/48 
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  circulated earlier in the week.7  The project was at a very early stage.  Delegations, accordingly, 
would have several opportunities to reflect upon it and provide comments.  To begin with, he foresaw 
that an informal plurilateral discussion on the e-GPA pr oject could be held with interested delegations 
on the margins of the Committee's meetings in December. 
31. Lastly, he informed delegations about a Secretar iat-wide initiative to terminate the practice of 
making available hard copies of documents in the ro om at the time of the meetings, which the GPA 
Secretariat would be obliged to implement in due c ourse.  In effect, this required that delegations 
assume responsibility for printing n ecessary copies in advance of meetings.  He invited any feedback 
on this point. 
32. The Chairman said that the Committee appeared to be moving ahead effectively in terms of 
efforts to streamline information flows and reduce paper burden.  The drive to reduce paper use was 
now firmly part of the cost reduction process being pursued by the WTO Committee on Budget, 
Finance and Administration, and he knew that th e Director-General was following the situation 
closely.  In this regard, another Chairs' meeting was likely to be called to progress this matter.  He 
invited Parties to give consideration to further e fforts that the Committee could make to reduce paper 
burden and the cost of information flows. 
33. The representative of the European Union said that his delegation supported the move to go 
paperless and thus to become more green, and di d not foresee any problems in this respect.  His 
delegation would, accordingly, support ending the pr actice of distribution of paper copies of meeting 
documents in favour of electronic distribution only.  With regard to the e-GPA project, this was a particular area of interest for the European Uni on, which had a number of its own projects focusing on 
e-procurement and the transparency of related info rmation.  His delegation would reflect further on 
the note that had been circulated and would be ha ppy to share experiences with the Secretariat.  
34. The representative of Canada, echoing the European Union, said that Canada was strongly 
supportive of efforts to reduce paper burden in the WTO.  In this regard, it would support a 
Committee recommendation to eliminate hard copy distribution of documents for the Committee's 
meetings.  With regard to the e-GPA project, Cana da looked forward to providing its comments at the 
appropriate time. 
35. The representative of the United States, echoing Canada and the EU, said that her delegation 
did not see a need for distribution in hard copy  of documents for meetings, except in cases where 
delegations might not have had an opportunity to print out copies in advance of a meeting.  The 
United States encouraged and appreciated the electronic distribution of documents. 
36. The representative of the Netherlands with resp ect to Aruba said that paper distribution was 
still important for some small Members such as Aruba,  due to their resource limitations.  He urged the 
Committee to keep in view the needs of smaller Members accordingly in its deliberations on this 
matter. 
37. The representative of the Secretariat thanked de legations for their feedback.  This would 
guide the Secretariat in eventually phasing-out the circulation of hard copies of documents both in 
advance of and at the time of meetings. 
38. The Chairman thanked the Secretariat and said that he believed the discussion had been 
useful.  The Committee should keep related developm ents under review.  He would also be pleased to 
share the experience of his own mission's implementation of a paperless system in this respect.  
__________  
                                                      
7 See RD/INT/GPA/5, dated 29 October 2012.