RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE GPA/IC/9
16January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0143)
Interim Committee onGovernment Procurement
REPORT OFTHE INTERIM COMMITTEE ONGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT TOTHE
COMMITTEE ONGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT TOBEESTABLISHED
UNDER THE NEW AGREEMENT ONGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
TheInterimCommitteeonGovernmentProcurementwasestablishedbyadecisionoftheInformal
Working Group onGovernment Procurement atitsmeeting on10March 1994. Itsterms ofreference
arereproduced inAnnex 1.
1. Thisreport isintended tocommunicate theresults ofthework oftheInterim Committee on
Government Procurement totheCommittee onGovernment Procurement, tobeestablished under the
Agreement onGovernment Procurement (1994).
A. COMPOSITION OFTHE INTERIM COMMITTEE
Members
2. ThemembershipoftheCommitteeconsistedofallgovernmentswhichhadsignedtheAgreement
onGovernment Procurement on15April 1994. Thefollowing were members oftheCommittee:
Canada, thefifteen Member States oftheEuropean Communities andtheEuropean Commission, Israel,
Japan, Korea, Norway, Switzerland andtheUnited States.
Observers
3. TheInterim Committee adopted thefollowing decision onobserver status intheInterim
Committee:
"Observer status maybegranted toanygovernment which notifies theInterim Committee of
itsinterest toacquaint itself withthenewAgreement onGovernment Procurement andits
activities withaview toconsidering possible accession totheAgreement. TheInterim
Committee would takeadecision oneachrequest. Requests forobservership frominternational
organizations would beconsidered onacase-by-case basis." (GPA/IC/M/1, dated
10August 1994, paragraph 4)
4. Thefollowing governments weregiven observer status: Chinese Taipei, theKingdom ofthe
Netherlands withrespect toAruba, Liechtenstein, Colombia, Argentina, Turkey, Panama, Singapore,
Romania andIceland.
Officers
Chairman: Mr.Harald Ernst (Switzerland)
Vice-Chairman: Mr.Peter Young (United Kingdom)GPA/IC/9
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B. MEETINGS OFTHE INTERIM COMMITTEE
5. TheInterim Committee heldsixmeetings: on29Juneand15November 1994andon4April,
19-20 June, 25October and7December 1995.
C. MODIFICATIONSTOTHEAPPENDICESTOTHEAGREEMENTPRIORTOITSENTRY
INTO FORCE
6. TheInterim Committee adopted adecision ontheAdministration ofRectifications ofaPurely
Formal Nature toAppendices ItoIVPrior totheEntry intoForce oftheAgreement (Decision of
29June1994, contained indocument GPA/IC/M/1, Annex 2).Pursuant tothisdecision, theUnited
States notified theInterim Committee ofarectification toitsAppendix IIregarding StatePublications,
witheffect asof23December 1994 (GPA/IC/W/10, dated 23November 1994). Inaccordance with
theterms ofthisnotification, theUnited States submitted alistofStatePublications. Norway notified
theInterim Committee ofarectification toitsAppendix I,Annex 1,witheffect asof15December 1994
(GPA/IC/W/8, dated 15November 1994).
7. TheInterim Committee adopted adecision ontheAdministration ofModifications tothe
Appendices totheAgreement onGovernment Procurement (1994) Prior toitsEntry intoForce, Other
Than Rectifications ofaPurely Formal Nature orThose Resulting From Negotiations Aimed at
Expanding Coverage (Decision of15November 1994, contained indocument GPA/IC/M/2, Annex 2,
dated 26January 1995). Noaction hasbeentaken bytheInterim Committee pursuant tothisDecision.
8. TheInterim Committee alsotookaction onthebasis oftheDecision of17January 1994 of
theInformal Working Group onNegotiations, entitled "Modifications oftheAnnexes toAppendix I
totheAgreement onGovernment Procurement Before ItsEntry IntoForce on1January 1996".
(GPA/IC/3, dated 28October 1994, reproduces thisdecision.) Inthelightofthenotification tothe
Interim Committee ofthebilateral agreement which wasreached between theEuropean Communities
andtheUnited States inApril of1994 inadocument entitled "Bilateral Agreement between theEC
andtheUS: Modifications toAppendix I",dated 15June1994 andthetime available forits
consideration, theInterim Committee accepted atitsmeeting of7December 1995 thattheEuropean
Communities andtheUnited States hadmettheprocedural requirements necessary fortheincorporation
ofmodifications totheUnited States andtheEuropean Communities 'listsinAppendix I,resulting
from thisbilateral agreement.
D. ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS PRIOR TOTHE ENTRY INTO FORCE OFTHE
AGREEMENT
9. TheInterim Committee adopted aDecision onAccession Negotiations Prior totheEntry into
Force oftheAgreement (GPA/IC/M/1, Annex 1).
10. Theaction taken bytheInterim Committee pursuant tothisdecision isdescribed below.
- Application foraccession byChinese Taipei
11. TheGovernment ofChinese Taipei applied foraccession totheAgreement onGovernment
Procurement (1994) inacommunication dated 24June1994. Itsdraftinitial offerwascirculated inGPA/IC/9
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document GPA/IC/SPEC/1, dated 17March 1995. Areport onthesenegotiations willbecommunicated
totheCommittee onGovernment Procurement under thenewAgreement indocument GPA/IC/5.
- Application foraccession byLiechtenstein
12. AttheInterim Committee 'sApril meeting, Liechtenstein applied foraccession totheAgreement
onGovernment Procurement (1994) inacommunication reproduced indocument GPA/IC/W/13, dated
11January 1995, which alsocontains itsoffer. Areport onthese negotiations willbecommunicated
totheCommittee onGovernment Procurement under thenewAgreement indocument GPA/IC/6.
- Application foraccession bytheKingdom oftheNetherlands withrespect toAruba
13. TheKingdom oftheNetherlands withrespect toAruba applied foraccession totheAgreement
onGovernment Procurement inacommunication reproduced indocument GPA/IC/W/14, dated
8February 1995, which alsocontains adraftoffer. Areport onthesenegotiations willbecommunicated
totheCommittee onGovernment Procurement under thenewAgreement indocument GPA/IC/7.
- Application foraccession bySingapore
14. Singapore applied foraccession tothenewAgreement onGovernment Procurement ina
communication reproduced indocument GPA/IC/W/33, dated 15November 1995. TheGovernment
ofSingapore submitted aninitial offeron6December 1995, which hasbeencirculated indocument
GPA/IC/SPEC/2. TheMembers oftheInterim Committee recommend thattheCommittee under the
newAgreement carry forward theaccession process.
E. RECOMMENDATIONS FORPROCEDURAL DECISIONS BYTHECOMMITTEE TOBE
ESTABLISHED UNDER THE AGREEMENT ONGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
15. TheInterim Committee hasadopted thefollowing recommendations forprocedural decisions
under thenewAgreement (GPA/IC/W/31, dated 30October 1995):
- Participation ofObservers intheCommittee onGovernment Procurement
- Accession totheAgreement onGovernment Procurement
- Modalities forNotifying Threshold Figures inNational Currencies
16. Discussions onprocedures fornotifying national implementing legislation werediscussed at
theDecember 1995 meeting oftheInterim Committee anditisrecommended thatthisdiscussion be
pursued bytheCommittee. TheInterim Committee hasnotrecommended anydecision onprocedures
forthederestriction andcirculation ofdocuments since itconsidered thataccount should betaken of
theoutcome ofthegeneral consideration ofthismatter intheWTO framework, which hasnotyetbeen
completed.
F. ESTABLISHMENT OFAPRACTICAL GUIDE TOTHE NEW AGREEMENT
17. Inpreparation fortheimplementation ofthefuture responsibilities oftheCommittee on
Government Procurement, themembers oftheInterim Committee exchanged views onthedesirabilityGPA/IC/9
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andthestructure andpresentation ofapractical guide tothenewAgreement onGovernment
Procurement. Therecord ofthisdiscussion iscontained intheMinutes oftheInterim Committee
(GPA/IC/M/1, paragraphs 43-46; GPA/IC/M/2, paragraphs 39-51; GPA/IC/M/3, paragraphs 58-61;
GPA/IC/M/4, paragraphs 35-36; GPA/IC/M/5, paragraphs 59-65; GPA/IC/M/6. Delegations were
oftheviewthat,forthemoment, itwasappropriate topostpone active consideration oftheestablishment
ofapractical guide inthetruesense oftheword inviewofitslinkages withvarious other outstanding
issues,suchastheproceduresfornotifyingnationalimplementinglegislationandinformationtechnology.
Distinct from theissue oftheestablishment ofatruepractical guide, delegations decided thatthere
wasmeritinexploringpossibilitiesofestablishingaloose-leafsystemtoperiodicallyupdatetheSchedules
intheAgreement. TheSecretariat hasbeenasked toprepare forthefirstmeeting oftheCommittee
anoteoutlining howsuchaloose-leaf system might work.
G. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
18. Inpreparation fortheimplementation ofthefuture responsibilities oftheCommittee on
Government Procurement inregard totheprovisions intheAgreement oninformation technology,
theInterim Committee gathered information about theuseofinformation technology ingovernment
procurement inthevarious Signatories, bothbywayofdiscussions andpapers aswellasthrough a
practical demonstration. Thisinformation canbefound indocuments GPA/IC/W/7 andAddenda 1
through 10,which contain theinformation received from delegations inreply toaquestionnaire,
(document GPA/IC/W/4/Rev.1 contains thisquestionnaire), aswellasintheMinutes oftheInterim
Committeemeetings(GPA/IC/M/1,paragraphs38-41;GPA/IC/M/2,paragraphs31-38;GPA/IC/M/3,
paragraphs 40-57; GPA/IC/M/4, paragraphs 37-57; GPA/IC/M/5, paragraphs 66-80; GPA/IC/M/6.
Moreover, atapractical demonstration organized bytheInterim Committee, delegations circulated
various documents containing information ontheirsystems, using information technology. Anumber
ofpolicy issues havebeenraised concerning, ontheonehand, issues bothofaccess toprocurement
opportunities andelectronic tendering and,ontheother hand, questions bothofcooperation between
andcoordination ofnational systems andofpossible modifications totheAgreement itself. Afirst
listofthese issues wasproduced indocument GPA/IC/W/18. AttheDecember 1995meeting ofthe
Interim Committee, theUnited States circulated aproposal onelectronic commerce (GPA/IC/W/36)
suggesting thattheParties totheAgreement undertake areview oftheAgreement inthelightofrecent
technological advances inelectronic commerce andidentifying anumber ofareas intheAgreement
asappropriate forcloser examination.
H. STATISTICAL REPORTING
19. Inpreparation fortheimplementation ofthefuture responsibilities oftheCommittee on
Government Procurement inregard totheprovisions intheAgreement onstatistical reporting
(Article XIX:5), theInterim Committee established aWorking Group onStatistical Reporting with
thefollowing terms ofreference:
- topropose totheInterim Committee guidelines formeeting thestatistical reporting
requirements ofArticle XIX:5, inparticular inrespect oftheadoption ofuniform
classification systems andmethods tobeusedforproviding statistics onthecountry
oforigin ofproducts andservices.
- theWorking Group wasopentoallinterested members oftheInterim Committee.
20. TheWorking Group communicated itsreport totheInterim Committee indocument GPA/IC/8.GPA/IC/9
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ANNEX 1
TERMS OFREFERENCE FOR THE INTERIM COMMITTEE
ONGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Informal Working Group onNegotiations onGovernment Procurement
Decision of10March 1994
AnInterim Committee shallbeestablished, witheffect from15April 1994, toundertake all
necessary tasks toprepare fortheentry intoforce oftheAgreement onGovernment Procurement to
bedoneonthatdateinMarrakesh. These tasks shall, inparticular, include:
(a) tocarry outfunctions necessary toimplement theDecision oftheInformal Working
Group onNegotiations onGovernment Procurement of17January 1994 on
Modifications oftheAnnexes toAppendix ItotheAgreement onGovernment
Procurement Before itsEntry intoForce on1January 1996;
(b) theadoption of,andperformance offunctions required by,procedures enabling
negotiations totakeplace onaccession totheAgreement prior toitsentry intoforce,
takingintoaccountthoseadoptedinsimilarcircumstancesattheendoftheTokyoRound
(L/4912) aswellasoftheDecision onAccession totheAgreement onGovernment
Procurement tobetaken byMinisters inMarrakesh on15April 1994;
(c) theadoption, andperformance offunctions required by,procedures toadminister
rectifications ofapurely formal nature toAppendices ItoIVprior toentry intoforce
oftheAgreement;
(d) thepreparation ofthefirstmeeting oftheCommittee onGovernment Procurement,
including thepreparation ofdecisions onprocedural matters required under the
Agreement forconsideration atthatmeeting;
(e) tofulfil anyrequirements stemming fromtheinclusion oftheAgreement inAnnex 4
oftheWTO Agreement.
TheCommittee shallbeserviced bytheGATT Secretariat untiltheentry intoforceoftheWTO
Agreement, andthereafter shallbeserviced bytheWTO Secretariat.
Themembership oftheCommittee shallconsist ofallgovernments which signtheAgreement
on15April 1994aswellasofthose Governments which haveconcluded accession negotiations with
themembers oftheCommittee.
TheCommittee shallcease toexistupon entry intoforce oftheAgreement.