Originally an important but relatively obscure plurilateral instrument, the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is now becoming a pillar of the WTO system as a result of important developments since the Uruguay Round. This collection examines the issues and challenges that this raises for the GPA, as well as future prospects for addressing government procurement at a multilateral level. Coverage includes: r Issues relating to pending accessions to the GPA, particularly those of developing countries with a large state sector such as China. r The revised (provisionally agreed) GPA text of 2006, including provisions on electronic procurement and special and differential treatment for developing countries. r Procurement provisions in regional trade agreements and their significance for the multilateral system. Attention is also given to emerging issues, especially those concerning environmental, social and SME policy; competition law; and the implications of the recent economic crisis.
provided support, encouragement and constructive suggestions throughout. Thanks are also due to Philippe Pelletier for his advice and discussions in the course of recent WTO Secretariat technical assistance missions with Kodjo Osei-Lah in Africa, in which various ideas set out in this paper were tested. Helpful comments from Anna Müller, Coleman Nee and other WTO Secretariat colleagues are also gratefully acknowledged.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.