WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
GPA/M/44 
11 April 2012  
 
(12-1890) 
Committee on Government Procurement  
  
 
MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT 
PROCUREMENT OF 15 NOVEMBER 2011 
 
Chairman:  Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland)  
 
1. The Chairman said that in preparation for the meeting, delegations had received an Airgram1 
and an Annotated Agenda.2  A draft of the Committee's Annual Report to the General Council for the 
period since the submission of the 2010 Report had also been circulated.3  Subsequently, revised 
versions of the draft Annual Report reflecting co mments made by Parties and necessary updates and 
corrections had also been circulated by th e Secretariat, in advance of the meeting. 
2. As set out in the Airgram, and following th e usual procedures, it was proposed that the 
meeting address the following items: 
 A. Accessions to the Agreement; 
 
B. Notification of thresholds, statisti cal reporting and the review of national 
implementing legislation; 
  C. Modifications to the Appendices of the Agreement; 
 
 D. Negotiations under Articl e XXIV:7 of the Agreement; 
 
E. Annual review of the implementation and operation of the Agreement, and the 
review and approval of the Committee's Annual Report to the General Council;  
and 
  F. Other business. 
 
3. No items had been proposed under the last item, "Other business". 
4. The Committee adopted the above agenda. 
A. ACCESSIONS  
5. With regard to accessions to the Agreement, consideration was given to the various WTO 
Members that are in the process of acceding to the Agreement, and those with accession 
commitments, with particular reference to Armenia, China, Jordan and Ukraine.4 
                                                      
1 WTO/AIR/3856, dated 4 November 2011. 
2 Job No. 9289, dated 9 November 2011. 
3 Job No. 9211, dated 8 November 2011. 
4 Armenia completed its accession proces s in the course of the year.  Al so in the course of the year, 
Ukraine initiated its accession process.  As of the date of the meeting, ni ne WTO Members were in the process 
of acceding to the Agreement:  Alba nia, China, Georgia, Jordan, the Kyrg yz Republic, Moldova, Oman, 
Panama, and Ukraine.  A further fo ur WTO Members had provisions regarding accession to the Agreement in 
their respective Protocols of  Accession to the WTO:  Croatia, the Fo rmer Yugoslav Repu blic of Macedonia, 
Mongolia, and Saudi Arabia. GPA/M/44 
Page 2  
 
  1. Armenia 
6. The Chairman recalled that in the course of th e year Armenia had completed all the remaining 
steps relating to its accession to the Agreement, and that the Agreement had entered into force for it 
with effect from 15 September 2011.5  He expressed his satisfaction at this very welcome 
development.  On behalf of Parties and on his ow n behalf, he extended the warm congratulations of 
the Committee to Armenia for its historic achievement. 
2. China 
7. With regard to the accession of China, the Ch airman noted that, in the course of the year, 
discussions had continued with full engagement by bot h China and Parties.  China had, consistent 
with its own roadmap, committed to provide a second revised offer that would include entities at the 
sub-central level of government before the last me eting of the Committee for the year.  Parties had 
welcomed this, and had also requested that this offer take account of the requests for improvement 
that had been made by Parties.  Parties had also noted the importance that th ey attached to the GPA-
conformity of China's national legislation.  Over all, Parties were looking for significant movement 
toward the completion of China' s accession in the coming year.6 
8. The representative of the United States, in a jo int statement on behalf of his delegation and 
the European Union, said that the two Parties l ooked forward to receiving the new revised offer from 
China before the Committee's last meeting to be held  at the end of the year.  The European Union and 
the United States understood that the new offer woul d include coverage at sub-central level, and 
welcomed this expansion. 
9. Nonetheless, there were other requests for im provement, put forward in the second requests 
respectively of the European Union and the United St ates, which the two Parties considered also very 
important.  These included:  lowering of thresholds;  expansion of coverage of services;  coverage of 
other entities such as state-owned/controlled enterpri ses;  and reduction or elimination of the notes 
and derogations to coverage.  Furt her, the European Union and the United States wished to point out 
that the elements included in their own requests were  also included in the requests made by the other 
GPA Parties to China.  The European Union and the United States called upon China to address these 
issues in its next offer.  The two Parties consider ed it essential that China offered coverage that was 
comparable to that of the European Union, the United States, and the other GPA Parties. 
10. Furthermore, the European Union and the Unite d States stressed that the alignment of the 
Chinese procurement regime to the GPA was a key element in China's GPA accession process.  The 
European Union and the United States looked forwar d to receiving concrete information on the steps 
that the Chinese Government was taking or intended to take in the foreseeable future to ensure 
compliance of its domestic regime to the GPA.  The European Union and the United States stood 
ready to assist China in this process. 
3. Jordan 
11. Regarding Jordan, the Chairman said that it had indicated that a revised offer was under 
preparation at its capital and that it hoped to be in a position to submit it in the near future.  He urged 
Jordan and all Parties to engage further, as needed, in order to ensure that this accession process could 
                                                      
5 GPA/109, dated 13 September 2011 and WT/Let/821, dated 13 September 2011.  For further 
information, see Report (2011) of the Committee on Government Procurement - GPA/110, dated 
16 November 2011, paras. 7 to 9. 
6 For further information regarding developments on the accession process of China, see Report (2011) 
of the Committee on Government Procurement - GPA/110, dated 16 November 2011, paras. 10 to 13.  GPA/M/44 
 Page 3 
 
 
  be brought to closure in the coming year.  He re called that conclusion of this process would require 
not only the finalization of the negotiations on cove rage but also appropriate  consideration of the 
requirement of GPA-conformity of Jordan's national legislation.7 
4. Ukraine 
12. The Chairman noted that Ukraine had circulat ed its application for accession in February 
2011.8  Subsequently, in August it had circulated its replies to the Checklist of Issues.9  T h e  
commencement by Ukraine of its accession process was a further sign of the growing significance of the Agreement, particularly for important emergi ng economies, and the benefits to be derived from 
accession to it.
10 
5. Other pending accessions and accession commitments 
13. With regard to other pending accessions and accessi on commitments, the Chairman said that 
the Committee should continue to keep these under activ e review, as it had done in the past.  In this 
regard, at an appropriate stage probably following the conclusion of the GPA renegotiation, it would 
be his intention to again communicate with the current accession candidates and WTO Members with 
outstanding commitments, to inquire regarding their intentions. 
14. In a separate but related development, the Chairman noted that the Russian Federation had, in 
the context of its WTO accession process, undertaken  a commitment to obtain observer status on the 
Committee on Government Procurement upon its accessi on to the WTO, and, subsequently, to seek 
accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement.11  This was a most welcome development. 
15. Continuing, he again noted, as he had done on  several previous occasions, that the most 
useful contribution that the Committee could make  to facilitate more future accessions on the 
appropriate terms was to complete  the renegotiation of the Agreement.  It was entirely appropriate, 
therefore, that Parties had committed to do so in the current year and during the course of the Ministerial Conference of the WTO that was due to be held in December 2011. 
16. As a final consideration with regard to accessi ons, the Chairman recorded his satisfaction 
with the practice that had been established in the Committee by whic h the Secretariat was invited to 
provide regular briefings to the Committee with regard  to its technical assistance activities in the area 
of government procurement.  He noted that such act ivities were potentially a very significant factor in 
facilitating the future round of accessions desired by Pa rties.  It was his perception that the Secretariat 
had continued to be active and effective in this  area over the past year, and he recorded the 
appreciation of the Committee to the Secr etariat for its work in this regard.
12 
17. The representative of the United States thanke d the Chairman for his introductory remarks 
with regard to developments on accessions during the year.  His delegation was also very pleased 
about the completed accession of Armenia.  The Un ited States also noted with interest the initiation 
by Ukraine of its accession process.  With regard to the accession process of Ch ina, he read a joint 
                                                      
7 For further information regarding developments on the accession process of China, see Report (2011) 
of the Committee on Government Procurement - GPA/110, dated 16 November 2011, paras. 14 to16. 
8 GPA/ACC/UKR/1 and GPA/107, both dated 9 February 2011. 
9 GPA/ACC/UKR/2, dated 2 August 2011. 
10 See also Report (2011) of the Committee on Government Procurement - GPA/110, dated 
16 November 2011, para. 17. 
11 WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/25/Rev.6, dated 9 November 2011, paragraph 1143. 
12 For further information regard ing the Secretariat's technical cooperation activities during the 
reporting period, see Report (2011) of the Committee on Government Procurement - GPA/110, dated 
16 November 2011, paras. 19 to 22. GPA/M/44 
Page 4  
 
  statement on behalf of the European Union and the United States.  He agreed that all pending 
accessions and accession commitments should be kept under review during the year. 
18. The Committee took note of these developments. 
B. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT – NOTIFICATION OF THRESHOLDS , STATISTICAL 
REPORTING AND THE REVIEW OF NAT IONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION  
1. Thresholds 
19. The Chairman said that in accordance with  the Decision on Modalities for Notifying 
Threshold Figures in National Currencies13, since the 2010 Annual Report, information on threshold 
figures expressed in national currencies for 2011/2012 had been received and circulated for Chinese 
Taipei and Korea.14 
2. Statistical Reporting 
20. The Chairman said that, pursuant to Article XIX:5 of the Agreement, during the period under 
review, Canada had notified its st atistical reports for 2008 and 200915;  Hong Kong, China had 
notified its statistical report for 201016;  Japan had notified its statistical report for 200917;  Singapore 
had notified its statistical reports for 2007 and 200818;  and Chinese Taipei had notified its statistical 
report for 201019.  These and other relevant details were also reflected in the 2010 Annual Report.20 
21. The representative of Korea said his delegation an ticipated providing Kor ea's statistical report 
in the course of the month. 
3. Review of National Implementing Legislation 
22. The Chairman said that, pursuant to Article XXIV:5(b) of the Agreement, Parties were 
required to inform the Committee of any changes in their relevant laws and regulations and in the 
administration of such laws and regulations.  In lin e with this provision, in the course of the year, a 
notification had been received from Japan.21  This was reflected in the draft 2011 Annual Report.22 
4. Consultations and Dispute Settlement 
23. The Chairman said that no matters had been raised during the year under Article XXII of the 
Agreement dealing with consu ltations and dispute settlement. 
                                                      
13 GPA/1, dated 5 March 1996, Annex 3. 
14 GPA/W/309/Add.10, dated 6 January 2011;  and GPA/W/309/Add.11, dated 28 February 2011, 
respectively. 
15 GPA/102/Add.6, dated 19 July 2011;  and GPA/104/Add.5, dated 19 July 2011. 
16 GPA/108/Add.1, dated 1 November 2011. 
17 GPA/104/Add.4, dated 5 May 2011. 
18 GPA/94/Add.6 and GPA/102/Add.5, both dated 22 February 2011. 
19 GPA/108, dated 26 August 2011. 
20 GPA/110, dated 16 November 2011, paras. 25 to 26. 
21 GPA/37/Add.8, dated 13 April 2011. 
22 GPA/110, dated 16 November 2011, para. 24.  GPA/M/44 
 Page 5 
 
 
  C. MODIFICATIONS TO THE AP PENDICES TO THE AGREEMENT  
1. Modifications that have been certified since the meeting of 9 December 2010 
24. The Chairman said that, since the adoption of the 2010 Annual Report of the Committee23, 
two modifications by Japan had been certified, given that no objections had been made within 
30 days.  This was already reflected in the draft 2011 Annual Report.24 
2. Proposed modifications that remain outstanding 
25. The Chairman said that, as of the date of the present meeting, a number of proposed 
modifications remained outstanding.  These were modifications that had been proposed by Canada, 
the European Union, Japan, Norway and the United States, of which relevant details were provided in 
the Annual Report.25 
26. The representative of Japan recalled that in 2001 Japan had notified deletion of three railway 
companies26 on the grounds that they had been privatized.27  As of 2006, all objections to its proposed 
modification had been withdrawn with the exception of  that by one Party.  That Party continued to 
refuse to withdraw its objection d espite Japan's sincere efforts. 
27. The Committee took note of these developments. 
D. ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE AGREEMENT AND 
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL  
28. The Chairman said that Article XXIV:7(a) of the Agreement required the Committee to 
review annually the implementation and operation of the Agreement and to inform the General 
Council of developments during the pe riods covered by such reviews.  In this regard, a draft of the 
required Report, reflecting the de velopments that had taken place since the circulation of the 
Committee's Annual Report for 2010 to the date of the present meeting, had previously been 
circulated by the Secretariat.28  Subsequently, revised versions of  the draft report, reflecting comments 
that had been received from Parties and some nec essary updates and corrections, had been circulated 
by the Secretariat.  In the opinion  of the Secretariat, which he shared, the revisions reflected, in a 
balanced and consistent way, the concerns a nd positions of all the Parties that had provided 
comments.  He proposed that the Committee di scuss and adopt the Report with any necessary 
additional modifications. 
29. The representative of the Secretariat proposed fo r the consideration of the Committee that the 
present order of Sections II and III of the draft Repor t be reversed.  This would mean that, after the 
proposed change, Section II of the Report would address the issue of Accessions, while Section III would address the issue of Implementation of the Agre ement.  This was a purely cosmetic change that 
would not affect the substance of the Report but would serve to highlight the Committee's work on 
accessions to the Agreement. 
                                                      
23 GPA/106, dated 9 December 2010. 
24 GPA/110, dated 16 November 2011, para. 28. 
25 GPA/110, dated 16 November 2011, para. 29. 
26 Respectively, the East Japan Railway Company, Central Japan Railway Company and West Japan 
Railway Company. 
27 GPA/W/144, GPA/W/145 and GPA/W/146, dated 29 August 2001 and GPA/W/152 and 
GPA/W/152/Corr.1, dated 20 September and 10 October 2001, respectively. 
28 Job No. 9211, dated 8 November 2011. GPA/M/44 
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  30. The Committee adopted its Annual Report to the General Council for the period 
mid-December 2010 to mid-November 2011, with the changes proposed by the Secretariat.29 
E. OTHER BUSINESS  
31. There were no items under "Other Business". 
__________ 
 
 
                                                      
29 Subsequently issued as GPA/110, dated 16 November 2011.