WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  GPA/92 
13 December 2007 
 
 (07-5559) 
  
  
2007 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
 
 
I. GENERAL  
1. This Report covers the period since the Committee's previous Annual Report
1, that is 
January – December 2007.  It is issued pursuan t to Article XXIV:7(a) of the Agreement on 
Government Procurement. 
2. Since the last Annual Report, th e Committee has held two formal meetings:  on 14 February 
and 13 December 2007.2  These meetings were chaired by Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland).3 
3. The Committee has also held a series of informal meetings, focussing on negotiations under 
Article XXIV:7 of the Agreement on Government Procurement and on accession issues, in the weeks 
of 12 February, 16 April, 25 June, 1 October, 12 November and 10 December 2007, respectively. 
4. The following WTO Members are covered by the Agreement:  Canada;  the European 
Communities, including its 27 member States;  Hong Kong, China;  Iceland;  Israel;  Japan;  Korea;  
Liechtenstein;  the Kingdom of the Netherlands with respect to Aruba;  Norway;  Singapore;  
Switzerland;  and the United States. 
5. Twenty WTO Members have observer status in the Committee on Government Procurement:  
Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Cameroon, Chile, Chin a, Colombia, Croatia, Georgia, 
Jordan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Mongolia, Oman, Panama, Saudi Arabia4, Sri Lanka, 
Chinese Taipei and Turkey.  Four intergovernmental  organizations, IMF, International Trade Centre, 
OECD and UNCTAD, also have observer status. 
II. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT 
A. THRESHOLDS  
6. In accordance with the Decision on Modalities for Notifying Threshold Figures in National 
Currencies5, during the period under review, the Nether lands with respect to Aruba provided 
information on their threshold figures e xpressed in national currencies for 2006-2007.6 
                                                      
1 GPA/89, dated 11 December 2006. 
2 GPA/M/32, dated 16 March 2007;  and GPA/M/33, to be circulated. 
3 At its meeting of 14 February 2007, the Committ ee elected Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland) as its 
Chairman for 2007 (GPA/M/31, dated 16 March 2007, para. 5). 
4 Following Saudi Arabia's request for observer status (GPA/W/298, dated 23 April 2007), since 
26 June 2007, Saudi Arabia has been attending, on an ad hoc basis as an observer, the informal meetings of the Committee, pending a decision at the Committee's next formal meeting.  At its formal meeting of 
13 December 2007, the Committee on Government Procur ement granted observer st atus to Saudi Arabia 
(GPA/M/33, to be circulated). 
5 GPA/1, dated 5 March 1996, Annex 3. 
6 GPA/W/295/Add.8, dated 22 May 2007. GPA/92 
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  B. 
NOTIFICATION AND REVIEW OF NAT IONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION  
7. Pursuant to Article XXIV:5(b) of the Agreem ent on Government Procurement, Japan notified 
a change in its national implementing legislation.7 
C. STATISTICAL REPORTING  
8. Article XIX:5 of the Agreement on Government Procurement requires Parties to collect and 
provide, on an annual basis, statistics on their pr ocurements covered by the Agreement.  During the 
period under review, Norway has reported statistics for 20048 and 20059;  and Hong Kong, China has 
reported statistics for 2006.10 
D. CONSULTATIONS AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT  
9. No matters were raised under Article XXII of  the Agreement on Government Procurement 
during the reporting period. 
III. MODIFICATIONS TO THE APPENDICES TO THE AGREEMENT 
(a) Modifications that have been certifie d since the meeting of 8 December 2006 
10. During the reporting period, the following proposed  modifications have been certified, given 
that no objections were made in the 30-day period or that objections that had been made were 
subsequently withdrawn with regard to all or some  of the specific entities listed in such modifications: 
 (i) modification by the European Communities : 
   - GPA/MOD/EEC/2 and Add.1
11, effective as of 1 January 200712, following a 
 Decision13 taken at a formal meeting of the Committee on Government 
 Procurement held on 8 December 2006.14 
 
 (ii) modification by Canada : 
   - GPA/MOD/CAN/10
15, effective as of 22 July 200716, given that no 
 objections were made within 30 days; 
 
 (iii) modifications by Japan : 
 
- GPA/MOD/JPN/2617, effective as of 7 February 200718, given that no 
objections were made within 30 days; 
                                                      
7 GPA/37/Add.4, dated 13 March 2007. 
8 GPA/84/Add.2, dated 12 March 2007. 
9 GPA/88/Add.1, dated 12 March 2007. 
10 GPA/91, dated 9 October 2007. 
11 Dated 17 and 21 November 2006, respectively. 
12 WT/Let/556, dated 26 January 2007. 
13 GPA/90, dated 11 December 2006. 
14 GPA/M/31, dated 29 January 2007, paras. 15-23. 
15 Dated 22 June 2007. 
16 WT/Let/581, dated 7 August 2007. 
17 Dated 9 January 2007. 
18 WT/Let/564, dated 5 March 2007.  GPA/92 
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  - GPA/MOD/JPN/2819, effective as of 14 June 200720, given that no objections 
were made within 30 days; 
- GPA/MOD/JPN/2921, effective as of 9 December 200722, given that no 
objections were made within 30 days;  and 
 (iv) modification by Korea23, effective as of 17 April 200724, given that the objection by 
the EC25 has been withdrawn to the remaining proposed modification – "Korea 
General Chemical Corporation".26 
 
(b) Proposed modifications that remain outstanding 
11. As to outstanding proposed modifications, the following developments, if any, have taken 
place during the reporting period: 
(i) Notification by Canada : 
  In December 2006, April and Sept ember 2007, Canada submitted communications27 
containing proposed modifications to its Sc hedules pursuant to Article XXIV:6(a) of 
the Agreement on Government Procurement.   The European Communities, Japan, the 
United States and Korea all objected to these proposed modifications.28  Canada sent 
a communication stating that Canada c onsiders that the 30-day time-period for 
objections expired before the date of Korea's communication.29  Canada also provided 
replies to questions from Japan.30  Subsequently, the United States and Japan have 
withdrawn their objections to Ca nada's proposed modifications.31 
 
(ii) Notifications by Japan  concerning proposed modifications relating to: 
- East Japan Railway Company, Central Japan Railway Company and West 
Japan Railway Company32 
No developments during the reporting period. 
                                                      
19 Dated 15 May 2007. 
20 WT/Let/577, dated 29 June 2007. 
21 Dated 9 November 2007. 
22 WT/Let/609, to be circulated. 
23 GPA/MOD/KOR/9, dated 31 January 2006. 
24 WT/Let/575, dated 8 May 2007. 
25 GPA/MOD/KOR/10, dated 1 March 2006. 
26 GPA/MOD/KOR/12, dated 17 April 2007. 
27 GPA/MOD/CAN/1, dated 19 December 2006;  GPA/ MOD/CAN/1/Corr.1, dated 12 April 2007;  and 
GPA/MOD/CAN/1/Add.1, dated 24 September 2007. 
28 GPA/MOD/CAN/2, dated 15 January 2007, GPA/MOD/CAN/3, dated 18 January 2007, 
GPA/MOD/CAN/4, dated 18 January 2007 and GPA/MOD/CAN/5, dated 29 January 2007, respectively. 
29 GPA/MOD/CAN/6, dated 22 February 2007. 
30 GPA/MOD/CAN/7, dated 5 April 2007. 
31 GPA/MOD/CAN/8, dated 22 May 2007 and GPA/MOD/CAN/9, dated 1 June 2007. 
32 GPA/W/144, 145 and 146, dated 29 August 2001 and GPA/W/152 and Corr.1, dated 20 September 
and 10 October 2001. GPA/92 
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  - Railway Construction Public Corpor ation and Corporation for Advanced 
Transport and Technology33 
In April 2007, Japan provided a response to questions from the European 
Communities and the United States in regard to this proposed modification.34 
- National Aerospace Laboratory35 
No developments during the reporting period. 
- Japan Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation, Japan Regional 
Development Corporation, Ur ban Development Corporation36 
No developments during the reporting period. 
(iii) Notification by the United States  concerning proposed modifications to reflect 
changes in the administrative structure of the Federal Government37, as regards the 
Uranium Enrichment Corporation  
No developments during the reporting period. 
IV. ACCESSIONS 
12. Eight WTO Members are in the process of acceding to the Agreement on Government 
Procurement:  Albania, Georgia, Jordan, th e Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Oman, Panama and 
Chinese Taipei.  A further six WTO Members have provisions in their respective Protocols of Accession to the WTO regarding accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement:  Armenia, China, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mongolia and Saudi Arabia. 
13. Discussions dedicated to the accession of Jordan
 were held during the informal meetings of 
the Committee on 18 April, 26 June and 2 October 2007, respectively.  The discussions held have 
been facilitated by the active participation of the de legation of Jordan and by the circulation of written 
comments and questions by several GPA Parties, a nd by written responses provided by Jordan.  For 
discussion at the 2 October 2007 informal meeting of  the Committee, Jordan submitted two informal 
papers, on its third revised offer and an updated list of non-sensitive procurements. 
14. In regard to Albania 's application for accession to the Agreement on Government 
Procurement38, during the reporting period Albania has provided to the Committee on Government 
Procurement a notification of national implem enting legislation for review by Parties.39 
15. During the reporting period, no developments have  been reported in relation to the respective 
accessions (pending or prospective) of Armenia, Cr oatia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, the former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, M ongolia, Oman, Panama, Saudi Arabia and 
Chinese Taipei. 
                                                      
33 GPA/W/272 and GPA/W/272/Rev.1, dated 23 September and 8 October 2003, respectively. 
34 GPA/MOD/JPN/27, dated 16 April 2007. 
35 GPA/W/275, dated 23 September 2003. 
36 GPA/MOD/JPN/7, dated 26 July 2004. 
37 GPA/W/153, dated 25 September 2001. 
38 GPA/57, dated 2 October 2001. 
39 GPA/ACC/ALB/1, dated 3 December 2007.  GPA/92 
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  16. At the Committee's meeting in December 2007, China confirmed that it was working on its 
promise to initiate negotiations regarding its accession to the Agreement by tabling an offer before the 
end of this year.  Delegations welcomed China's confirmation. 
V. NEGOTIATIONS 
17. Article XXIV:7(b) and (c) of the Agreemen t call on the Parties to undertake further 
negotiations, not later than the end of the third year from the date of the Agre ement's entry into force, 
with a view to improving the Agreement and achievi ng the greatest possible extension of its coverage 
among all Parties and eliminating any remaining discriminatory measures and practices.  In December 2006, the negotiators reached provisional ag reement on a revised text of the Agreement, 
subject to a legal check and to a mutually sa tisfactory outcome on the coverage negotiations.
40 
18. During the reporting period, Parties pursued their negotiations at informal meetings held in 
the weeks of 12 February, 16 April, 25 June, 1 Octo ber, 12 November and 10 December 2007.  At the 
meeting held in the week of 12 February 2007,  the Committee confirmed arrangements for carrying 
forward its work, including:  (i) carrying out the require d legal check;  (ii) verification of the linguistic 
consistency of the English, French and Spanish versions of the text;  (iii) the coverage negotiations;  
and (iv) the development of arbitration procedures and indicative criteria. 
19. In the course of the informal meetings held in  February, April, June, October and November, 
the Parties carried out the required legal check, focu sing on Articles I to XXI of the revised text.  The 
discussions were facilitated by an initial Note by th e Secretariat, proposals by delegations and Notes 
by the Secretariat reflecting the state of the discussi ons from the previous meetings.  At its meeting in 
November, the Committee completed the legal check of Articles I through XXI of the revised text, 
subject only to outstanding issues in the Preamb le and Article II:4 and to the general understanding 
governing the negotiations that nothing will be c onsidered agreed until everything is agreed. 
20. With regard to the verification of the linguis tic consistency of the English, French and 
Spanish versions of the text, the Committee held an  initial discussion on this subject at its February 
meeting.  Work continued during the informal mee tings held in October, November and December 
with the Secretariat translators present for the assistan ce of delegations.  At the request of delegations, 
updated versions of the French and Spanish texts circulated by the Secretariat for the November 
meeting contained notes by the translators drawing de legations' attention to va rious points relating, for 
example, to consistency with other WTO legal texts, in addition to outstanding proposals of 
delegations.  In the course of the informal session in December, work continued with respect to the 
linguistic verification exercise. 
21. At each of its meetings in 2007, the Committe e devoted time to discussions on Article XXII 
of the revised text, which remains subject to negotia tors' notes indicating that relevant issues remain 
open to substantive discussion.  Possible arrangements for giving legal effect to the revised Agreement, together with related draft decisions and a draft protocol of amendment, were also 
discussed.  Initial discussion of such arrangements w as facilitated by a Secretariat note on Giving 
Legal Effect to the Revised Agreement on Governme nt Procurement.  The discussion focused on two 
approaches – namely giving legal effect to the revised Agreement as a new WTO Agreement or as an 
amendment to the existing (1994) Agreement.  Re lated proposals by delegations were reflected in 
Notes by the Secretariat circulated, at the requ est of delegations, subsequent to each meeting. 
                                                     
 
40 GPA/89, dated 11 December 2006, para. 20. GPA/92 
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  22. As a further element of the 2007 work programme , each of the informal meetings during the 
year also carried forward the development of arbitr ation procedures and indicative criteria pursuant to 
Article XIX:8 of the revised GPA text.  These discussions were also based on proposals submitted by delegations together with Notes by the Secretariat reflecting the state of the discussion from previous 
meetings. 
23. With respect to the negotiations on coverage, it is recalled that, prior to the reporting period, 
nine Parties had submitted their initial offer:  Canada, the European Communities, Israel, Japan, 
Korea, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland and th e United States.  In addition, Jordan and 
Chinese Taipei, which are also participating in the coverage negotiations, confirmed in the course of 
the informal meeting held in the week of 6 February  2006 that the offers that they had circulated to 
delegations in the course of their negotiations on accession to the current Agreement should also be 
considered as their initial offers in the coverage  negotiations.  Further, three participants had 
submitted revised offers:  Japan, Jordan and the United States. 
24. During the reporting period, Korea submitted its revised offer and Iceland submitted its initial 
offer.  In addition, Jordan submitted a third revi sed offer, which was circulated as an informal 
document.  In the course of each of the meeting weeks during the reporting period, time was allotted 
for bilateral consultations among the Parties and th e Committee held informal plurilateral discussions 
on coverage matters, to take stock of the progress achieved in the bila teral consultations and to carry 
forward the discussion of horizontal coverage issues. 
 
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