. /.  RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  GPA/ACC/ARM/9 
7 October 2010 
 
 (10-5143) 
Committee on Government Procurement Original:   English 
  
 
 
ACCESSION TO THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA 
  
 The following communication, dated 6 October 2010, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the European Union.  
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EU'S QUESTIONS ON THE DRAFT LA W ON PROCUREMENT FROM ARMENIA 
(GPA/ACC/ARM/8) 
 
 
 The European Union would like to thank Armenia for the new draft procurement law.  The 
new draft addresses in many instances the issues raised  by the EU in its previous contacts with 
Armenia.  Following the analysis of the new dr aft, the European Union seeks explanations and 
clarifications from Armenia on the following issues:  
1. Draft Article 7(7) provides that " the Republic of Armenia Government specifies the 
particularities of the electronic procurement procedure,  which could differ from the provisions of this 
law".  Could Armenia please clarify what it means by this particular sentence? 
 2. Draft Article 10 now reads " Contract award announcement publication ".  Could Armenia 
please clarify this particular concept?  In our opi nion, the provisions of Article XVIII of the GPA on 
the contract award notice are still not reflected in the new draft. 
 3. Draft Article 17 lists the different types of procedures which could be used (open procedure, 
competitive dialogue, restricted procedure and compe titive procedure).  The new draft represents an 
improvement as compared to the previous draft as these categories are closer to the ones listed under 
the GPA.  However, for all the different types of procedures, the draft provides that the particularities 
of procedure for using any of these are set out by the Republic of Armenia Government.  Most importantly, the respective time-limits foreseen under th e GPA are not reflected in the new draft.  In 
the EU's view, this is a basic requirement for a national procurement legisl ation to be deemed GPA 
compliant. 
 
4. Draft Article 20 provides that negotiated pro cedure with prior publication can be used " due to 
emergency or other unforeseeable circumstances, th ere arises an urgent need for procurement and 
the nature and risks of that need make the use of an open or restricted procedure impossible due to 
time constraints, provided that such need was impossible to foresee ".  Draft Article 5(2) foresees that 
negotiated procedure without publication can be used " insofar as an urgent need for procurement 
arises and when, for reasons of emergency, another me thod of procurement is impossible due to time 
constraints, provided that such need was impossibl e to foresee.  Situations caused by natural and/or GPA/ACC/ARM/9 
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man-caused disasters and/or accidents and/or ot her unforeseen reasons are considered as 
emergency ".  Could Armenia clarify the differences between the two situations? 
 5. Draft Article 46:  The EU has doubts as to the independence of the Procurement Complaint Review Board.  Article XX:6 of the GPA requir es that the members of the review body should be 
"secure from external influence during the term of appointment ".  Could Armenia please explain how 
this requirement is fulfilled in draft Article 46, in particular in view of paragraph 3? 
   
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