RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONGPA/W/277
14 October 2003
(03-5443)
Committee on Government Procurement Original:  English
MODIFICATIONS TO APPENDIX I OF THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT
PROCUREMENT RELATING TO JAPAN POST PROPOSED
BY JAPAN IN GPA/W/255, DATED 4 MARCH 2003
Communication from the European Community
The following communication, dated 13 October 2003, has been received from the Permanent
Delegation of the European Commission with the request that it be circulated to the Committee onGovernment Procurement.
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The European Community (EC) hereby withdr aws its objections contained in GPA/W/262,
dated 4 April 2003, against the modifications of Appendix I of the WTO Agreement on Government
Procurement proposed by Japan in GPA/W/255, dated 4 March 2003, relating to Japan Post.
The EC understands that the notification results from Japan Post becoming legally
independent from the competent ministry, and agrees that such entities should be covered underAnnex 3 rather than Annex 1 of Appendix I of the Agreement.  In this respect, the EC notes that,
pursuant to general note 3 to Annex 3 of Appendix I of Japan, the Agreement does not apply to
contracts which entities in Group A of Annex 3 award for the purpose of "their" daily profit-making
activities which are exposed to competitive forces in the market.  The present acceptance of the
proposed modifications is without prejudice to the question which activities, if any, of Japan Post aredirectly exposed to competition on markets to which access is not restricted.
Furthermore, the EC notes Japan's unilateral en gagement to maintain the Annex 1 threshold.
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