RESTRICTED
GENERAL AGREEMENT GPA/IC/W/7/Add.2
28October 1994
ONTARIFFS AND TRADE
(94-2218)
Interim Committee onGovernment Procurement Original: French
QUESTIONNAIRE ONINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
INGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Response bySwitzerland
Theattached communication contains thereplies from thedelegation ofSwitzerland tothe
questionnaire onInformation Technology inGovernment Procurement contained indocument
GPA/IC/W/4/Rev.1, dated 16September 1994.GPA/IC/W/7/Add.2
Page2
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INGOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Replies Received from Switzerland
Present system oftender publication inforce upto31December 1995(Tokyo Round Agreement
onGovernment Procurement).
Thefederal awarding entities publish alltheirproposed purchases andtheresults ofgovernment
procurement inthe"Feuille officielle suisse decommerce" (FOSC).
Moreover, under anagreement between theFederal Office ofExternal Economic Affairs and
theOfficial Publications Office oftheEuropean Communities, theSwiss tender notices andcontract
award notices required bytheTokyo Round Agreement onGovernment Procurement arepublished
intheSupplementtotheOfficialJournaloftheECdevotedtogovernmentprocurement;thisinformation
isalsoavailable from anECelectronic databank(TED: Tender Electronic Daily).
TheConfederation 'sPurchasing Commission coordinates theinvitations totender ofthevarious
awarding entities andchecks them forform andcontent, inconsultation withtheFederal Office of
External Economic Affairs (GATT division).
In1992, 422notices ofcontract awards, withavalue ofmore than130,000 SDR, were
published. Thetotalvalue ofthese contracts amounted toabout 202million SDR.
Preparatory work inSwitzerland concerning thefuture tender publication system toenter into
force from 1January 1996 (Uruguay Round Agreement onGovernment Procurement).
Consideringitsextendedcoverage(increaseinthenumberoffederalawardingentities,extension
tothecantonaland,inpart,communalawardingentities),theUruguayRoundAgreementonGovernment
Procurement should considerably increase thenumber oftender notices tobepublished. Switzerland
attaches greatimportance tothetransparency oftheinvitations totender andtoinformation technology.
Thelatter isessential tothesmooth functioning oftheGATT Agreement, since itenables national
andforeign suppliers toobtain theinformation theymusthaveinorder totender within thetime-limits
allowed.
Immediately following theconclusion ofthenegotiations on15December 1993, theSwiss
Government began thelegislative work necessary toimplement theobligations stemming from the
Uruguay Round agreements and,inparticular, theAgreement onGovernment Procurement. Thus,
adraft federal lawongovernment procurement willregulate thecontracts forgoods, services and
construction awarded bythefederal entities which aresubject totheUruguay Round Agreement on
Government Procurement. Thislawwillbeexamined bytheFederal Assembly inDecember 1994
andwillenter intoforce on1January 1996, supported byspecific ordinances.
Under theSwiss constitutional system, thecantons have freedom ofaction asregards the
transposition oftheGATT agreement. Nevertheless, thefederal experts responsible forthefederal
lawadvise them onthepreparation oftheirrespective cantonal laws, which mustenter intoforce on
1January 1996.GPA/IC/W/7/Add.2
Page3
Means ofpublication from 1January 1996
Atthisstage, thedraftfederal lawdoesnotyetspecify apublication medium inwhich invitations
totender willbepublished. Thiswillbespecified intheordinances which giveconcrete expression
tothefederal law.Atthispoint, onlypreliminary information canbesupplied; Switzerland willreturn
tothismatter assoonastherelevant decisions havebeentaken.
Agroup ofexperts (Federal Purchasing Commission oftheConfederation, representatives of
theawarding entities, Integration Office ("Bureau d'intégration") andGATT division) willdraw up
aproposal concerning means ofpublication. Inparticular, theestablishment ofacentral databank
isenvisaged. Thisdatabankwould bring together alltheinvitations totender issued bytheawarding
entities oftheConfederation andwould alsoberesponsible fortransmission totheTEDinLuxembourg.
Thequestions ofaccess totheavailable information fornational andforeign suppliers, thepossible
feespayable forsuchaccess andthepossibility oftransmitting additional information (forexample,
tender documentation) byelectronic means would bediscussed within thisgroup. Inaddition tothe
electronic databank, itisintended topublish theprocurement notices.
Thecantons willbefreetojointheConfederation 'ssystem ortosetuponeormore individual
systems. Discussions withthecompetent cantonal authorities willtakeplace shortly.
AtEuropean level, Switzerland isalsoparticipating actively inthemeetings oftheEDIFACT
message group MD12presided overbytheCommission oftheEuropean Communities. Theaim
istodrawupEDIFACT messages, ontheonehand, between theawarding authorities andthesuppliers
and,ontheother hand, between theawarding authorities andtheOfficial Publications Office ofthe
ECandtheCommission oftheEC.