 RESTRICTED  
  
GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
27 October  1997 
(24-2648) Page: 1/11 
Committee on Government Procurement  
Negotiations under Article XXIV:7 of the GPA 1994  
Comité des marchés publics  
Négociations au titre de l'article  XXIV:7 de l'AMP 1994  
Comité de Contratación Pública  
Negociaciones en el marco del párrafo 7 del artículo XXIV  
del ACP 1994   
 
  
CHECKLIST OF ISSUES RAISED IN INFORMAL CONSULTATIONS   
REGARDING MODALITIES FOR THE REVIEW OF THE   
AGREEMENT ON  GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT*,** 
Revision  
Table of Contents  
A. AREAS TO BE CONSIDERED  ................................ ................................ .......................  3 
1. Simplification and Improvement of the Agreement  ................................ ...........................  3 
(i) General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  3 
(ii) Information technology  ................................ ................................ ..............................  4 
(a) General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  4 
(b) Non-discrimination  ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 4 
(c) Publication requirements  ................................ ................................ ............................  5 
(d) Submission of tenders and other communications between the tenderer and the procuring 
entity  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  5 
(e) Deadlines  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  5 
(f) Harmonized Standards for Coded Information  ................................ ................................  6 
(g) New Issues Related to Electronic Commerce  ................................ ................................ .. 6 
(iii) Other Sub stantive Provisions of the Agreement  ................................ .............................  6 
(iv) Administrative Provisions of the Agreement  ................................ ................................ .. 7 
(v) Appendices to the Agreement  ................................ ................................ ......................  7 
2. Elimination of Discriminatory Measures and Practices which Distort Open Procurement  .........  8 
(i) General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  8 
(ii) Mutually Agreed Coverage of Services  ................................ ................................ ..........  8 
3. Expansion of the Coverage of the Agreement  ................................ ................................ .. 8 
B. INSTITUTIONAL/PROCEDURAL POINTS  ................................ ................................ .... 9 
1. Work on Government Procurement in Other WTO Fora  ................................ .....................  9 
2. Institutional Arrangements for the Review  ................................ ................................ ...... 9 
3. Participation of WTO Members in the Review  ................................ ................................ ... 9 
 
* English only.  
** Pursuant to the relevant Decision of the Committee on Government Procurement ( GPA/CD/5  
(16/11/2023)), this document (informal document symbol: gpa37) was derestricted on 8 November 2023.  GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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  4. Next Steps  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  9 
ATTACHMENT 1   SUGGESTED MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGREEMENT  INFORMATION 
TECHNOLOGY  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  10 
 GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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  The following attempts to set out points made by Parties to the Agreement in the informal 
consultations held in February, May and September 1997 pursua nt to the decision of the Committee 
in its 1996 Report to the Ministerial Conference that it would "undertake an early review, starting in 
1997 with an examination of modalities, with a view to the implementation of Article XXIV:7(b) 
and (c)" ( GPA/8 , paragraph 22).  
The list may not be exhaustive and will, of course, need to be amended and updated as further 
discussion develops.  
A. AREAS TO BE CONSIDERED  
1.  The point has been made that the key to the review lies with the issue of simplification and 
improvement of the Agr eement and that, if this aspect were to be satisfactorily resolved, then the 
other two elements of the review would also largely have been addressed.  In this connection, it has 
been suggested that an improved and simplified Agreement would be likely to res ult in a reduction 
in the number of exceptions to the Agreement and would therefore lead to a more uniform 
application.  On the other hand, the point has been made that the work on all three elements of the 
review should be advanced simultaneously and in parallel.  The concept of reciprocity had been at 
the basis of the rationale for the present coverage of the Agreement.  Therefore, it could not 
reasonably be expected that a mere improvement and simplification of the Agreement would le ad 
to the expansion of its coverage.  
2.  It has been stated that the elements of the review on the elimination of discriminatory measures 
and practices which distort open procurement and on the expansion of the coverage of the 
Agreement were linked in many res pects.  Since it might be difficult to make a distinction between 
these two aspects,  future negotiations on the two issues should be held simultaneously.  
3.  It has also  been stated that the discussion of the review item on discriminatory measures should 
not be  made dependent on the discussion of the other two elements of the review.  
1. Simplification and Improvement of the Agreement  
(i) General  
4.  It has been emphasized that simplifying and providing greater flexibility to the procedures under 
the Agreement should  not lead to a weakening of commitments and thus result in less open markets.  
Rather, simplification should aim at obtaining effective but more easily applicable disciplines.  
Compatibility between the concepts of simplification and effective disciplines sh ould be secured.  For 
example, any flexibility on the requirements on deadlines should be accompanied by the elaboration 
of objective criteria for providing sufficient time for bidding by domestic and foreign suppliers.  
5.  The point has been made that an appro ach of providing greater flexibility and more general 
principles may result in the need for a re -examination of the mechanisms aimed at ensuring the 
effective enforcement of the Agreement.  For instance, in addition to the bid challenge mechanism 
under Arti cle XX and dispute settlement procedures between governments under Article XXII, 
independent enforcement agencies could be established in individual Parties to address allegations 
of violations of the principles of the Agreement by aggrieved suppliers.  
6.  With regard to the Committee's stated aim that the review shall seek the expansion of 
membership by  making the Agreement more accessible to non -Parties ( GPA/8 ), the point has been 
made that improving and simplifying the procedural provisions of the Agreement would increa se its 
appeal to non -Parties.  Simplifying the Agreement would also help in promoting the common 
objective sought by the review of the GPA, of the Working Group on Transparency in Government 
Procurement and of the Working Party on GATS Rules which is to est ablish a set of rules and 
principles that could ultimately be adopted on a multilateral basis.  
7.  The point has been made that Parties should take into account the costs that may have to be 
borne by procuring entities and suppliers in adapting to new changes in the procedures under the 
Agreement which has been in force for less than two years.  Simplification of the provisions should 
be limited to what is absolutely essential for the purposes of the efficiency of procurement regimes.  GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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  (ii) Information technology  
 (a) General  
8.  It was suggested that, in accordance with the terms of Article XXIV:8, the Agreement should be 
adapted to take into account advances in the area of information technology since the conclusion of 
the Agreement.  
9.  The text of the Agreem ent should be amended to provide flexibility and to clarify any ambiguities 
with respect to the use of information technology.  
10.  With respect to the Canadian proposal on information technology (Job No. 3887), it was stated 
that the consideration of specific changes to existing Articles would be premature before the 
Committee had had a full discussion of the role of information technology.  
11.  It has also been said that any modifications should be limited to allowing the use of information 
technology in parallel w ith the paper system currently in use.  
12.  The need to continue the information -gathering process in response to the revised questionnaire 
on information technology was referred to.1 
 (b) Non-discrimination  
13.  It was stated that information technology should be accommodated in such a way as to enhance 
rather than undermine the basic objectives of transparency and non -discrimination in the Agreement 
and not to put at a disadvantage the suppliers of actual or potential Parties less well -equipped in 
information tech nology.  Concern has been expressed that, unless appropriate safeguards are 
established, the use of information technology in government procurement may lead to de facto  
discrimination against foreign suppliers.  It was also mentioned that the use of informa tion 
technology may create or widen the gap between entities and suppliers which can effectively operate 
in the information age, and those, in particular SMEs, which cannot, thus creating a competitive 
advantage in favour of the former group.  
14.  The comment h as been made that the Canadian proposal on information technology 
(Job No. 3887) did not treat the issue  of non -discrimination satisfactorily.  Any provisions on the use 
of information technology which would allow entities to favour only those suppliers who  had access 
to information technology would be inconsistent with Articles VI:4 and VII:2 of the Agreement.  
15.  The point has also been made that fears that technical and content -related compatibility issues 
in connection with the use of information technology might lead to de facto discrimination against 
foreign suppliers were largely resolved through the use of the Internet.  Nevertheless, Parties' 
willingness to accept electronic bids would proceed at different speeds because of considerations 
related to secur ity of data transmission issues and feasibility for large and complex bids.  
16.  It has been suggested that the ease of access to information sources (including establishing 
links between databases and ensuring interoperability) and the ease of use of informati on tools 
(including search devices and common nomenclatures) were some of the issues that should be dealt 
with in this area.  
17.  With respect to costs of using i nformation technology, it has been mentioned that receiving 
electronically published notices was both more cost -effective for suppliers than receiving paper ones, 
as well as more timely and efficient.  
 
1 Responses to the revised questionnaire ( GPA/W/24 ) were submitted by Norway ( GPA/W/24/Add.1 ), 
Canada ( GPA/W/24/Add.1 ), Korea ( GPA/W/24/Add.3 ) and  Hong Kong, China ( GPA/W/24/Add.4 ). GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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   (c) Publication requirements  
18.  Some delegations have advocated or indicated their readiness to explore providing entities with 
a choice as to whether to use hard copy or information technology in all aspects of procurement 
practices, including tendering procedures and actual purchasing.  
19.  Suggestions have been made concerning the provisions of the Agreement relating to publication 
requirements (Article IX on invitation to participate regarding intended procurement;  Article XI on 
time-limits for tendering and delivery;  Article XVII on transparency;  and Article XVIII on information 
and review as regards obligations of entities) and Appendices II a nd III to reflect the practice of 
electronic publication of notices (Job Nos. 3887 and 5211).  These are reproduced in Attachment 1 
to this note.  
20.  As regards the dissemination of information on tendering opportunities through the Internet, it 
has been mentio ned that the Internet  permits viewing of notices anywhere in the world, regardless 
of where those notices may have originated.  Technical and content -related compatibility issues for 
receipt of electronic bids could be resolved, particularly for routine tra nsactions, through the use of 
the Internet.  Widely available (and free) readers, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader would permit 
the sender and the recipient of a bid to be able to read and, if desired, print information in various 
word processing formats.  Using the Internet, "fill in the blanks" bids could be completed on -screen 
or downloaded and e -mailed by return to the procuring organization.  
21.  It has been suggested that Parties  could be invited to provide addresses of any sites on the 
Internet that give in formation on procurement opportunities in their countries.2 There was also need 
to examine how information was structured in national databases.  Parties using information 
technology for tender notices were invited to describe their relevant experience.  In this respect it 
was also mentioned that some national electronic tendering systems may not cover all procurement 
covered by the Agreement.  
 (d) Submission of tenders and other communications between the tenderer and 
the procuring entity  
22.  Suggestions have b een made concerning the provisions of the Agreement relating to submission 
of tenders (Article XIII:1 and Article IX:6) and to communications between tenderers and the 
procuring entity (Article X:4) to allow entities to require electronic submission of bid s and to allow 
electronic means for other communications  (Job Nos. 3887 and 5211).  These are reproduced in 
Attachment  1 to this note.  
 (e) Deadlines  
23.  Some delegations have advocated or indicated  their readiness to explore reducing minimum 
time-periods required in the various stages of the procurement process.  
24.  The point has been made that any reduction  in time -periods should be linked to the time saved 
by using electronic means and should not lead  to discrimination against distant suppliers.  
25.  It has also been stated that the rationale underlying the specific deadlines in the GPA  1994 
should be carefully considered before attempting any revision of the relevant provisions.  Some 
objective criteria wou ld need to be developed in this respect in order to ensure equal opportunity to 
bid to all suppliers, foreign or domestic.  It was also mentioned that the current deadlines had been 
set up to ensure that bidders were informed of the procuring opportunities well in advance of the 
time for submission of bids.  The deadlines in the present Agreement had been extended to 40  days 
from the 30  days set out in the Tokyo Round Agreement on Government Procurement of 1979.  Some 
countries voluntarily extended the deadlin es to 50 days.  
 
2 E.g., OBS (Open Bidding Service) bulletin board in Canada 
(http://www.obs.ism.ca//obsinfo/etoday.html ); Finance Bureau tender notices 
(http://www.info.gov.hk/tb/tender/notices.html ) and Works Bureau tender notice information 
(http://www.wb.wpelb.gov.hk/te nder) in Hong Kong, China. See for more details on the Government 
Procurement site at the WTO Home Page under "Links".  GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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  26.  Suggestions were made concerning the deadlines set out in the Agreement  (Article XI) to take 
account of electronic tender and electronic bid receipt (Job Nos. 3887).  These are reproduced in 
Attachment 1 to this note.  On the other hand, the f ollowing points have been made to caution against 
any premature reduction in deadlines:  
- while information technology advances certainly helped to shorten the time for 
submission, publication and dissemination of tender notices and tender documents, the 
time needed to prepare tenders was likely to remain the same in most cases.  As long 
as submission by normal mail and electronic tools coexisted, it may be premature to 
allow entities using electronic transmission the advantage of shorter deadlines;  
however,  the GPA Parties might consider accepting shorter deadlines for pilot projects 
or certain sectors which are especially suitable for electronic tendering;  
 
- it may be premature to conclude that information technology could shorten tendering 
deadlines becau se the time gain arising from electronic transmission of documents could 
be relatively small compared to the total time needed for preparation of responsive bids.  
 
 (f) Harmonized Standards for Coded Information  
27.  It was stated that the full benefit of infor mation technology could only be achieved if agreement 
on harmonized standards for coded information could be reached.  This would facilitate the use of 
search devices to browse through the information contained in different databases.  It was also 
suggested that a harmonized multilingual procurement vocabulary system should be used to 
describe the purchases, as has been done at European Community level with the CPV.  Further 
information on the CPV was requested.  
 (g) New Issues Related to  Electronic Commerce  
28.  It was stated that a wider use of electronic tools could put into question the traditional approach 
of government purchasing as it opened  the way to full electronic tendering or electronic commerce 
between purchasers and suppliers.  In addition, new electronic tools provided opportunities for 
purchasing entities  to cooperate via the exchange of information, ideas and experiences.  This option 
would require further consideration of data privacy and security aspects, interoperability of sys tems, 
and of legal questions such as the acceptance of digital signatures and electronic receipts.  The 
traditional behaviour of contracting entities inviting suppliers to tender could be put into question by 
new technological opportunities which would faci litate, for example, electronic qualification 
procedures, tendering of framework contracts and the selection of off -the-shelf products from 
electronic catalogues.  
(iii) Other  Substantive Provisions of the Agreement  
29.  The desirability of simplifying some of t he substantive rules of the Agreement and providing 
greater flexibility where possible under those rules has been widely stressed.  It was suggested that, 
in doing this, Parties should consider to what extent the provisions of the current Agreement actually  
contributed towards achieving its objectives.  
30.  It was suggested that consideration might be given to whether some provisions of the 
Agreement could be expressed  in terms of more general principles, which are already implicit in the 
Agreement.  
31.  The following areas where  improvements might be considered were mentioned:  
- providing flexibility in open and selective tendering procedures;  
 
- providing further clarity in the provisions relating to some areas of tendering 
procedures;  
 
 - adapting the c ontents of specific provisions to take account of new phenomena 
(partnerships between private and public sectors, multiplication of Build Operate 
Transfer (BOT) transactions), which were difficult to classify under the structure of the 
current Agreement;  GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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 - improving the structure and presentation of the Agreement in such a way as to 
render it more logical and easier to follow by entities and suppliers.  This could be 
achieved by rearranging the provisions so that they more closely followed the normal 
process of public purchasing and also by shortening certain articles through their 
subdivision into several articles;  
 
 - updating Article V on Special and Differential Treatment for Developing Countries, 
for example by providing further flexibility in the  evaluation of offers from developing 
countries with respect to non -discriminatory treatment and in the application of the 
procedural provisions;  
 
 - aligning the provisions of Article XXIII on Exceptions to the Agreement to the 
relevant provisions under t he GATT.  
 
(iv) Administrative Provisions of the Agreement  
32.  It has been said that statistical reporting is an area where simplification and streamlining of 
requirements should be considered.  Those under the Agreement are unduly complex and 
burdensome, notabl y because of the expansion of the coverage of the new Agreement.  It might be 
possible to resolve problems faced by Parties in fulfilling the requirements of the Agreement by 
providing access to other Parties' statistical data bases through the use of infor mation technology.  
Information technology might also open up other ways of monitoring the application of the 
Agreement in Parties.  
33.  It was suggested that there should be no requirement to report procurement under the 
threshold values for Annex 1 entities an d that the relevant provision  in Article XIX:5(a) should be 
deleted.  
34.  It was also suggested that there should be no requirement to report procurement under the 
derogations to the Agreement referred to in Article XIX:5(d).  On the other hand, it was stated th at 
the provision of this type of statistics  was essential for transparency purposes.  In this connection, it 
was also said that the discussion of uniform statistical reporting of procurement under derogations 
was linked to achieving a clear definition of wh at constituted derogations under the Agreement.  
35.  It was further suggested that Parties  should be allowed to report statistics in other types of 
nomenclatures than that established under GPA if the reporting was done only at the two -digit level 
(major catego ry groups) accompanied by a description of those groups.  
36.  A non -paper on this topic has been circulated  as Job. No. 5212.  
(v) Appendices to the Agreement  
37.  It was suggested that Appendix I to the Agreement might benefit from simplification, including 
the poss ibility of presenting Annexes in the form of negative lists, starting with Annex 1.  The 
Committee could define the general principles  that would guide the Parties in determining which 
entities should be excluded from the coverage of the Agreement, for example for national security 
reasons.  This would also have the effect of reducing the residual exceptions and derogations under 
the Gene ral Notes to Appendix I of individual Parties.  
38.  It was stated that it was desirable to maintain the presentation of the Annexes in the form of 
positive lists for the overall consistency of Annexes.  While it might be feasible to present Annexes  1 
and 2 in the form of negative lists, entities in Annex 3 could only be listed in the form of a positive 
list. In addition, Annex 4 could be presented as a negative list only after the extension of the 
coverage of the Agreement in the area of services.  GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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  2. Eliminatio n of Discriminatory Measures and Practices which Distort Open 
Procurement  
(i) General  
39.  The point has been made that this element has prime importance for the review and priority 
should be given to this review item. Discriminatory  measures and practices whic h distorted open 
procurement were incompatible with the objectives of the Agreement and represented a serious 
derogation from the WTO principles of non -discrimination which were also enshrined in Article III of 
the Agreement.  
40.  It was suggested that, under t his element  of the review, consideration could be given to:  
- circumscription of derogations for small business and other set -aside programmes to 
provide an acceptable level of security of access to suppliers from all Parties;  
 
- elimination of current rec iprocity -based exceptions and derogations in the coverage of 
the Agreement;  
 
 - establishment of a mutually -agreed coverage of services.  
 
(ii) Mutually Agreed Coverage of Services  
41.  The point has been made that, while establishment of a mutually agreed cover age of services 
would have the effect of eliminating reciprocity conditions in various Parties, it was essential that 
Parties conducted negotiations in this area on the basis of the most -favoured -nation principle.  
42.  It was stated that the current coverage of  services in the Agreement was the outcome of a 
perceived need for reciprocity in this area because various Parties had made diverse offers in the 
negotiations.  Future negotiations should aim at a uniform level of coverage among all Parties, at 
least in te rms of the quality of the coverage of services.  
43.  It was suggested that an inventory of the current exemptions and discriminatory measures 
under the GPA would be a useful input to the future work on their elimination.  
3. Expansion of the Coverage of the Agreement  
44.  It was suggested that the coverage of the Agreement could be expanded with a vi ew to 
achieving  a balance of market access commitments  among Parties.  For this purpose the following 
specific areas that might be addressed were referred to:  
- identification of potential sectors for extended coverage.  Reference was made to include 
telecom munications and transportation sectors;  
 
- further expansion of the coverage of services in the Agreement;  
 
- lowering of the thresholds values.  
45.  It was stated that expansion of the coverage of the Agreement would require significant 
preparatory work.  It was also stated that any further expansion of the existing coverage of the 
Agreement at the sub -central levels of government would be dependent on progress in the 
simplification and improvement  of the provisions of the current Agreement.  
46.  In addition, th e need to obtain adequate experience with the domestic implementation of the 
Agreement before expansion of its coverage was referred to.  GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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  B. INSTITUTIONAL/PROCEDURAL POINTS  
1. Work on Government Procurement in Other WTO Fora  
47.  It was suggested that, in the pr ocess of the review of the Agreement, Parties should take 
account of the work on government procurement in the Working Group on Transparency in 
Government Procurement and in the Working Party on GATS Rules. The point was also made that, 
while the level of obligations sought under each forum may not necessarily be the same, the overall 
outcome of work in these fora should be coherent and consistent.  However, the review of the 
Agreement should not be delayed by the pace of other discussions.  
2. Institutional Arrangements for the Review  
48.  The discussion of the review in February and May 1997 was carried out mainly in informal 
consultations.  One delegation suggested that an informal group should be established to conduct 
the work on the review of the Agreement and  that expert groups might be set up to handle specific 
topics such as information technology, simplification of statistical reporting, etc.  
3. Participation of WTO Members in the Review  
49.  It was noted that an objective of the review was the expansion of the membership of the 
Agreement.  The review should serve the purpose of making the Agreement more attractive to other 
WTO Members as well as making accession of other WTO Members, including developing countries, 
easier.  For this purpose, interested WTO Members  should be given the opportunity to participate 
actively in the Committee's discussions on the review of the Agreement by becoming observers to 
the Committee in accordance with the Committee's Decision on Procedures for Participation of 
Observers ( GPA/1 ). 
50.  As agreed by the Committee at its February 1997 meeting, the Chairman sent a communication 
to the WTO Members, through the Chairman of the General Council, drawing the attention of WTO 
Members, as well as governments which are in the process of acceding to th e WTO, to the review 
and inviting them to participate as observers in the meetings of the Committee in accordance with 
the Committee's Decision on the Participation of Observers ( WT/L/206 ). 
4. Next Steps  
51.  It was agreed  that: 
- The Committee would hold further inf ormal consultations on the modalities for the review of 
the Agreement on 5 November 1997.  
 
- At that meeting, the Committee would have focused discussions on:  
 
- issues of non -discrimination in connection with information technology;  
 
- improvements to str ucture and presentation of the Agreement;  
 
- discriminatory provisions in the Appendices.  
 
- Delegations would be urged to submit written proposals concerning these elements.  
 
- Delegations could raise any other matters relating to the review, including suggestions 
concerning the best structure for carrying the work forward;  
 
- The Secretariat would prepare an informal note on types of discriminatory provisions in the 
Appendices, it being understood that this is without prejudice to the views of  delegations and 
of the Committee.  
 
_______________  
 
 GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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  ATTACHMENT 1  
 
SUGGESTED MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGREEMENT  
 
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY  
Publishing methods  
 
Alternative 1:  
 
• No wording changes to Articles IX, XI, XVII and XVIII.  
 
• Parties agree to accept modifications to Appendices II and III to delete paper publications and 
replace with electronic publications, where the electronic publication is:  
 
 - on the Internet or in one location;  and 
 
 - accessible worldwide by telephone.  
 
Alternative 2:  
 
• Add a footnote to the Agreement defining "publication" to include either electronic or paper 
publication of notices.  The definition would include the requirements in Alternative 1 above, 
where electronic publication is:  
 
 - on the Internet or in one locati on; and  
 
 - is accessible worldwide by telephone.  
 
• Parties would agree to accept modifications to Appendices II and III to delete paper 
publications and replace with electronic publications.  
 
In commenting on these suggestions, it has been suggested that all GPA Parties should include 
information in their Appendices II (and III) to the GPA on relevant electronic tender databases as 
well as information on access to these bases.  This information should be in addition to information 
on traditio nal publishing methods (until the time comes for these to be replaced).  This requirement 
could be made clear by means of footnotes to the relevant articles of the Agreement defining 
publication as including both electronic and paper -based publication of no tices.  
 
Submission of tenders  
 
• Amend  Article XIII:1(a):  
 
- to add "electronic means" to the list of possible methods of receiving bids (i.e. telex, 
telegram and facsimile) that are already listed;  
 
- to delete the phrase "or by mail" in the first sentence;  and 
 
- to delete the sentence "The tender must be confirmed promptly by letter or by the 
despatch of a signed copy of the telex, telegram or facsimile".  
 
• Add a provision to Article XIII to indicate that the means for submitting tenders can be 
specified by the procuring entity, provided such means shall not reduce access by foreign and 
domestic suppliers.  
 
• Modify Article IX:6 to obligate the procuring entity to include in the notice the means by which 
bids may be submitted.  
 
In commenting on th ese suggestions, it has been suggested that the term "electronic means" should 
be added to the list of possible methods for receiving bids. Until a satisfactory solution has been GPA/TN1994/1/Rev.2  
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  reached regarding electronic signatures, the confirmation requirement by mail , etc. must be 
maintained, bearing in mind the general fundamental principles mentioned above.  
 
Communications between tenderers and the procuring entity  
 
• Modify Article X:4 to add "electronic means, including e -mail" to the list of ways (e.g. telex, 
telegram and facsimile) that suppliers may use to request to participate in selective tendering.  
 
• Add to Article X the provision that the means of communication can be specified by the 
procuring entity.  
 
• Modify Article IX:6 to obligate the procu ring entity to include in the notice of proposed 
procurement the means by which requests to participate will be accepted.  
 
In commenting on these suggestions, it has ben suggested that Article  X:4 should be modified by 
adding: "electronic means, including electronic mail" to the list of methods available to suppliers for 
requests to participate in selective tendering; and that Article IX:6 should be modified to obligate 
the procuring entity to include in the notice the means by which bids may be submitted i n addition 
to paper -based tenders.  
 
Deadlines  
 
Alternative 1:  
 
• Remove all of the "deadlines" identified in Article  XI. 
 
• Modify Article XI:1(a) to delete the words "by mail" from the last sentence.  
 
Alternative 2:  
 
• Modify Article XI:3 so that when electronic tendering is used, all periods referred to in XI:2 
may be reduced to a minimum of 15 days.  
 
• Modify Article XI:3 so that when electronic tendering and electronic bid receipt are used, 
second stage periods referred to in XI:2 (b) and (c) may be reduced to a minimum of one  day. 
 
 
__________  