Costa Rica’s and Albania’s Accessions
to the GPA 2012 Edge Closer to Conclusion
At
a meeting of the Committee on Government Procurement on 26 March, parties to the
Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) 2012 welcomed the market access offers
recently submitted by Costa Rica and Albania in the context of their respective
GPA accession negotiations. Parties also agreed to increase access to historical
GPA documents and noted the publication on the WTO website of compilations of green
public procurement measures of various GPA parties.
Progress on accessions to the
GPA 2012
Parties
welcomed Costa Rica's "final" market access offer submitted in January
2025. Reaffirming its strong commitment to acceding to the GPA 2012 as soon as practicable,
Costa Rica's representative, Leonor Obando, said: "We are prepared to accept
the challenges and opportunities that membership in the GPA will provide. We firmly
believe that our accession will not only improve Costa Rica's economy but will also
serve as a catalyst for the expansion of the GPA to the Latin American region."
Costa Rica is the first Central American WTO member seeking to become a party to
the Agreement.
Progress
was also achieved on Albania's accession, with parties welcoming the "final"
market access offer it submitted in January. Albania's representative Reida Kashta stated: "We would
like to conclude our accession negotiations as soon as possible and are collaborating
with GPA parties towards this objective."
The
Committee also discussed the ongoing GPA accession negotiations of China, Kazakhstan,
the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.
Improving SME participation
in government procurement
As
a follow-up to a recent Committee decision on best practices for supporting the
participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in government procurement,
the Dominican Republic shared information about its initiatives to increase dialogue
with the private sector and promote a more inclusive procurement environment. GPA
parties welcomed this information.
Greater access to historical
GPA documents
The
Committee's decision to derestrict additional historical documents will provide
the public with greater access to records of past Committee meetings on the WTO
website.
Work programme on sustainable
procurement
Parties
welcomed the publication on the WTO website of compilations of green public procurement-related
provisions that certain GPA parties have implemented in their domestic government
procurement systems or included in international instruments, such as free trade
agreements.
Further upgrade to the e-GPA
Gateway
The
WTO Secretariat provided an update on a new e-GPA notification system, jointly developed
by the Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division and
the Information Technology Solutions Division to enable parties to submit GPA notifications
online for the first time. The new system, which will be launched after further
testing, follows the release of a separate component of the e-GPA Gateway modernization
in 2024.
Background
The
GPA 2012 is a plurilateral agreement that aims to open government procurement markets
among its parties on a reciprocal basis and to the extent agreed between GPA parties.
It also aims to make government procurement more transparent and to promote good
governance.
The
Agreement currently has 22 parties, covering 49 WTO members, including the European
Union and its 27 member states (counted as one party). While open to all WTO members,
it is binding only for those members that have acceded to it.
Reciprocal
market opening assists GPA parties in purchasing goods and services that offer the
best value for money. The Agreement provides legal guarantees of non-discrimination
for the goods, services and suppliers of GPA parties in covered procurement activities,
which are worth an estimated USD 1.7 trillion annually. Government procurement typically
accounts for about 15 per cent of developed and developing economies' GDP.
In
October, an event was held at the WTO to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the
GPA 2012 entering into force in 2014.
Next meeting
The
next meeting of the Committee on Government Procurement is scheduled to take place
on 18 June.