RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  GPA/M/41 
28 February 2011  
 
(11-1002) 
Committee on Government Procurement  
  
 
MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF 7 DECEMBER 2010 
 
Chairman:  Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland)
 
  
1. The Chairman
 said that, in preparation for the meeti ng, delegations had received an Airgram 
(WTO/AIR/3676, dated 29 November 2010) setting out the proposed agenda for the meeting, and an 
Annotated Agenda (Job No. 10399, dated 6 December 2010).  The agenda, as outlined in the Airgram, 
was as follows: 
 A. Accession of the Republic of Armenia to  the Agreement on Government Procurement 
 
2. The Committee adopted  the agenda as proposed. 
A. ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARME NIA TO THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT 
PROCUREMENT  
3. The Chairman , welcoming the delegation of Armenia1, said that the meeting had been called 
to take a decision inviting Armenia to accede to  the Agreement on Government Procurement on the 
basis of terms that had been negotiated between Armenia and the Parties.  He welcomed the 
Director-General of the WTO, Mr Pascal Lamy , and thanked him for honouring the Committee with 
his presence.  Finally, he welcomed delegations from GPA Parties. 
4. The Chairman recalled that a revised draft deci sion on Armenia's accession, together with the 
proposed terms for accession which had already been  agreed, and Armenia's revised draft Law on 
Procurement, had previously been circulated to  all delegations on 8 N ovember 2010 in document 
GPA/ACC/ARM/11.  Based on his contacts with dele gations, he understood that a consensus existed 
in the Committee in favour of adopting the decision that  had been circulated.  Accordingly, he invited 
the Committee to adopt the decision inviting Arme nia to accede to the Agreement on Government 
Procurement. 
5. The Committee adopted  the decision inviting Armenia to  accede to the Agreement on 
Government Procurement on the basis of the terms that had previously been agreed.2 
6. The Director-General  congratulated Armenia for the historic  decision that had been taken.  He 
also congratulated the Committee, und er the able leadership of its Chairman, for its timely completion 
of the negotiations leading to the decision.  Contin uing, he said that the decision that had been taken 
was good for Armenia, good for the Agreement on G overnment Procurement and good for the WTO 
system.  Participation in the GPA was a sign of a WTO Member's maturity and confidence.  It brought 
real benefits not only in terms of access to other Pa rties' government procurement markets, but also in 
the form of enhanced competition and transparency in the Party's internal markets.  It also showed a 
                                                      
1 The delegation of Armenia at this meeting comprised: Mr. Varos Simonyan, Head of Department, 
Ministry of Economy of Armenia;  Mr. Karen Brutyan, Head of Department of the Ministry of Finance of Armenia;  and Mr. Avetis Hovannisyan, Armenia' s Permanent Representative to the WTO in Geneva. 
2 The text of the Decision may be f ound in GPA/105, da ted 7 December 2010. GPA/M/41 
Page 2  
 
  political and legal commitment to good governance principles that reflected very positively on the 
acceding government and on its leaders.  In appl ying for GPA accession and then completing the 
related negotiations in a little over a year, Armeni a had effectively demonstrated its commitment to 
these principles to the world. 
7. Continuing further, he said that Armenia's decision to accede and the welcome it had received 
from GPA Parties demonstrated clearl y the relevance of the GPA to transition economies.  It had also 
showcased the WTO's continuing ability to move ahead in practical ways that benefited its Members, 
notwithstanding the difficult economic environment th at prevailed.  He acknowledged the intensive 
efforts on the part of a large number of persons in arriving at this decision.  These included the representatives of Armenia itself;  the representa tives of SIGMA, an OECD-affiliated governance 
institute which had played a key role in fac ilitating Armenia's procurement reforms;  the 
representatives of GPA Parties, who had an essential ro le in upholding the valu es and principles of the 
Agreement;  and the Chairman of the Committee on Government Procurement.  He expressed his 
satisfaction also with the role played by the WT O Secretariat in facilitating this accession, in part 
through a seminar that it had presented in February 2010 in Yerevan at the invitation of the Armenian 
authorities.  He expressed his appreciation to all of these persons, and to the WTO Members and other 
organizations they represented. 
8. The Director-General expressed the hope that  Armenia's accession, regarding which the 
decision just taken represented a key milestone, would encourage other tr ansition and developing 
WTO Members to consider acceding to the Agreem ent on Government Procurement.  The GPA was 
the world's principal tool for facilitating trade in re lation to government procurement markets.  This 
was a matter of growing importance in the present economic environment.  In this regard, GPA 
accession could provide an important catalyst for policy reforms that entrenched good procurement 
practices and thereby facilitated the realization of maximum value for money for governments in the 
core functions that they carried out for their c itizens.  He observed that, with the present decision 
regarding Armenia's accession, the progress that wa s being made toward the GPA accession of China, 
and the other important accessions in progress including that of Jordan, the days in which the GPA 
could fairly be referred to as a "developed countries'  club" were numbered.  He noted that, under the 
terms of Armenia's accession decision, a number of im portant steps needed to be taken by Armenia in 
order to complete its accession; these included th e passage and bringing into force of relevant 
legislation and the submission by Armenia of its instrument of accession.  He urged the Government 
of Armenia to complete these remaining steps with all dispatch. 
9. Turning to the ongoing negotiations under the Ag reement, the Director-General referred to 
the intensive set of meetings and negotiating session s that was currently under way, the over-riding 
purpose of which was to establish the basis for the fi nal conclusion of the GPA coverage negotiations 
early in 2011.  Conclusion of the GPA negotiati ons had become a matter of very considerable 
importance to the WTO both in its own right, and also for purposes of enabling the GPA revised text 
to come into force, given that, under the terms of Committee's decision of December 2006, the revised 
GPA text could not come into force until this had been achieved.  He expressed the conviction that the 
bringing into force of the revised text was a crucial step to usher in a wave of further accessions to the 
Agreement, which in turn would dramatically  enhance the value of market access opportunities 
available to Parties' suppliers under the Agreement.  He would, in th is regard and together with the 
Chairman, be closely monitoring related developmen ts and accordingly counted on Parties to continue 
to guide the Committee through this process.  In c onclusion, he called on Parties to re-double their 
efforts and move forward urgently toward the comple tion of the renegotiation of the Agreement, so as 
to consolidate and further enhance the importance of the GPA within the framework of the WTO. 
10. The Chairman
, echoing the words of the Director-General, expressed his personal 
appreciation to the delegations of Armenia and GPA Parties for their achievement.  He said that in 
applying for GPA accession and completing the process in such a timely fashion, Armenia had shown  GPA/M/41 
 Page 3 
 
 
  courage, fortitude and wisdom.  It had made a commitment to good governance that had made it a 
leader in its region and that would be noted around the world.  Continuing, he commended the Armenian delegation for the engagement and professiona lism that they had brought to this process.  It 
had been a pleasure and an inspiration to work w ith Armenia in this regard.  He also acknowledged 
the efforts that have been made by all GPA Par ties to conclude the nego tiations in a very timely 
fashion, noting that this showed appropriate responsiveness to the initiative and commitment that 
Armenia had made.  This both reflected positively on  Parties, and augured well for future accessions. 
11. The representative of Armenia
 expressed the appreciation of his delegation to the Chairman, 
the Director-General, and GPA Parties for their c onstructive work during the negotiation process, and 
to the Secretariat for its professionalism in facilita ting the timely conclusion of Armenia's accession 
negotiations. 
12. The representatives of the United States , the European Union , Japan , Canada , Switzerland , 
Jordan , Singapore , Norway , Chinese Taipei , Korea , Hong-Kong, China  and Israel  congratulated 
Armenia for the successful conclusion of its  accession negotiations and welcomed it to the 
Agreement.  They said that Armenia's acc ession represented a positive contribution to the 
membership of the Agreement, and looked forward to a fruitful and mutually beneficial working 
relationship with Armenia as it took up its place as a fully-fledged Party in the Agreement in the foreseeable future. 
13. Continuing, the representative of the United States
 said that Armenia's accession negotiations 
had proceeded in an exceptionally constructiv e and productive manner.  The United States 
appreciated the responsiveness that Armenia had s hown in the market access negotiations.  Armenia 
had set a new standard in the Committee with respec t to accessions both in terms of efficiency and 
timeliness of process, and also with respect to resp onsiveness to the market access requests of various 
Parties. 
14. The representative of the European Union  commended Armenia for its determined effort and 
constructive engagement.  Armenia's approach represented a positive development for the GPA and 
her delegation looked forward to this enc ouraging more accessions to the Agreement. 
15. The representative of Japan  commended Armenia for its strong commitment in the context of 
its accession process, noting that Japan had alwa ys been supportive to Armenia's accession. 
16. The representative of Canada  said that Armenia's accession had set a positive precedent for 
future accessions processes. 
17. The representative of Switzerland  said that Armenia's accession process served as a useful 
model of cooperation in in ternational organizations. 
18. The representative of Jordan  said that his delegation looked forward to the special day when 
the accession of Jordan would similarly come to a conclusion. 
19. The representative of Chinese Taipei  said that Armenia's accession was a testimony of the 
enlargement of the GPA and that it would prov ide added incentives for other WTO Members to 
consider accession to the Agreement.  He looked forw ard to an even closer and mutually beneficial 
trade relationship between the two Parties. GPA/M/41 
Page 4  
 
  20. The representative of Korea
 said that his delegation looked forward to the early conclusion of 
the ongoing GPA negotiations so as to facilitate wi der participation in the Agreement by other WTO 
Members. 
21. Concluding the meeting, the Chairman  thanked delegations fo r their observations and 
comments. 
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