RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  GPA/M/38 
4 February 2010 
 
 (10-0596) 
Committee on Government Procurement  
  
 
MINUTES OF THE FORMAL MEETING OF 9 DECEMBER 2009 
 
Chairman:  Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland)
 
  
1. The Chairman
 said that, in preparation for the meetin g, delegations had received an Airgram1 
and an Annotated Agenda.2  He recalled that, in view of exigencies related to the 2009 Ministerial 
Conference, the Committee's 2009 Annual Report to  the General Council had previously been 
approved and circulated.3  In advance of the meeting, a draft Addendum to this Report had been 
circulated.4  Subsequently, an updated version of th e draft Addendum, to take into account later 
developments, had also been circulated. 
2. The agenda, as outlined in the Airgram, was as follows: 
 A. Accessions to the Agreement. 
  B. Implementation of the Agreement – notifica tion of thresholds, statistical reporting and 
the review of national im plementing legislation. 
 
 C. Modifications to the Appendices of the Agreement.   D. Negotiations under Article XXIV:7. 
 
 E. Annual review of the implementation and operation of the Agreement, and the review 
and approval of the proposed Addendu m to the Committee's Annual Report. 
  F. Other business.  3. Under the last item, "Other business", the Chai rman proposed that the Committee take up the 
dates for its proposed meetings in 2010. 
4. The Committee adopted
 the above agenda, taking into consideration the Chairman's 
suggestion regarding other business. 
A. ACCESSIONS  
5. Introducing the Committee's work in this area, the Chairman  said that accessions to the 
Agreement had been an important focus of the Committee's work throughout the year.  One WTO 
Member (Chinese Taipei) had completed its acces sion during the year;  eight WTO Members had 
pending applications for accession (Albania, Arme nia, Georgia, Jordan, the Kyrgyz Republic, 
Moldova, Oman, and Panama);  and five WT O Members had pending commitments regarding 
                                                      
1 WTO/AIR/3482, dated of 20 November 2009. 
2 Job No. 9842, dated 23 November 2009. 
3 GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009. 
4 Job No. 10387, dated 4 December 2009. GPA/M/38 
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  accession to the Agreement (Croatia, the Form er Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mongolia, 
Saudi Arabia and Ukraine). 
1. Chinese Taipei 
6. Continuing on the subject of specific accessi ons regarding which significant developments 
had taken place, the Chairman
 recalled that, in the course of the year, Chinese Taipei had completed 
all the remaining steps relating to its accession to th e Agreement, and the Agreement had entered into 
force for it with effect from 15 July 2009.5  This was an historic achievement for both the Committee 
and Chinese Taipei, and represented the culmination of efforts by Parties and Chinese Taipei itself 
going back over a number of years.  He thanked all involved for their efforts in helping to bring about 
this welcome result. 
2. China 
7. The Chairman  said that the accession of China was of  tremendous importance for the future 
of the Agreement, and that important progress had been  made in the course of the year in relation to 
this accession.  The work done had included furt her discussion of China's initial coverage offer, 
follow-up exchanges related to its replies to the Chec klist of Issues and, for the meetings of October 
2009, the progress report and roadmap to a revised offe r that China had provided, which had also been 
referred to at the present meeting.  In its progress report, China had sketched out a path for it to 
provide a revised coverage offer in 2010, while also  stressing the challenges that it continued to face 
in preparing the revised offer and readying itself for GPA implementation.  The report had been well-
received by Parties as a helpful initiative by China to show the way forward.  Parties had also 
expressed hopes that the revised offer itself would be available earlier rather than later in the new 
year.  The Chairman expressed his appreciation to th e delegation of China for its efforts and to Parties 
for the care and sensitivity with which they were a pproaching this part of the Committee's work, and 
looked forward to further significant progress in 2010. 
3. Armenia 
8. The Chairman  noted that Armenia had formally tabled  its application for accession and initial 
coverage offer on 4 September 2009.6  Delegations had expressed their keen appreciation for the 
documentation provided and the preparatory work d one by Armenia, and their view that the initial 
offer constituted a sound basis for discussion.  The hope had also been expressed that the negotiation 
on Armenia's terms of accession might proceed quick ly.  The Chairman expressed his thanks, on 
behalf of the Committee, to Armenia for the excelle nt initiative that it had shown, and said that, based 
on his discussions with Armenia and various Parti es, he was personally optimistic that Armenia's 
accession process might be completed in the first half of 2010. 
4. Jordan 
9. With regard to Jordan, the Chairman  said that completion of its accession remained a top 
priority for the Committee, and that both Jordan and Parties were working actively towards this goal.  
In the course of the year, Jordan had provided sev eral updates regarding work under way in its capital 
related to its accession.  Parties had also made clear  to Jordan their outstanding concerns regarding the 
offer that was currently on the ta ble.  The Chairman noted that the accession of Jordan would be a 
historic milestone for the Committee if a way forwar d could be found on terms that were acceptable to 
all.  He encouraged both Parties and Jordan to re new their efforts to complete the remaining steps 
concerning Jordan's accession in 2010. 
                                                      
5 GPA/96, dated 9 December 2008;  an d GPA/96/Add.1, dated 5 June 2009. 
6 GPA/ACC/ARM/1, dated 4 September 2009.  GPA/M/38 
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  5. Kyrgyz Republic 
10. Regarding the Kyrgyz Republic, the Chairman  recalled that an update d version its replies to 
the Checklist of Issues had b een circulated in October 2009.7  This was an encouraging development 
given that the work on the Kyrgyz Republic's accessi on had, until then, been inactive since 2003.  On 
behalf of all GPA Parties, he pledged the readines s of the Committee to work with it to carry forward 
the Kyrgyz Republic's accession process in 2010. 
6. Other pending accessions and accession commitments 
11. With respect to other pending accessions  and accession commitments, the Chairman  noted 
that their status had been kept under active review  by the Committee in the course of the year.  He 
looked forward to the Committee pursuing this aspect of its work more actively in 2010.  He noted 
that Moldova, which had already tabled an initial coverage offer which Par ties had found to be a good 
basis for discussion, had given an indication th at it anticipated being in a position to resume 
discussions on its accession in the spring of the comi ng year.  This was an encouraging development. 
12. He recalled that, as a further element of the Committee's work on accessions, the Secretariat 
had, at the request of the Committee, provided re ports on its technical assistance activities at both the 
October 2009 and the present meetings.8  In the course of its reports, the Secretariat had noted its 
impressions of growing interest in the Agreement a nd in the subject of public procurement in diverse 
regions of the developing world, and its related pe rception of the potential for a significant expansion 
of the membership of the Agreement in the coming years.  Delegations had indicated that they had 
found the Secretariat's reports to be helpful, and had requested that such reports be provided on a 
regular basis.  This would be done. 
13. The Committee took note  of the above developments. 
B. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT –  NOTIFICATION OF THRESHOLDS , STATISTICAL 
REPORTING AND THE REVIEW OF NAT IONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION  
1. Thresholds 
14. The Chairman  said that, in accordance with the Decision on Modalities for Notifying 
Threshold Figures in National Currencies9, during the period between the 2008 and 2009 Annual 
Reports, Israel, Korea, and Chinese Taipei had provided information on their threshold figures 
expressed in national currencies for the period 2008- 2009/10;  these had been reflected in the 2009 
Annual Report.10  Subsequently, Hong Kong, China had provi ded information on its threshold figures 
expressed in national currencies for 2010-2011.11 
2. Statistical Reporting 
15. The Chairman  said that, in line with the requirements of Article XIX:5 of the Agreement on 
Government Procurement, during the period betw een the 2008 and 2009 Annual Reports, Canada had 
notified its statistical reports for 1997-2007, the European Union12 had submitted its statistical reports 
                                                      
7 GPA/ACC/KGZ/1, dated 5 October 2009. 
8 GPA/W/308, dated 6 October 2009. 
9 GPA/1, dated 5 March 1996, Annex 3. 
10 GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009, para. 6. 
11 GPA/W/309, dated 27 November 2009. 
12 On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty 
establishing the European Community  (done at Lisbon, 13 December 2007) entered into force.  On 
29 November 2009, the WTO received a Verbal Note (WT/L/779) from the Council of the Eu ropean Union and GPA/M/38 
Page 4  
 
  for 1996-2006 and a summary related to these reports , Japan had notified its statistical reports for 
2004-2007, Liechtenstein had notified its statistical report for 2008 and the United States had notified 
its statistical report for 2007.  He noted that these contributions had already been reflected in the 2009 
Annual Report.
13  Subsequently, Hong Kong, China had provided its statistical report for 2008.14 
3. Review of National Implementing Legislation 
16. The Chairman  said that national implementing measures had been an important focus of the 
work of the Committee during the year.  Particular attention had been given to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub.  Law 111-5) and its implementing regulations, 
following a notification by the United States on this  topic pursuant to Article XXIV:5(b) of the 
Agreement, and a related exchange  of questions and answers in the Committee.  Also pursuant to 
Article XXIV:5(b), notifications had been received fro m Israel in regard to a reduction of its offsets 
and from Japan regarding legislation and rela ted policy measures with respect to certain 
environmental measures.  The relevant details of th ese notifications had already been reflected in the 
Committee's 2009 Annual Report, as subsequently amended.
15 
4. Consultations and Dispute Settlement 
17. 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. 
5. General Consultations on Notification Procedures 
18. With respect to other aspects of the impl ementation of the Agreement, the Chairman  recalled 
that, in the course of the year, a series of general consultations had been held regarding notification 
procedures under the Agreement and possible improve ments thereto, in response to a request, on 
26 February 2009, by the Chairman of the General Council, Ambassador Matus, to the Chairpersons 
of all WTO bodies in this respect.  He noted that the consultations were ongoing and that they were 
built on detailed information on the status of notifi cations that had been compiled for the Committee 
by the Secretariat.16  He observed that this had been a useful exercise and that it might bear significant 
fruit in the coming year. 
19. The Committee took note  of these developments. 
C. MODIFICATIONS TO THE AP PENDICES TO THE AGREEMENT  
1. Modifications that have been certified since the meeting of 9 December 2008 
20. The Chairman  said that, since the adoption of th e 2008 Annual Report of the Committee17, 
modifications by Japan;  Korea;  Singapore;  and Chinese Taipei had been certified given that no objections were made within 30 days.  These had already been reflected in the Committee's 2009 
Annual Report.
18 
                                                                                                                                                                     
the Commission of the European Communities stating that, by virtue of the Treaty of Lisbon , as of 
1 December 2009, the European Union replaces and succeeds the European Community. 
13 GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009, para. 8. 
14 GPA/102/Add.1, dated 7 December 2009. 
15 GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009, para. 7, and GPA/103/Corr.1, dated 11 December 2009, para. 7. 
16 GPA/W/306 and Corr.1, dated 28 September and 13 October 2009, respectively. 
17 GPA/95, dated 9 December 2008. 
18 GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009, para. 10.  GPA/M/38 
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  2. Proposed modifications that remain outstanding 
21. As to outstanding proposed modifications, the Chairman  noted that relevant developments 
regarding proposed modifications by Canada and Japan, that ha d taken place during the period 
between the 2008 and 2009 Annual Reports, had been reflecte d in the 2009 Annual Report.19  
Subsequently, with regard to the proposed modifi cation by Japan regarding its National Aerospace 
Laboratory, follow-up questions from the European Un ion to Japan's replies to its earlier questions 
had been circulated on 26 November 2009.  Also, proposed modifications to Appendices II and III of Switzerland had been circulated on 1 December 2009.
20 
22. The representative of Japan  said it was his delegation's strong desire that the outstanding 
objections to Japan's proposed modifications be with drawn by the relevant Parties as soon as possible.  
Specifically, with respect to the first  item, namely, the East Japan Railway Company, Central Japan 
Railway Company and West Japan Railway Company,  Japan once again strongly requested that the 
Party objecting to the modification withdraw its objection as soon as possible.  With respect to the second
 item, that is, the Railway Construction Pub lic Corporation and Corporation for Advanced 
Transport Technology, the issue was subject to cons ultations with objecting Parties.  His delegation 
believed that sufficient clarification and explanati on had already been given to the objecting Parties, 
and looked forward to the withdrawal of their resp ective objections in the foreseeable future.  As 
regards the third  item, the National Aerospace Laboratory,  his delegation had recently received 
additional questions from one objec ting Party.  These were now unde r consideration and Japan looked 
forward to providing a response at a later stage.  Regarding the fourth  item, the Japan Small and 
Medium Enterprise Corporation, Japan Regional Development Corporation and Urban Development 
Corporation, his delegation had furnished clarificat ions which it believed prov ided a sufficient basis 
for a mutually satisfactory solution to be reached  and looked forward to such a solution in the 
foreseeable future.21 
23. The representative of the United States  said that her delegation joined Japan in expressing 
their concerns with regard to the outstanding prop osed modifications.  She said the United States had 
an even older outstanding proposed modification, concerning the Uranium Enrichment Corporation22, 
for which there had been no engagement from the objec ting Party for several years.  It was not helpful 
that proposed modifications remained outstanding for such a long time.  Her delegation asked that the 
Chairman undertake consultations to resolv e all outstanding proposed modifications. 
24. The representative of Canada  said that her delegation similarly had a proposed modification 
which had been outstanding for a considerable period.23  Furthermore, Canada had not received any 
additional questions on this modification from the ob jecting Party.  Her delegation accordingly looked 
forward to this objection being withdrawn as soon as possible. 
25. The representative of the European Union  said that her delegation had initiated a review of all 
the outstanding notifications that were pending.  One of  the first results of this review was the new set 
of questions that her delegation had sent to  Japan requesting additional clarifications.24  H e r  
delegation anticipated adopting the same approach regarding other outstanding notifications where it 
considered that, notwithstanding the clarifications th at had been provided by the relevant Parties, it 
still had unresolved questions.  Her delegation was going to do its best to resolve these matters and 
was relying on the availability of the ot her relevant Parties to achieve progress. 
                                                      
19 GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009, para. 11. 
20 GPA/103/Add.1, dated 10 December 2009, para. 7. 
21 Further background information is available in GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009, para. 11(ii). 
22 Further background information is available in GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009, para. 11(iii). 
23 Further background information is available in GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009, para. 11(i). 
24 GPA/MOD/JPN/41, dated  26 November 2009. GPA/M/38 
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  26. The Committee took note
 of these developments and comments. 
D. NEGOTIATIONS UNDER ARTICLE XXIV :7 
1. Coverage 
27. The Chairman  said that efforts to carry forward the coverage negotiations had been a central 
aspect of the Committee's work throughout th e year.  In this regard, initial offers  from all but two 
GPA Parties had been circulated prior to or during the meetings in December 2008.  In addition, since 
Committee's meeting in June 2009, the delegation of  Chinese Taipei had confirmed that its accession 
commitments, as modified by a subsequent notificati on, constituted its initial of fer in the negotiations.  
Accordingly, he noted, the initial offers of Hong Ko ng, China;  and Liechtenste in were the only ones 
yet to be circulated.  He emphasized that active par ticipation by all delegations in the negotiations was 
vital to their successful conclusion, and urged those de legations to circulate their outstanding offers in 
the near future. 
28. With regard to revised offers , the Chairman said that these had been received from eight 
delegations:  the United States, Jordan, Japan, Kor ea, the European Union, Norway, Switzerland and 
Singapore.  He added that the circulation of add itional revised offers would be critical to moving 
ahead effectively on the negotiations in the coming year. 
29. Regarding related topics, the Chairman recalled that the Committee had, in the course of its 
discussions on coverage, also considered statistical re ports by delegations.  In this respect, a proposal 
had been made for the creation of an informal wo rking group or sub-body of the Committee to pursue 
related methodological questions.  He said that related information would be communicated in 
advance of the Committee's first meetings in the new year. 
30. Continuing, the Chairman said that agreemen t had been reached during the present meeting 
on the terms of reference for a mid-term review of the coverage negotia tions, which was to be 
undertaken by the WTO Secretariat.25  The overall purpose of the review would be to facilitate 
renewed progress in the coverage negotiations, by clarifying the scope of the offers that were currently on the table and, where possible, elimin ating misunderstandings as to what is and what is 
not covered. 
31. As regards conclusion of the negotiations, th e Chairman said that, based on his own recent 
consultations with individual dele gations, and in the context of the plurilateral sessions of the 
Committee, there had recently been fresh signals regarding a shared commitment to conclude the 
negotiations.  A shared vision, accordingly, was em erging that 2010 might provide the only remaining 
window of opportunity for concludi ng the negotiations.  In order to make this vision a reality, 
concessions would be necessary on all sides.  He urged all Parties to redouble their efforts and to work 
together in a spirit of compromise, remembering that  the price of a continued impasse in the coverage 
negotiations was continued delay in the coming into force of the revised GPA text – a situation that might also have adverse implications for future work on accessions. 
2. Issues relating to the provisionally agreed revised GPA text 
32. With respect to the provisionally agreed revised GPA text
, the Chairman  said that in 2009, 
work had focused on the ongoing verification of the li nguistic equivalency of the English, French and 
Spanish versions of the text, while also encomp assing further consideration of issues concerning 
Article XXII (Final Provisions) and the related texts illustrating possibilities for giving legal effect to 
the Agreement.  He noted that in the discussions  during the present meeting, significant expressions of 
                                                      
25 GPA/W/310, dated 22 December 2009.  GPA/M/38 
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  flexibility concerning outstanding elements of this Artic le had been made by de legations.  He said this 
was a welcome development.  The ab ility to resolve and put to bed these issues would be an early test 
of the commitment of the Committee to bring the negotiations to a close. 
33. As regards work relating to the two draft Comm ittee decisions pursuant to Article XIX:8 of 
the revised text, namely, on arbitration procedures and indicative criteria regarding the removal of 
governmental influence and control, the Chairman said  that an important step had been taken toward 
resuming work on these decisions with the tabling, in the course of the week's meeting, of a non-paper 
by Japan on indicative criteria.  This would be inco rporated in a revised note to be issued by the 
Secretariat.26 
34. The Committee took note  of these developments. 
E. ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE AGREEMENT AND 
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL  
35. The Chairman  said that Article XXIV:7(a) of the Agreement on Government Procurement 
requires the Committee to review annually the impl ementation and operation of the Agreement and to 
inform the General Council of developments during th e periods covered by such reviews.  He recalled 
that in view of exigencies related to the 2009 Mi nisterial Conference, the Committee's Annual Report 
to the General Council for the period since the Co mmittee last reported to the General Council (in 
December 2008) had already been approved and circulated.27  Subsequently, a draft Addendum to this 
Report reflecting the developments that had taken place since that time had been circulated.  An 
updated version of the draft Adde ndum had also been circulated during the course of the present 
meeting.  He invited the Committee to discuss a nd adopt the draft Addendum to the Annual Report 
with any necessary additional modifications. 
36. The Committee adopted  the Addendum to its Annual Report for 2009, incorporating 
modifications to the draft that were agreed.28 
F. OTHER BUSINESS  
37. Following discussion, the Committee agreed  to hold its informal meetings during the 
following periods in 2010: 
(a) Week 1:  8-12 February 2010; 
(b) Week 2:  26-30 April 2010; 
(c) Week 3:  12-16 July 2010; 
(d) Week 4:  11-15 October 2010; 
(e) Week 5:  6-10 December 2010. 
                                                      
26 Subsequently issued as Job No . 10798, dated 17 December 2009. 
27 GPA/103, dated 12 November 2009. 
28 GPA/103/Add.1, dated 10 December 2009;  and GPA/103/Corr.1, da ted 11 December 2009. GPA/M/38 
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  38. The Chairman
 said that these dates were without prejudice to any further decision that Parties 
might wish to make as to the nature (formal vs . informal), length and number of Committee meetings 
in 2010. 
39. The Committee agreed  to proceed as the Chairman had proposed. 
__________