5. The bodies established by the Dispute Settlement Body to examine disputes under this Agreement shall include persons qualified in the field of government procurement. For the full text of the revised GPA and the new annexes setting out the procurements covered by all GPA Parties, see GPA-113. The markets covered by the GPA were much larger than the government procurement under the GATT Code. The GPA included the purchase of goods, services and construction services through three categories of entities: central government agencies, sub-central government agencies and other entities, including public services and state enterprises. The following WTO Members are Parties to the 1994 Agreement[3] (c) are prepared to ensure that their procurement rules do not normally change during a contract and, if such a change proves unavoidable, to ensure that a satisfactory solution is available. 8. For each case of a proposed procurement, the body shall publish a summary notice in one of the official languages of the WTO. The contract notice shall contain at least the following information: (a) the subject-matter of the contract; (b) the time limits for the submission of tenders or of a request for tenders; and (c) the addresses at which contract documents may be requested. The WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is a “plurilateral” agreement, meaning that it applies to a number of WTO Members, but not to all Members. (a) in respect of contracts for which they have expressed such an intention, namely in the notice referred to in Article IX(2) (invitation to suppliers to participate in the proposed procurement procedure); or 11.

Developed country Parties shall establish, individually or jointly, information centres to respond to appropriate requests from developing country Parties concerning, inter alia, laws, regulations, procedures and practices relating to government procurement, published notices of intended procurement, the addresses of bodies covered by this Agreement, and the nature and obtaining thereof the volume of goods or services purchased or to be procured; including available information on future calls for tenders. The Committee may also establish an information centre. 2. Revised Tokyo Round Code on Government Procurement (1987) Nov. 1983: Negotiations to amend the 1979 Code begin in February 1987: Protocol amending the 1979 Code February 1988: The amended 1979 Code enters into force 3. Agreement on Government Procurement (1994) April 1994: GPA 1994 signed in Marrakesh January 1996: GPA 1994 enters into force While the revised GPA has entered into force for most parties, the 1994 GPA remains in force for those parties that are still in the process of ratifying the revised agreement. Therefore, the two versions of the GPA coexist until all parties to the agreement are bound by the revised agreement. Between a part of the 1994 GPA and a part of the revised GPA, the 1994 GPA (including its Annex I) continues to apply. 3. Available information on procurement by covered entities and their individual procurements shall be made available to any other Party upon request. Article IX – Invitation to participate in the proposed market1. In accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3, procuring entities shall publish a call to participate in all cases of intended procurement, unless otherwise provided for in Article XV (restricted tendering).

The notice shall be published in the relevant publication set out in Annex II. (a) an explanation of its procurement practices and procedures; In order to ensure an open, fair and transparent playing field in government procurement, several WTO Members have negotiated the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). Recognizing that laws, regulations, procedures and practices related to government procurement should not be developed, adopted or applied to foreign or domestic goods and services, as well as to foreign or domestic suppliers, in order to provide protection for domestic goods or services or domestic suppliers, and not between foreign goods or services or foreign suppliers discriminate against; 4. A developing country may, having regard to the particular circumstances of the case, negotiate with other participants in the negotiations under this Agreement mutually agreed derogations from the rules on national treatment in respect of certain entities, goods or services on its registration lists. Those negotiations shall take due account of the considerations referred to in points (a) to (c) of paragraph 1. A developing country participating in regional or global agreements between developing countries within the meaning of point (d) of the first subparagraph may also negotiate derogations from its schedules, taking into account the specific circumstances of the case, including the provisions on government procurement provided for in the relevant regional or global agreements, and in particular products or services which are the subject of an industrial development programme. 2. In accordance with this Agreement, each Party shall facilitate the increase of imports from developing countries in the preparation and application of laws, regulations and administrative provisions and procedures affecting government procurement, taking into account the specific problems of least developed countries and countries at a lower stage of economic development. Accession to the GPA is limited to WTO Members that have expressly signed or subsequently acceded to the GPA. WTO members are not required to join the GPA, but the United States strongly encourages all WTO members to participate in this important agreement.

Several countries, including China, Russia and the Kyrgyz Republic, are currently negotiating their accession to the GPA. 6. Challenges shall be heard by an impartial and independent court or review body which has no interest in the outcome of the award of the contract and whose members are protected from external influence during their term of office. .