WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
GPA/M/45 
13 April 2012  
 
(12-1943) 
Committee on Government Procurement  
  
 
MINUTES OF THE MINISTERIAL-LEVEL FORMAL MEETING 
OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
OF 15 DECEMBER 2011 
 
Chairman:  Mr. Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland) 
 1. The Chairman welcomed delegations to the mee ting, noting that the majority of Parties and 
observer delegations were represented at the Minister ial Level.  He said that, in preparation for the 
meeting, delegations had received an Airgram1 setting out the proposed agenda for the meeting. 
2. The Committee adopted the following ag enda, as outlined in the Airgram: 
A. Conclusion of the Renegotiation of the Agreement on Government Procurement, 
Including Relevant Action by Ministers 
 B. Accessions to the Agreement  C. Other Business 
 
3. No issues were raised under the heading of "Other Business". 
A. C
ONCLUSION OF THE RENEGOTIATION OF THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT  
4. The Chairman invited the Committee to a dopt the Decision on the Outcomes of the 
Negotiations under Article XXIV:7 of the Agreemen t on Government Procurement which had been 
circulated in document GPA/W/315.  He said that a ny technical legal questions that delegations might 
have should be taken up in the context of the fina l verification and legal review that was to be 
undertaken during the first quarter of 2012. 
5. The Committee adopted the Decision on the Outcomes of the Negotiations under 
Article XXIV:7 of the Agreem ent on Government Procurement.2 
6. The Chairman said that the adoption of the Decision constituted a historic step and a 
tremendously positive portent for the future.  Parties had, at a single stroke, struck a powerful blow 
for open markets, good governance and the efficient and effective management of public resources.  
Its usefulness in the context of the present economic and fiscal crisis could not be overstated.  Further, 
he said that the GPA performed a crucial function in establishing conditions for efficient trade and 
competition in relation to an extremely important  sector of all Parties' economies, and thereby 
contributed powerfully to the attainme nt of value for money for citizens. 
                                                      
1 WTO/AIR/3869, dated 8 December 2011. 
2 See GPA/112, dated 16 December 2011. GPA/M/45 
Page 2  
 
  7. Continuing, he said that, in adopting the Decisi on, Parties had set the stage for a potentially 
dramatic expansion of the membership of the Agr eement.  This was in light of both the greater 
flexibility and user-friendliness that the revised Agreement provided for all Parties, and the improved 
and more concrete special and differential treatme nt provisions that it incorporated.  These were 
crucial attributes that enhanced the attrac tiveness of the Agreement to non-Parties. 
8. Furthermore, by taking this Decision, Parti es had demonstrated very effectively their own 
ability to act decisively in their common commercial interests.  In his view, the lesson to be drawn 
was that, where Members had the will and were pr epared to work very hard with a clear and 
consistent vision, it was possible to achieve truly great results in the WTO.  He expressed his sincere 
congratulations to all Parties for their achievement. 
9. The Deputy Director-General of the WTO, Mr . Rufus Yerxa, speaking on behalf of the 
Director-General, said that the conclusion of the GPA negotiations was a very significant 
achievement.  It demonstrated unambiguously that the WTO could achieve results for the benefit of 
all.  He congratulated all GPA Parties for their ach ievement in the negotiati ons.  Parties had defended 
their interests to the fullest, but at the end, they  had reached an agreement that, in his view, would 
benefit all Parties' producers and consumers.  He congratulated the Chairman of the GPA Committee, 
Mr. Nicholas Niggli, without whose efforts an agreem ent would not have been possible.  His constant 
energy and leadership together with his eternal op timism and conviction that a deal could be reached, 
even in the darkest moments of the negotiations, had made this historic agreement possible.  In his 
view, the Chairman of the Committee had done a great service for the WTO, in the very best tradition 
of WTO Chairmen.  Lastly, he congratulated all th e staff members of the WTO Secretariat GPA team 
based in the Intellectual Property Division, led by  Mr. Robert Anderson under the overall direction of 
Mr. Antony Taubman, which had worked tir elessly to reach this historic moment. 
 10. The Chairman thanked the Deputy Director-Gen eral and the Director-General for their 
personal support, which had been crucial to the c onclusion of the negotiations and highly appreciated 
by all Parties.  He also expressed his personal than ks to the staff of the Secretariat GPA team whose 
efforts had been critical to the outcome.  B. A
CCESSIONS TO THE AGREEMENT  
11. The Chairman said that while the completion of the negotiations had been Parties' foremost 
concern over the past two or three years, accessions  to the Agreement had also been an important 
focus.  Two very significant accessions had occurred in the past two and a half years – that of Chinese 
Taipei, for which the Agreement came into effect in July 2009, and that of Armenia, for which it came 
into effect in September 2011.  The diversity repr esented by these two new partners itself manifested 
the prospects for further expansion of the GPA' s membership to encompass a wide range of WTO 
Members from across the globe.  Indeed, nine other WTO Members, including China and Jordan, 
were in the process of acceding to the Agreement.3  A further four WTO Members had provisions 
regarding accession to the Agreement in their r espective Protocols of Accession to the WTO.4  The 
latter number was expected to increase by two more Members with the WTO accessions of the Russian Federation and Montenegro, which were exp ected to be agreed by the WTO Membership on 
the following day, 16 December 2011.
5 
                                                      
3 The WTO Members in the process of  acceding to the Agreement were:  (i) Albania, (ii) China, (iii) 
Georgia, (iv) Jordan, (v) the Kyrgyz Republic, (vi) Moldova, (vii) Oman, (viii) Panama, and (ix) Ukraine. 
4 The WTO Members with outstand ing commitments to initiate th eir accessions to the Agreement 
were:  (i) Croatia, (ii) the Former Yugoslav Republic of M acedonia, (iii) Mo ngolia, and (iv) Saudi Arabia. 
5 See Russian Federation:  WT/ACC/RUS/70 - WT/MIN(11)/2, dated 17 November 2011, paragraphs 
1142-1143;  and Montenegro:  WT/ACC/CGR/38 - WT/M IN(11)/7, dated 5 December 2011, paragraphs 181-
182.  GPA/M/45 
 Page 3 
 
 
  12. Continuing, the Chairman said that he sincer ely believed that the accessions that he had 
mentioned represented only the early stages of the coming expansion of the GPA's membership.  In addition to the WTO Members that had already initi ated their respective accessions and those with 
outstanding accession commitments, his own contacts and the impressions that the Secretariat had shared with him had convinced him that a good number of WTO Members without GPA accession 
commitments were also open to considering accessi on to the Agreement.  While it was for those 
Members to come forward as and when they sa w fit, the day's message was that, with the 
renegotiation of the Agreement effectively concl uded, the GPA "house" was now in order and GPA 
Parties were ready to welcome them.  Very recently , China had taken a further significant step in its 
accession process by tabling an enrich ed offer that covered, for the first time, sub-central government 
entities in a number of its most economically advanced regions.
6  While recognizing that the GPA 
Parties were not yet satisfied with the content of Ch ina's coverage offer and that attention would also 
need to be given, in the near future, to outsta nding legislative issues, the recent offer by China 
nonetheless constituted a very significant step.  Jordan , for its part, had repeatedly affirmed to the 
Committee its desire to complete its accession wit hout significant further delay.  Recently, Ukraine 
had also indicated its desire to move ahead with its accession in a timely fashion.  The Chairman 
urged Parties to respond to the opportunities with all due dispatch.  C. C
OMMENTS BY DELEGATIONS ON BOTH AGENDA ITEMS  
13. The Chairman invited interested Parties to shar e their own reflections on either or both of the 
agenda items that had been covered. 
 
14. The representative of the European Union, Eu ropean Commissioner for Internal Market and 
Services Mr. Michel Barnier, said that he welcom ed and endorsed the political agreement that had 
been reached by all GPA Parties and which had conc luded the renegotiation of the GPA.  He was very 
pleased that after many years of often arduous negotiations, a successful conclusion had been 
achieved.  He believed that this political agr eement had contributed significantly to the shared 
objectives of all Parties in these difficult times:  resuming economic growth and creating jobs.  He 
also believed that the Parties had made an importa nt contribution to the success of the Ministerial 
Conference that would follow by demonstrating that the WTO could produce tangible results and 
sending a particularly positive signal on the ever  delicate subject of government procurement. 
 
15. Continuing, he said that, as a result of the ag reement that had just been reached, a new 
instrument that represented a major improvement over the existing Agreement would come into force.  
Parties had agreed on a body of rules that were ad mittedly the result of a compromise, but which, for 
this very reason, would serve as an essential refe rence in any other international agreements on 
government procurement.  In addition, Parties had also obtained greater market openness, which 
would stimulate international competition under conditi ons of transparency and equity.  Parties had 
further agreed to address measures that continue d to restrict access to government procurement 
markets in a more efficient and balanced manner.  Parties, including the EU, had to respect certain domestic policy objectives, but were also firmly  committed to making the management of these 
measures, as well as their potential impacts on the general principle of openness enshrined in the 
GPA, more transparent.  The EU had played a leading role in these negotiations.  Throughout the 
years, the EU had upheld the principles of openness, transparency, and fair and reciprocal opening of 
government procurement markets, and it would continue to play this role within the framework of the 
future Agreement.  16. Turning to the future of the Agreement, he sai d that the conclusion of the negotiations also 
marked the beginning of further negotiations an d discussions.  In the EU's view, Parties should 
accordingly dedicate themselves fully  to strongly encouraging new accessions, and to concluding 
                                                      
6 GPA/ACC/CHN/30, dated 30 November 2011.  GPA/M/45 
Page 4  
 
  them as soon as possible.  In particular, the accessi on of China, which was already well under way, 
was of great importance for the EU.  In that rega rd, he said that China's recent second revised offer 
constituted a positive sign of progress towards China's accession to the GPA.  Apart from China, other 
WTO Members, including emerging economies and ot her developing countries, had also expressed an 
interest in the GPA.  There no longer remain ed any obstacles preventing such Members from taking 
the necessary enhanced to begin the accession process.  In particular, developing countries would 
benefit from the flexibilities that had been built into  the revised Agreement.  The long-term objective 
was to make the GPA a multilateral agreement, thus creating a vast range of opportunities for Parties' 
companies under conditions of transparency and legal certainty.  
17. Finally, he thanked all Parties for their contri butions to this new legal instrument, which had 
demonstrated Parties' ability to make certain, sometimes difficult, decisions because they were convinced of the benefits associated with the conclu sion of the negotiations and the entry into force of 
the revised GPA.  It constituted an achievement th at bore witness to Parties' shared commitment to an 
open and dynamic economy without borders.  He also  thanked all the EU member States for their 
confidence, and expressed his appreciation for the work  done by the EU negotiating team.  Further, he 
expressed his appreciation to the Director-General of the WTO, Mr. Pascal Lamy, and his team for their decisive role in this long process.  L astly, he thanked the Chairman of the Committee, 
Mr. Niggli, and the GPA Secretariat team led by Mr . Anderson, who together had spared no effort to 
ensure that these negotiations could move forwar d and be concluded under sa tisfactory conditions for 
all Parties. 
 
18. The representative of the United States, Ambassador and US Trade Representative 
Mr. Ron Kirk, said that after more than 10 years of negotiations, the US vigorously welcomed the 
completion of the renegotiation of the GPA.  He believed that this revision represented not only a 
significant milestone for the Agreement, but also a significant mark of credibility and progress for the 
WTO as a whole.  The US believed that the Agreem ent was important both in  terms of modernizing 
the text of the Agreement as well as expanding the procurement opportunities covered under it.  
Government procurement represented one of the mo st rapidly expanding areas of opportunity for 
traders of goods and services.  With the revision of  the Agreement, suppliers in the US would have 
the opportunity to support more American j obs with broader, deeper access to government 
procurement markets in many of the US' partner ec onomies.  In addition, the decision to undertake 
Future Work Programmes would provide all Parties with an opportunity to exchange information and 
deepen their understanding of each other's respective procurement systems.  19. Continuing, he noted that the revised GPA would also provide a strong foundation for other 
WTO Members to join the GPA, and, in that regard , the US remained ready to  work with the existing 
GPA Parties to actively encourage new accessions.  He  said that the revised Agreement provided at 
least two important benefits for WTO members to join the GPA.  First, the revision of the text of the 
Agreement had significantly clarified Parties' ob ligations under the GPA, which would help WTO 
Members wishing to accede to inform their dom estic stake-holders of what GPA membership 
required.  Second, the revised Agreement include d transitional measures for developing countries 
seeking to join the GPA.  These measures would pe rmit a developing country to maintain some 
restrictions during a transitional period, while gra dually opening their procurement markets.  The US 
also anticipated that the revised Agreement woul d provide a basis to accelerate accessions to the 
GPA, in particular that of China.  He recalle d that China had begun its GPA accession four years 
earlier.  Since that time, China had submitted three offers, each of which constituted an improvement 
over the previous one.  Nonetheless, China still had some  distance to go before its offer would be at a 
level of coverage that was comparable to that of  the US and other Parties to the Agreement.  For 
example, the US currently opened government procurement contracts worth more than US$400 billion per year to competition from other GPA Parties.   GPA/M/45 
 Page 5 
 
 
  20. Continuing further, he said that the Committee's Decision approving the results of the GPA 
negotiations was also very important for the WTO as an institution.  It demonstrated the WTO's 
ability, through persistence, hard  work, and a spirit of collaboration, to reach agreements that 
strengthened and clarified rules, and expanded opportunities through market access.  The US looked 
forward to this accomplishment providing momentum to other aspects of the WTO's negotiating 
function.  In conclusi on, he commended the Committee for finding creative means of addressing 
issues on which Parties' consensus seemed impossibl e just a few months or weeks previously.  He 
also expressed his appreciation to the Chairman an d the Secretariat for their hard work and great 
professionalism.  
21. The representative of Japan, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs 
Mr. Joe Nakano, said that his delegation whol e-heartedly welcomed the conclusion of the 
renegotiation of the GPA, after 14 years of long and tough negotiations.  Japan had gone through 
tough market access negotiations, but at the last moment, it had been able to reach a mutually 
satisfactory agreement with all Parties.  Japan w as convinced that the conclusion of the renegotiation 
of the GPA would contribute to maintaining and strengthening the credibility of the multilateral 
trading system.  While the Doha Round remained in a stalemate, it proved that collective effort could 
yield an agreement to enhance free trade.  He also  took this opportunity to reiterate that Japan was 
determined to further contribute to maintaining and strengthening the multilateral trading system. 
 22. Japan accordingly invited other WTO Members,  notably emerging economies with significant 
potential to further expand the global procurement ma rket, to join this attractive Agreement.  Japan 
was looking forward to entering into serious negot iations with such Members.  He expressed his 
appreciation for the efforts made by all GPA Part ies in the negotiations.  He also expressed his 
appreciation to the Chairman and the WTO Secret ariat, and congratulated them for making this 
historic event happen.  By adding a further US$80- 100 billion to the global procurement market, the 
conclusion of the GPA negotiations had given a great boost to the Eight Ministerial Conference of the 
WTO.  23. The representative of Canada, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the 
Asia-Pacific Gateway Mr. Ed Fast, said that hi s delegation welcomed the conclusion of the GPA 
negotiations.  He agreed with the US that the re vised GPA represented a significant milestone.  The 
revised Agreement comprised a modernized text, significant new market access commitments and a 
set of Future Work Programmes, which would help  to ensure that government procurement would 
continue to be an important part  of Parties' economies.  He said  that Canada recognized the positive 
role that government purchasing played in Parties' respective economies and in the global trading system, especially in time of economic crisis.  Ca nada also clearly understood the importance of 
getting the best value for taxpayers' money in gove rnment purchasing for its citizens.  The revised 
GPA was very important because it would achieve this by encouraging more competition among 
businesses and service providers.  He said that clear, transparent, and fair procurement rules would 
increase competition and give purchasers a wider range of goods and services to choose from.  24. Regarding the new market access commitments, Canada estimated that the value of the 
additional market access gains extended into many te ns of billions of US$, and Canada was very 
proud to have contributed to it.  The addition of Canada's sub-federal govern ments to its commitments 
was an important and even historic step.  Cana da strongly believed that Canadian businesses and 
service providers could compete with the very best in the world and win.  Canadian businesses did not 
need protectionist walls.  On the contrary, they need ed the opportunity to compete fairly in terms of 
price and quality.  In his view, this was why the conclusion of the negotia tions would send a very 
powerful signal to the world.  It proved that the world's trading nations were serious about encouraging real competition and promoting global trade, which internally would benefit everyone. 
 GPA/M/45 
Page 6  
 
  25. Continuing, he said that the Committee's work  was not yet complete d and Canada looked 
forward to a renewed focus on expanding the member ship of the Agreement to other WTO Members, 
including China, Jordan, and Ukraine.  From a broa der perspective, he said that the conclusion of the 
negotiations proved that the multilateral system actu ally worked, that the WT O remained viable and 
that agreements could still be negotiated successfully .  In closing, he expressed his appreciation for 
the efforts of all Parties in bringing the negotiations to a conclusion.  He also thanked the Chairman of 
the Committee and the WTO Secretar iat for their excellent work. 
 26. The representative of Israel, Minister of I ndustry, Trade and Labour Mr. Shalom Simhon, 
congratulated the GPA Parties fo r the successful conclusion of the more than a decade-long GPA 
negotiations.  He said that it was a historical achievement, which seemed even more significant in 
view of the rising global economic and financial instability and the challenges that the WTO was 
currently facing.  In 2009, it was estimated that governments had spent 2.9 per cent of the world GDP 
on infrastructure, and there was no doubt that governme nt investments would continue to play a major 
role in stimulating economic growth .  Especially, in times of crisis, it was essential that government 
spending was done in an effectiv e manner, which allowed open and free competition and optimization 
of value for the taxpayers' money.  He said that the amended GPA was the result of very hard work, 
negotiations conducted in good faith, a nd bold decisions made by all Parties.  With all due modesty, 
he believed that Israel had cont ributed substantially in paving the way to achieve the revised 
Agreement.  Israel was pleased to see that the effo rts and the resources invested had not been in vain.  
The agreement reached was testimony to the need  to take into account the special needs and 
circumstances of all Parties, big and small alike, in  order to attain positive results and find solutions to 
problems.  27. The significance of the revised GPA was twofold.   First, the achievements in expanding 
market access were very substantial.  In total,  the expansion provided additional opportunities of 
many tens of billions US$ annually.  Israel  had significantly expanded access to its government 
procurement market, both at the central government level and at the level of other government entities 
procuring in accordance with the Agreement.  Is rael's revised commitments under the Agreement 
covered a very wide range of services and Israel  would also gradually reduce its threshold for 
construction services.  Second, the revised Agreem ent offered Parties a unique intergovernmental 
instrument in the domain of government procurement,  which was clear, user-friendly, and up-to-date 
with 21
st century practices, including, for example, the use of electronic means.  The package also 
included additional important elements, such as the Future Work Programmes to be undertaken by the 
Committee - for instance, to in crease the transparency of measures having a bearing on open 
competition in procurement, and to identify best pr actices to encourage participation of small and 
medium-sized enterprises in government procurement markets. 
 
28. Continuing, he recalled that Israel had been a member of the GPA since 1994 and had also 
been a party to the GATT Government Procuremen t Code since the 1980s.  Israel's experience, 
accumulated over the years, showed that there was mu ch value in GPA membership.  However, Israel 
also recognised that competing in foreign government procurement markets was a particularly significant challenge.  The ability to retain the right  to invoke offsets for an additional number of 
years, which was agreed by the Parties in the ne gotiations, was an essentia l balancing element for 
Israel.  His delegation believed that the GPA held many benefits both for large and small economies, 
developed and developing alike.  The revised Agreement allowed for special and differential 
treatment for developing countries, which might make accession easier for them.  It was important to 
note that GPA accession was an opportunity to  reform and modernize local frameworks for 
government procurement.  Needless to say, good governance in public procurement, and a sound and 
transparent institutional, legal and procedural system  were imperative for an effective functioning of 
markets, and therefore the promotion of sustainable economic growth.   GPA/M/45 
 Page 7 
 
 
  29. Continuing further, he congratulated all WTO Me mbers that were currently in the process of 
accession to the GPA and encouraged them to take all necessary steps to advance promptly with the 
accession process.  He also took the opportunity to thank China for its second revised offer, which 
constituted an important milestone on the way to Ch ina's accession to the GP A.  Even though there 
was still a long way to go, Israel had no doubt that the process would continue to advance in a speedy 
and efficient manner and Israel valued the commitme nt that the government of the People's Republic 
of China demonstrated in this regard.  Israel al so invited more countries to join the GPA Committee 
as observers, in order to learn more about the Agreement and consider accession to it. 
 30. To conclude, Israel believed that the successful  conclusion of the GPA negotiations also had a 
systemic value, notably in the current WTO negotia ting environment.  He expressed the hope that the 
spirit of co-operation which prevailed in the Committ ee would be echoed also in other quarters of the 
WTO, and that it would serve as an example fo r progress in the negotiations conducted in other 
bodies of the WTO.  As a final point, he expressed Israel's appreciation to the continuous efforts by 
the current and previous Chairmen of the Comm ittee and congratulated all GPA Parties for the 
successful conclusion of the more than a decade-long GPA negotiations. 
 31. The representative of Switzerland, Federal Councillor Mr. Johann N. Schneider-Ammann,  
welcomed the successful conclusion of the GPA ne gotiations.  He said that Switzerland was proud of 
what had been achieved during these negotiations.  It  was important to update the GPA to take into 
consideration the technological developments, especially  in the field of electronic tools, to facilitate 
procurement procedures.  These improvements, as  well as the set of Future Work Programmes, 
including on SMEs and other systemic aspects, were essential contributions in these difficult 
economic times.  The revised GPA allowed for an  economically sound allocation of public funds and 
it fostered competition on the basis of clear and more  predictable rules for Parties' companies.  He 
said that Switzerland's ambitions in the market acc ess negotiations were high and had, unfortunately, 
not been matched to the full.  Nonetheless, the results of the negotiations were substantial and 
included significant additional market access opportunities.  32. Continuing, he said that the work achieved a nd the collective effort and dynamism shown by 
the Committee constituted a model for successful WTO negotiations.  In addition, the added value of 
the revised GPA was very significant, as it had created a sound base for enlargement of the GPA 
membership.  Noting that the GP A membership was still relatively small, comprising only 42 WTO 
Members out of the 153 WTO Members, he expressed the hope that the conclusion of the negotiations 
would generate a positive momentum, and encourage fu rther GPA accessions.  In that regard, he said 
that all Parties should bear the responsibility of  encouraging other WTO Members to accede to the 
GPA.  As a final point, he commended the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Niggli, for his tireless 
efforts and his key contribution to the success of the negotiations.  He also expressed Switzerland's 
appreciation to all GPA Parties' negotiators and to  the staff of the WTO Secretariat GPA team for 
their good work.  33. The representative of Norway, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Jonas Gahr Støre, welcomed 
the conclusion of the GPA negotiations.  He congrat ulated the Parties and the Chairman. A decade of 
hard work on a plurilateral deal, within the multila teral framework, had finally come to a successful 
conclusion.  This result was important in several aspects.  Firstly, the revised Agreement contained 
substantial improvements in market access c overage, creating new market opportunities and 
additional scope for development.  Secondly, the revised Agreement offered Parties an up-to-date 
legal instrument that provided for greater transpar ency and predictability for economic operators.  
These constituted important elements in the fight agai nst corruption.  Thirdly, the agreement reached 
was forward-looking, as it included a robust working programme for the future.  34. Continuing, he noted that conclusion of the negotiations was contributing to considerable 
interest by some WTO Members in joining the GPA.  Norway sincerely welcomed all new GPA/M/45 
Page 8  
 
  participants to the Agreement.  The conclusion of  the negotiations had created an attractive package 
all WTO Members could seek to be a part of.  He said that Norway also welcomed the second revised 
offer from China, and it was eager to continue nego tiations in order to enable the accession of China 
and other WTO members to the GPA.  
35. Continuing further, he said that the work ach ieved and the collective effort and dynamism 
shown by the GPA Committee had proven that ne gotiations could be concluded in the WTO 
framework and it constituted a model for successful WT O negotiations.  It had only become clear at a 
very late stage that it would be possible to c onclude the negotiations in time for Ministerial 
Conference.  In his delegation's view, this pr oved that with the necessary political will and 
determination, it was possible to strike a deal even under difficult circumstances.  This Agreement 
was an example of systemic importance, especially in the present economic climate.  Norway hoped that the same political will and determination coul d allow for the conclusion of other, even bigger 
processes in the WTO.  
36. The representative of Singapore, Minister for Trade and Industry Mr. Lim Hng Kiang, said 
that the conclusion of the revised Agreemen t on Government Procurement was a momentous 
achievement for all Parties, which was worthy of celebration.  He congratulated all Parties and the 
Chairman for this remarkable achievement.  In par ticular, he had two key thoughts to share with the 
Committee.  First, he noted that, as a result of th e conclusion of the negotiations, the Parties had an 
Agreement with improved rules and expanded covera ge, but the vital question was how Parties would 
work with it going forward.  Second, the conclusi on of the GPA negotiations had showed that the 
plurilateral approach could be successful.  This c ould potentially attract other WTO Members to join 
the Agreement and also inspire other areas of the WTO work.  37. Continuing, he said that the conclusion of the negotiations comprised updated rules and 
deeper market access commitments.  In his view , these market access gains were only secondary to 
the new rules that had been developed.  In upda ting and aligning the Agreement's rules to current 
realities, the Committee had paved the way for more WTO Members to eventually join the 
Agreement.  This was the real fruit of Parties' la bours.  A plurilateral agreement should not stay 
plurilateral forever, and attracting more participants should be the Committee's goal.  To achieve this, 
the Agreement had to be meaningful to all Parti es, and Parties had to hold themselves to a higher 
standard before asking the same of others.  Ther e must be no room for claims that the GPA was a 
series of bilateral agreements.  That was why ad herence to a high level of non-discrimination in 
Parties' commitments was a must.  38. Continuing further, he said that this achieveme nt was a clear example of an approach that 
worked.  It was a powerful signal that the WTO could deliver when the conditions were ripe.  It put to 
rest the fallacy that the WTO could not come to co nsensus on anything.  Singapore firmly believed in 
the multilateral trading system, and Singapore's engagement in the pl urilateral, via the GPA, was only 
on the basis of it being complementary to the multilateral system.  It was not a question of one or the other.  They worked in tandem, with the plurilatera l approach as a building block to greater things for 
the whole membership.  In conclusion, he reiterate d that Singapore was strongly supportive of open, 
transparent and non-discriminatory procurement practices.  Singapore looked forward to the 
continued expansion of the Agreement and to the pa rticipation of the rest of the WTO Membership. 
 39. The representative of Hong Kong, China,  Secretary for Commerce and Economic 
Development Mr. Gregory So Kam-leung, said that his delegation was very pleased that after more 
than a decade of negotiations, Parties had been able  to agree on an impressive package, comprising 
not only of an updated Agreement but also of s ubstantial improvements in  coverage.  The WTO 
Secretariat had estimated that the new Agreement would bring new business opportunities for Parties' 
suppliers amounting to US$80 to 100 billion annually.  This was ve ry good news for Parties' suppliers 
in such difficult economic times.  The progress ach ieved in the negotiations had demonstrated a  GPA/M/45 
 Page 9 
 
 
  collective determination to press on with market access liberalization.  This would be a signal picked 
up by other WTO Members and the achievement of the GPA negotiations could possibly give 
renewed impetus to negotiations unde r the Doha Development Agenda. 
 40. Continuing, he said that the conclusion of the GPA negotiations would not only benefit 
existing Parties with sizable market access opport unities and meaningful Future Work Programmes 
for the Committee, but would also provide a str ong incentive to other WTO Members to join the 
Agreement.  The constant effort to align governme nt procurement practices and programmes with the 
principles of fairness and predictability of the GP A rules would multiply mutual benefits.  In this 
connection, he was pleased to hear from the Chairm an's report that progress had been made with a 
number of accessions.  Hong Kong, China welcomed the second revised offer circulated by China at 
the end of November 2011, and hope d that further progress would be achieved with China's accession 
process, as well as with other acceding candidates.  Hong Kong, China also looked forward to welcoming the Russian Federation and Montenegro, which had undertaken commitments to accede to 
the GPA in their respective WTO accession protocols. 
 
41. Continuing further, he said that the conclusi on of these negotiations was not the end of the 
Committee's work;  on the contrary, the revise d Agreement provided for a further round of 
negotiations to achieve the greatest possible exte nsion of the Agreement's coverage.  Hong Kong, 
China looked forward to starting this new round of negotiations.  In particular, he urged Parties 
maintaining specific non-application and reciprocity  notes in their commitme nts, which reduced the 
coverage under the Agreement, to make a strong effo rt to eliminate them.  Finally, he thanked the 
Chairman of the Committee for his able leader ship, and the WTO Secretariat for efficiently 
facilitating the negotiations.  He expressed his apprec iation to all Parties for their offers, constructive 
proposals, and very importantly, for exercising the fl exibility to permit conclusion of the negotiations.  
He looked forward to the expeditious completion of  the remaining formalities to permit a quick entry 
into force of the revised Ag reement and related benefits. 
 42. The representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with respect to Aruba, 
Ambassador Roderick van Schreven, said that th e conclusion of the negotiations constituted a very 
important step towards a more liberal and predic table government procurement market, which would 
benefit all Parties.  It would allow the public sect or to attain better value for money by implementing 
enhanced competition in the private sector. 
 43. He recalled that the negotiations on both the text and the coverage had not been easy.  In that 
regard, he expressed his appreciation to the Chairman  and to the WTO Secretariat for their significant 
efforts in guiding the Netherlands with respect to Aruba through the last and most difficult stages of 
these negotiations.  His delegation attached great importance to a predictable and transparent 
government procurement environment.  In partic ular, sound management of procurement practices 
was of significant importance to the international ec onomy, as it provided an efficient, predictable and 
competitive public infrastructure for investment.  The resulting boost for Parties' suppliers of goods 
and services could not have come at a better time,  considering the current financial and economic 
crisis.  The Netherlands with respect to Aruba be lieved that the conclusion of the negotiations proved 
that the plurilateral approach worked.  Thereby, it had also helped to uphold the credibility of the 
Multilateral Trading System, and the WTO as an organization.  44. Lastly, turning to the Member ship of the GPA, the Netherlands with respect to Aruba 
emphasized the importance of new accessions to the Agreement and believed that the success of the 
GPA negotiations would have a positive influence on the willingness of other WTO Members to join 
the Agreement.  In conclusion, he reiterated that  the Netherlands with respect to Aruba was very 
pleased with the result of the long-running rene gotiation, and expressed his appreciation to the 
Chairman, the WTO Secretariat, and all other Parties for the great result.  GPA/M/45 
Page 10  
 
  45. The Chairman warmly thanked and congratulat ed all Parties, their Ministers and their 
negotiating teams both in the capital and in Ge neva, for their dedication, commitment and 
contribution to the negotiations.  The conclusion of the GPA negotiations was indeed a historic 
achievement.  It was good for Parties' citizens a nd suppliers;  for good governance and the efficient 
and effective management of public resources, espec ially in times of economic crisis;  and for the 
multilateral trading system, as a whole.  He said th at it had been an honour for the Secretariat and 
himself, as the Chairman of the Committee, to have been able to help and facilitate the conclusion of 
the negotiations.  Parties should now turn towards the future, as the conclusion of the negotiations 
should mark the beginning of a new round of  accessions to the Agreement, which represented 
enormous opportunities.  On this note, he invited the interested acceding candidates and observers to 
the Committee to give their own reflections on eith er or both of the agenda items that had been 
covered.  46. The representative of Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Economy, Head of the Ukrainian 
Delegation for Participation in Ne gotiations within WTO Mr. Valéry Pyatnytskiv, congratulated all 
GPA Parties for the conclusion of the GPA renegotia tion.  He recalled that Ukraine had undertaken a 
commitment to join the GPA in its Protocol of accession to the WTO.7  In 2010, the parliament of 
Ukraine had enacted a new law on government procur ement.  The new Ukrainian law had introduced 
new public procurement rules aimed at increas ing transparency in government procurement 
procedures and ensuring that government proc urement was conducted in a non-discriminatory 
manner. 
 
47. Pursuant to Article XXIV:2 of the Agreemen t and the Committee's Decision on procedural 
matters with regard to accession to the Agreem ent (GPA/1 Annex 2), Ukraine had submitted its 
application for GPA accession on 9 February 2011.8   Subsequently, Ukraine's Replies to the Checklist 
of Issues had been circulated on 2 August 2011.9  He emphasised that Ukraine considered the 
accession to the GPA as an opportunity to creat e a competitive environment for government 
procurement in Ukraine, and to secure the rational and efficient use of public funds.  He thanked the 
Secretariat and the Chairman of th e Committee for their kind assistance. 
 48. The Chairman said that the Committee looked fo rward to an early successful completion of 
Ukraine's accession process.  In that regard, he rema ined committed, together with the Secretariat, to 
helping Ukraine to accelerate and conclude its accession process. 
 49. The representative of China, Director, Ministry  of Finance Ms Teng Xiaguang, welcomed the 
conclusion of the negotiati ons and said that her delegation was pleased to share this great achievement 
with all GPA Parties and observers.  As a developi ng country, China had been trying its best to 
overcome the difficulties and create the proper conditi ons to accede to the GPA.  In particularly, she 
recalled that China had submitted its second revise d offer, which included sub-central government 
entities, before the final informal session of Comm ittee in December 2011.  China was doing its best 
to fulfil its commitment to accede to  the GPA.  In that regard, her delegation appreciated the attention 
given to China's accession by all Parties, includi ng Canada, the EU, and the US.  At the same time, 
China urged Parties to give due consideration to th e difficulties that China was facing in its accession 
process, and accordingly asked Parties to adopt a more  flexible and practical attitude towards China's 
GPA accession.  Finally, she expressed her apprecia tion for the great efforts made by the Chairman 
and the WTO Secretariat in assisting China in its accession process. 
                                                      
7 WT/ACC/UKR/152, dated 25 January 2008, para. 358. 
8 GPA/ACC/UKR/1 and GPA/107 both dated 9 February 2011. 
9 GPA/ACC/UKR/2 dated 2 August 2011.  GPA/M/45 
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  50. The Chairman thanked China for its commitment.   All GPA Parties were eager to continue 
the dialogue with China towards its accession to the GPA.  As a group, the Parties had demonstrated 
that they were ready to accelerate and deepen this process.  Parties were looking forward to the next 
steps.  
51. The representative of Jordan, Director of the Economic Bureau, Head of Delegation 
Mr. Fakhry Hazimeh, congratulated the Committee and all Parties for the conclusion of the 
negotiations, which was the result of hard and cons tructive work.  It proved that WTO Members were 
able to both negotiate and reach agreement.  He  expressed Jordan's appreciation for the Committee's 
support in Jordan's accession process, and reitera ted its commitment to join the Agreement.  
Accession to the GPA would reinforce Jordan's obj ective to further open its economy.  He recalled 
that Jordan had submitted its initial offer in 2003, and had subsequently circulated three revised 
offers, the last offer in July 2010.  Jordan had also participated in 23 negotiating rounds.  Jordan 
believed that its accession to the GPA would bring bene fits to both Jordan and all Parties.  In that 
regard, he recalled that Jordan would be the firs t Arab developing country to accede to the GPA, and 
if it was done on satisfactory terms, would cons titute a positive example for other developing 
countries from the region to accede to the Agreemen t.  He emphasized that Jordan was a small 
developing country and accordingly needed special  flexibilities and transitional measures to address 
some challenges arising from GPA accession.  52. Despite the recent economic slowdown associated w ith instability in its region, and Jordan's 
private sector's concerns regarding the expected in ternational competition, the government of Jordan 
had been working diligently towards advancing its GPA accession negotiations.  In his view, Jordan's 
accession process had reached an advanced stage due  to the continuous support received from the 
Committee and its Parties, and Jordan remained eag er to complete its GPA accession process in the 
near future.  During this final period in its acces sion's process, Jordan particularly requested the 
Parties' support regarding the flexibilities introduced in its latest offer.  In order to push the process 
forward, Jordan urged the Committee to furt her support its accession process and to finalize the 
negotiations on market access, and to complete th e verification of Jordan domestic legislation on 
government procurement.  53. In conclusion, Jordan confirmed its commitment to join the Agreement and looked 
enthusiastically forward to completing its accession in  the first half of 2012.  His delegation would do 
its utmost to help bring this about.  He also requ ested that Parties attach due political significance to 
facilitating Jordan's accession in the context of recent developments in  its region.  Jordan's accession 
would become an example for other WTO Members in  the Middle East and the Arab Region.  Lastly, 
he congratulated the Chairman for his able leadership and co-operation, and expressed his 
appreciation to the WTO Secretariat for its hard work. 
 54. The Chairman said that the seriousness of Jo rdan's commitment to accede to the GPA was 
appreciated by all Parties.  He agreed that the accession of Jordan had important geo-political 
implications and encouraged Parties to take this into  consideration in their deliberations.  He said that 
he would do his utmost to advance Jordan's acce ssion in to the coming months.  He was very much 
committed to facilitating this process, and was hopefu l of its successful conclusion during the first 
part of 2012.   
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