RESTRICTED  
  
GPA/M/74  
 
10 December  2018 
(18-7791) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Government Procurement    
 
MINUTES OF THE FORMA L MEETING OF 27 NOVE MBER 2018  
CHAIRMAN: MR CARLOS VANDERLOO (CANADA)  
The Chairman  said that, in preparation for the meeting, delegations had received an Airgram1 setting 
out the proposed agenda, and an Annotated Agenda.2 As well, an initial draft of the Committee's 
Annual Report (2018) to the General Council had been circulated on 9  November  2018.3 
Subsequently, two revised versions of the draft Report, incorporating in track changes minor updates 
and corrections, had bee n circulated by the Secretariat on 20  November  2018 and 
22 November  2018, respectively.4  
 
The proposed agenda for the meeting was as follows:  
 
1. Implementation of the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA);  
2. Accessions to the Agreement;  
3. The Commi ttee's agreed Work Programmes;  
4. Notifications under the Agreement, including regarding thresholds, national implementing 
legislation, statistical reports, and modifications to the Agreement's Appendices;  
5. Review and approval, with any amendments, of t he Committee's draft Annual Report to 
the General Council; and  
6. Other business, if any.  
The Chairman mentioned that, under the heading of "Other business", he would recall the dates that 
had been agreed for the Committee's meetings in 2019. No item of o ther business had been 
proposed.  
The Committee adopted  the agenda, as proposed by the Chairman.  
 
1  IMPLEMENTATION OF TH E AGREEMENT ON GOVER NMENT PROCUREMENT  
1.1.  The Chairman  said that a number of relevant developments had taken place in the course of 
the period  under review. In particular, the Chairman called delegations' attention to:  
a. The state -of-play regarding acceptance of the revised Agreement, as reflected in Part 2.1 
of the Committee's draft Annual Report (GPA/W/347/Rev.2, dated 22  November  2018; 
subsequ ently approved, with minor amendments, and circulated as GPA/AR/1 of 
29 November 2018 (hereinafter "the Committee's Annual Report"));  
b. The continuing development of the "e -GPA" system to provide enhanced access to 
information concerning the Agreement, in a  user-friendly format (relevant details are 
provided in the Committee's Annual Report, Part 2.2);  
                                                
1 WTO/AIR/GPA/16, dated 16 November 2018.  
2 RD/GPA/70, dated 21 November 2018.  
3 GPA/W/347, dated 9 November 2018.  
4 GPA/W/347/Rev.1, dated 20 November 2018, and GPA/W/347/Rev.2, dated 22 November 2018.  GPA/M/74  
 
- 2 - 
 
  c. Initial discussion on various decision items to be considered by the Committee during the 
coming year (relevant details are provided in Part 2.3 of the Commi ttee's Annual Report);  
d. A Secretariat Note and initial discussion on procedures for the circulation, derestriction 
and translation of GPA -related documents (relevant details are provided in Part 2.4 of the 
Committee's Annual Report); and  
e. The state of play regarding the Committee's future work mandated by Articles XXII:7 and 
XIX:8 of the revised GPA (relevant details are provided in Part 2.5 of the Committee's 
Annual Report).  
1.2.  The representative of Switzerland  said that, further to the upda te that his delegation had 
provided at the Committee's meeting in October 2018, the internal legislative procedure in 
Switzerland for the approval of both the revised Law on Government Procurement and the revised 
GPA was proceeding as foreseen. He said tha t the matter would be under discussion at the next 
plenary session of Switzerland's Council of State s, which was scheduled for December 2018. His 
delegation would be happy to provide an update on the progress achieved at the Committee's 
February 2019 meeti ng. 
1.3.  The Committee:  
a. Confirmed  its hope that the revised Agreement would enter into force for Switzerland as 
soon as possible, taking due account of relevant internal requirements and legislative 
procedures;  
b. Re-confirmed  the importance that it attached to the e-GPA project, and to continuing work 
on the project, including, notably, the development by the Secretariat of tools to facilitate 
the circulation of Parties' statistical reports and other notifications under the Agreement, 
to be undertaken in consult ation with delegations;  
c. Confirmed  that it would:  
i. Defer any decision on reviewing the operation and effectiveness of the Decision on 
notification requirements under Articles XIX and XXII of the revised Agreement 
(GPA/113, Annex A, Appendix 2, pp 436 -437),  as called for by paragraph 6 of the 
Decision, until a point in time in which the revised Agreement was in force for all GPA 
Parties and more Parties had experience using the new procedures;  
ii. Consider what action, if any, might be appropriate regarding an examination of the 
applicability of Article XX:2(b) of the revised GPA concerning non -violation complaints, 
as called for in Article XXII:10 of the revised GPA, in the course of 2019;  
iii. Consider what action, if any, might be appropriate regarding a review o f the operation 
and effectiveness of Article V of the revised GPA on developing countries, as called for 
in Article V:10 of the revised Agreement, in the course of 2019;  
iv. Revert to the topic of procedures for the circulation, derestriction and translation o f 
GPA-related documents in 2019, on the basis of the recent Secretariat Note on this 
subject; and  
d. Re-confirmed  that further work on its mandates for possible negotiations under 
Article  XXII:7 of the revised GPA and/or for the development of draft decisions  on 
Indicative Criteria and Compensatory Adjustments under Article XIX of the revised GPA 
would be taken up as and when Parties considered it useful and timely to do so.  
2  ACCESSIONS TO THE AG REEMENT ON GOVERNMEN T PROCUREMENT  
2.1.  The Chairman  referred to the pro gress that had been achieved with respect to accessions to 
the Agreement in the course of the reporting period. In particular, he called delegations' attention 
to the following highlights:  GPA/M/74  
 
- 3 - 
 
  a. The successful conclusion of the negotiations and the adoption by the Committee of a 
Decision inviting Australia to accede to the Agreement on the agreed terms (relevant 
details are provided in Parts 1 and 3.1 of the Committee's Annual Report);  
b. The work done on the accession of the United Kingdom in its own right and rel ated progress 
achieved (relevant details are provided in Part 3.2 of the Committee's Annual Report);  
c. The further deliberations conducted on the accessions of China, the Russian Federation, 
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan (relevant 
details are provided in Part 3.3 of the Committee's Annual Report);  
d. The granting of observer status in the Committee to Belarus (relevant details are provided 
in Part 1 of the Committee's Annual Report);  
e. The state of play concerning o ther pending accessions and GPA accession commitments 
undertaken by some WTO Members (relevant details are provided in Part  3.4 of the 
Committee's Annual Report as supplemented by Annexes 1 and 2 to the Annotated 
Agenda); and  
f. The regular reports that the Secretariat had made on its ongoing technical assistance (TA) 
activities relevant to GPA accessions, pursuant to a standing request of the Committee 
(relevant details are provided in Part 3.5 of the Committee's Annual Report).  
2.2.  The representative of Austral ia provided an update on her delegation's progress towards 
provision of its instrument of accession. She said that, in the short time since the Committee had 
agreed to the terms of Australia’s GPA accession, the Australian government had been preparing to 
table the terms to its GPA accession in the Australian parliament, including the development of a 
national interest analysis on the benefits of the GPA for Australia. These preparations had now been 
completed and, as a result, Australia’s terms of accessio n were expected to be tabled in parliament 
on 28 November 2018. She said that this timing was important as it would allow parliamentary 
examination of the treaty to commence prior to the recess of parliament for the southern hemisphere 
summer break. It wou ld also enable Australia to be on track to complete its accession within the 
time-frame provided by the GPA Committee. In concluding, her delegation thanked the Parties for 
their engagement and support.  
2.3.  The Committee:  
a. Thanked  Australia for the update that  it had provided on its internal procedures relevant 
to its accession and encouraged Australia to complete those procedures and to submit its 
instrument of accession as soon as possible;  
b. Confirmed  its intention to expedite Parties' consultation processes to the full extent 
possible and to miss no opportunity to move the accession of the United Kingdom in its 
own right to a successful conclusion, consistent with Parties' negotiating interests and 
given the relative urgency of the situation in regard to this very important accession;  
c. Confirmed  its hope that that a further revised offer responding to Parties' outstanding 
requests would be circulated by China as soon as possible;  
d. Confirmed  its hope tha t a revised market access offer responding to the Parties' requests, 
in addition to appropriate updates to the delegation's replies to the Checklist of Issues, 
would be circulated by the Russian Federation as soon as possible ; 
e. Welcomed  the engagement of th e former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia regarding its 
GPA accession; encouraged the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and those Parties 
with particular concerns regarding its proposed terms of accession to work together to 
resolve these concerns; and c onfirmed its hope that this accession could be concluded in 
2019, subject to mutually satisfactory outcomes;  
f. Encouraged  the Kyrgyz Republic to address Parties' outstanding concerns as quickly as 
possible; encouraged Parties to submit any outstanding writte n comments and questions GPA/M/74  
 
- 4 - 
 
  as soon as possible in order to facilitate this; and confirmed its hope that this accession 
could be concluded in 2019, subject to mutually satisfactory outcomes ; 
g. Encouraged  Tajikistan to complete the remaining steps needed to brin g its accession 
process to a successful conclusion, by addressing the few remaining issues that must be 
resolved before its accession can be approved; and confirmed its hope that this accession 
can be concluded in 2019, subject to mutually satisfactory out comes;  
h. Confirmed  its interest that delegations having outstanding accession commitments or 
whose accessions had been inactive for an extended period would take steps to initiate/re -
invigorate relevant work in 2019;  
i. Noted  the importance of the Secretariat's  technical assistance activities in promoting a 
better understanding of the GPA among WTO Members that are not yet Parties to the 
Agreement, and in facilitating accessions to and post -accession implementation of the 
Agreement;  
j. Expressed  its appreciation fo r the role that EBRD had played in supporting work on GPA 
accession by countries within its area of operations and welcomed, also, the growing 
cooperation between the Secretariat and other donor organizations; and  
k. Encouraged  the Secretariat to intensify it s work in this area, while deepening its existing 
partnerships and exploring avenues for further cooperation with other agencies where 
possible and appropriate.  
3  THE COMMITTEE'S AGRE ED WORK PROGRAMMES  
3.1.  The Chairman  said that significant work had been done by the Committee during the review 
period in relation to its agreed Work Programmes.5 He called delegations' attention, in particular, 
to: 
a. The further discussions, exchanges and progress that had been held during t he year on 
the Committee's Work Programmes on: (i) Sustainable Procurement; (ii) the Collection 
and Reporting of Statistical Data; and (iii)  Small and Medium -sized Enterprises (SMEs) 
(relevant details are provided in Part 4 of the Committee's Annual Report ); 
b. The work done toward preparation of a draft report on the Work Programme on 
Sustainable Procurement, based on relevant sources (details are provided in Part 4.1 of 
the Committee's Annual Report), and the questions posed by some delegations concerning 
the eventual status of the draft report and related matters;  
c. The circulation of a compilation of the further exchanges of information by relevant 
Members related to the Work Programme on the Collection and Reporting of Statistical 
Data, as requested by the C ommittee;  
d. The circulation of an informal draft of a report on the Work Programme on SMEs by two 
Parties;  
e. The other Work Programmes foreseen at the conclusion of the GPA renegotiation in 20126, 
for example on Safety Standards in International Procurement; R eview of the Use, 
Transparency and Legal Frameworks of Public -Private Partnerships, and their Relationship 
to Covered Procurement; the Advantages and Disadvantages of Developing Common 
Nomenclature for Goods and Services; and the Advantages and Disadvantag es of 
Developing Standardized Notices (relevant details are provided in Part 4.4 of the 
Committee's Annual Report); and  
                                                
5 See Annexes B, C, D, E, F and G of Appendix 2 of the Committee's Decision of 30  March 2012 on the 
Outcomes of the Negotiations (GPA/113, dated 2 April 2012).  
6 See GPA/113 of 2 April 2012, Appendix 2, Annexes B and G.  GPA/M/74  
 
- 5 - 
 
  f. The interest expressed by some delegations, at the invitation of the former Chairman, to 
explore ongoing technological developments in t he world of government procurement and 
their implications for the Committee's work.  
3.2.  The representative of Canada  acknowledged the comments that had been received from 
the United States on the draft report on the Work Programme on Sustainable Procurement a nd said 
these were under consideration. She encouraged other Parties to also submit comments on the draft 
report at their earliest convenience, with a view to informing an updated version of the draft report.  
3.3.  The Committee:  
a. Took note  of the progress achie ved in relation to the various Work Programmes as set out 
in the Annual Report and related documents, and noted the relevance of this work to 
improved transparency among Parties and/or to preparations for the further negotiations 
that were referenced in Ar ticle XXII:7 of the revised GPA; and  
b. Encouraged  Parties that had not yet provided relevant inputs to the Work Programmes to 
do so.  
4  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER THE AGREEMENT, INCLU DING REGARDING THRES HOLDS, 
NATIONAL IMPLEMENTIN G LEGISLATION, STATI STICAL REPORTS, AN D MODIFICATIONS 
TO THE AGREEMENT'S A PPENDICES  
4.1.  The Chairman  said that a number of relevant developments regarding notifications under the 
Agreement had taken place in the course of the reporting period. In particular, he called delegations' 
attention to:  
a. Notifications of threshold figures in National Currencies (relevant details are set out in the 
Committee's Annual Report, Part 5.1);  
b. Notifications of national implementing legislation (relevant details are set out in the 
Committee's Annual Report, Part 5.2 ); 
c. Notifications of statistical reports (relevant details are set out in the Committee's Annual 
Report, Part 5.3); and  
d. The state -of-play regarding notifications relating to the Appendices to the Agreement 
(relevant details are set out in the Committee's A nnual Report, Part 5.5).  
4.2.  The Chairman  mentioned that the Kingdom of the Netherlands with respect to Aruba had 
requested technical assistance to strengthen its capacity to fulfil its obligations with respect to 
statistical notifications, and said that this would appear to be a very useful initiative.  
4.3.  The Committee:  
a. Took note  of the notifications that had been made in the course of the reporting period; 
and encouraged delegations that had not yet provided relevant notifications to do so; and  
b. Took note  of the  state of play regarding modifications to Appendix I of the Agreement.  
5  REVIEW AND APPROVAL,  WITH ANY AMENDMENTS , OF THE COMMITTEE'S  DRAFT 
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE  GENERAL COUNCIL  
5.1.  The Chairman  noted that Article XXI:3 of the revised GPA required the Committee t o review 
annually the implementation and operation of the Agreement, and to inform the General Council of 
developments during the periods covered by such reviews.7 In light of these requirements, a draft 
of the report had been circulated to delegations in advance of the meeting.8 Subsequently, two 
                                                
7 See also the 1994 Agreement, Articl e XXIV:7(b).  
8 GPA/W/347, dated 9 November 2018.  GPA/M/74  
 
- 6 - 
 
  revised and updated versions, incorporating a few minor corrections and updates, had also been 
circulated.9  
5.2.  The Committee adopted  the Annual Report with the appropriate updates and corrections.10  
6  OTHER BUSINESS  
6.1.  The Chairman  recalled that the following dates had previously been agreed upon for the 
Committee's meetings in 2019: (i) the week beginning 25 February 2019, including plurilateral 
sessions to be held on Wednesday, 27 February 2019; (ii) the week beginning 24 June 2019, 
including plurilateral sessions to take place on Wednesday, 26  June 2019; and (iii) the week 
beginning 21 October 2019, including plurilateral sessions to be held on 
Wednesday,  23 October  2019.  
__________  
 
                                                
9 GPA/W/347/Rev.1, dated 20 November 2018, and GPA/W/347/Rev.2, dated 22 November 2018.  
10 Subsequently circulated as GPA/AR/1, dated 29 November 2018.