RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  GPA/ACC/ARM/4 
17 May 2010 
 
 (10-2763) 
Committee on Government Procurement Original:   English 
  
 
 
ACCESSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA TO THE AGREEMENT  
ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
Communication from Canada
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 13 May 2010, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Canada.  
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CANADA'S COMMENTS ON ARMENIA'S DRAFT FINAL MARKET  
ACCESS OFFER (GPA/ACC/ARM/2) 
 
 
 Canada is pleased with the substance and timing of  Armenia's draft final offer.  The draft final 
offer is an ambitious one, and satisfactorily addresses the majority of Canada's requests to Armenia.  
However, Canada has two remaining questions  regarding Armenia's draft final offer: 
 1. The chapeau of Annex 3 indicates that the Annex covers "all lega l persons (authorities, 
establishments and foundations) governed by public law and not having or having an industrial or 
commercial character whose procurement is cove red by Law on Procurement".  Could Armenia 
please explain what is meant by "not having or ha ving an industrial or commercial character"? 
 2. General Note 5 states that a list of procurem ents related to defense and national security that 
are not covered by the Agre ement "should be published in www.procurement.am
".  Canada would 
like to review the final list of defense and nati onal security procurements not covered by Armenia 
under the GPA, and would expect that the final lis t will be published prior to Armenia's accession. 
  
CANADA'S QUESTIONS ON ARMENIA'S REPLIES TO THE CHECKLIST OF ISSUES 
FOR PROVISION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO ACCESSION TO THE 
AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
(GPA/ACC/ARM/3) 
 
 II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK 
 
1. In its response to question 2, Armenia notes that the Law on Procurement (LP) "is 
supplemented by secondary legislation which deals w ith a series of procedural and more practical 
issues.  The RA Government and the Authorized Body -Ministry of Finance (hereinafter referred to as 
the "AB") adopt other legal acts (secondary legisla tion) on procurement to ensure the accomplishment 
of the purpose and requirements of the LP". GPA/ACC/ARM/4 
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 Could Armenia please provide a list of the seconda ry legislation which deals with procedural 
and practical issues, and a summary of the subject  areas dealt with by each of these instruments? 
 
V. ELEMENTS SPECIFIC TO PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES 
 
2. In its response to question 16, Armenia indi cated that open tendering may be either periodic 
or targeted, and that periodic procurement is obligatory for all items which are included on a list 
approved by the AB, and which are needed by proc uring entities on a recurrent basis.  Targeted 
procurement, instead, concerns items not covered on the list issued by the AB. 
 
 Article 17, paragraph 5 of the draft LP mainta ins the conditions for periodic procurement, but 
changes the approving authority for the list to the Government of Armenia.   Could Armenia please provide a copy of the list of items approved by the Government of 
Armenia to be used for periodic tendering?  How is the list created (i.e., what entity determines which 
items will be included on the list, and how are th e items to be included on the list selected)? 
 3. In response to question 17, Armenia stat ed that "if the procurement price exceeds 
dram 90 million (around EUR 190,000), then the open tender announcement is published minimum 
40 days prior to the deadline of tender submission.  If the procurement price less than dram 90 million 
the announcement is published minimum 30 days prior to the deadline of tender submission".  These 
requirements have not changed in the draft LP.   Article XI, paragraph 2(a) of the GPA states that  in open procedures, the period for the receipt 
of tenders shall not be less than 40 days from the da te of publication of the invitation to participate in 
a procurement.  Could Armenia please indicate whether it plans to increase the 30-day time-frame 
from publication of the tender announcement to the deadline for tender submission for procurements 
where the estimated price is less than the 90 base units  of procurement to bring this into line with 
GPA standards?  4. In response to question 19, Armenia noted th at, "according to Article 20 of the LP, if the 
procurement item is not covered in the signed pr ocurement contracts under periodic tenders, and due 
to the technical specifications of the procuremen t item, this procurement can be done from no more 
than three persons, the restricted tendering can be applied".  Article 20 of the draft LP maintains the 
same conditions, but uses the term 'limited bidding' instead of 'restricted tendering'. 
 
 While Article XV of the GPA allows for the use of limited tendering, the conditions outlined 
above do not appear to be compliant with the reasons for limited tendering provided in the GPA. 
  Could Armenia please explain how a procuring entity would determine whether a procurement could be performed by no more th an three persons, and t hus, apply limited tendering 
procedures? 
 
 Do any procedures or regulations exist to ensu re that limited tendering is not used with the 
intent of avoiding maximum possible competition?  5. In response to question 23, Armenia indicated that that the technical properties of the item to 
be procured shall be "in compliance with the current  RA norms, documents and standards, and in their 
absence, with international temporary technical conditions or international standards".  The 
corresponding article of the draft LP (Article 13) h as been modified somewhat, but still stipulates that 
the technical specifications of a procurement shall be based on existing Republic of Armenia  GPA/ACC/ARM/4 
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  normative-technical documents and standards or, if  such documents and standards are missing, on 
temporary technical references or international standards.   Article VI of the GPA states that technical specifications shall be based on international 
standards, where such exist.  Canada is concerned that the Armenian LP appears to give priority to 
domestic technical standards and documents over international standards.  In a case where an 
international standard exists, would a product or ser vice that meets this standard be treated on equal 
footing with a product or service that meets Armenian standards? 
 
VI. INFORMATION 
 
6. In response to question 28, Armenia indicated  that "the LP does not foresee publication of 
permanent lists of qualified supp liers".  However, Article 27 of the draft LP outlines prequalification 
procedures, and indicates that "the minutes on results of the prequalification procedure … are drafted and sent to participants of the prequalification pr ocedure within three cale ndar days after finalizing 
the results of the prequalification procedure". 
  Could Armenia please clarify whether it intends to publish its permanent lists of qualified suppliers?  If so, could Armenia please provide the na me of the relevant publication(s) or the address 
of an Internet website where such lists are published?  VII. BID CHALLENGE PROCEDURES 
 
7. In response to question 32, Armenia indicated  that "allegedly aggrie ved providers may choose 
to lodge a complaint against the actions of the pr ocuring entity and/or tender commission either before 
the AB or before the national courts.  The decisions  of the AB may be appealed before the national 
courts.  The decision is made by the Minster of Finance". 
  Article XX of the GPA requires that challenges be heard by a court or by an impartial and independent review body with no interest in the outcome of the procurement and the members of 
which are secure from external influence during the term of appointment.  Armenia indicates that the 
AB (Authorized Body) is the Ministry of Finance.  If this is the case, it would appear that the AB is 
not an independent review body that can be consid ered impartial in addressing issues that concern the 
Government of Armenia.   However, the under the draft LP, it appears that the Authorized Body will no longer be involved in settling disputes.  Instead, the Proc urement Complaint Review Board, which will be 
formed by representatives who are independent from th e participants of the procurement process, as 
well as from state bodies and local self-governments and officials, will handle procurement complaints.  Canada commends Armenia for this  positive step forward in complying with GPA 
standards.   
CANADA'S QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS ON ARMENIA'S  
DRAFT LAW ON PROCUREMENT (GPA/ACC/ARM/3) 
 
 1. Article 6, paragraph 7 of the draft Law on Procurement states that "procurement from an 
entity with government or community shareholding ca n be carried out without bidding only in cases, 
when such procurement from other entities cannot be  done.  The impossibility shall be established as 
a result of the tender".  GPA/ACC/ARM/4 
Page 4  
 
   Could Armenia please explain how a procuring entity would determine when procurement 
from other entities cannot be done, and thus be perm itted to conduct procur ement without bidding? 
 2. Article 9, paragraph 2 of the draft LP s tipulates that announcements of contract award 
decisions must be published and that the decision "shall contain brief information on evaluation of 
bids and relevant reasons for the selection of this bidder and a statement on standstill period". 
  Article XVIII of the GPA requires the provision of extensive information in the contract award notice such as the nature and quantity of produ cts or services in the contract award, the name 
and address of the winning tenderer, the value of the winning award or the highest and lowest offer 
taken into account in the award of the contract, ju stification according for the use of limited tendering 
(if used), etc.   Does Armenia plan to require more extensive information in the announcement of contract 
award decisions, in line with GPA standards? 
 
3. Article 54 of the LP allows the Authorized Body the right to appeal the decisions of the client 
or the tender committee in the Procurement Compla int Review Board as well as appeal the decisions 
of the Procurement Complaint Review Board in the court.   Could Armenia please confirm that, in the draft Law on Procurement, the Authorized Body is 
the Ministry of Finance, as indicated in Ar menia's responses to the Checklist of Issues? 
  Could Armenia please elaborate on the rights of th e Authorized Body to appeal the decisions 
of the Procurement Complaint Review Board in court?  If the Ministry of Finance (or another Ministry of the Government of Armenia) has the final authority in the appeal process, could Armenia 
please explain how this complies with Article XX of the GPA, which requires that Parties provide 
non-discriminatory challenge procedures?  4. Article 57, paragraph 2 of the draft LP stipulates that if an applicant objects to a contract award decision, he or she can only lodge his or her complaint within the stands till period.  This shall 
be at least 15 calendar days in case of procurements exceeding the Procurement base unit by 90 times, 
and at least five calendar days, in case of procurements not exceeding the Procurement base unit by 
90 times.   Article XX, paragraph 5 of the GPA requires th at suppliers wishing to initiate a challenge 
procedure should be allowed a period of at least  10 days from the time when the basis of the 
complaint is known to initiate the cha llenge and notify the procuring entity. 
  Does Armenia plan to extend the standstill period for procurements not exceeding the 
procurement base unit by 90 times to bring it into  compliance with the GPA standard of 10 days? 
 
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