Government Procurement in the WTO
Sue Arrowsmith
Kluwer Law International, 2003
ISBN: 9041198849
In the World Trade Organization, government procurement is largely excluded from the multilateral agreements and the 'plurilateral' WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) has only a few signatories. However, recent years have seen both increasing interest in the GPA – especially from new WTO members - and important new multilateral initiatives on procurement, making it a subject of growing significance for the WTO.
This insightful and thoroughly researched study investigates the special sensitivities of government procurement that have left trade barriers largely intact and examines the past and current initiatives of the WTO to regulate this activity. The author not only provides new insights on questions previously addressed, such as the use of procurement to promote human rights and the GPA’s unique system of private challenge, but also assesses the practical implications of WTO regulation for national procedures - for example, on electronic procurement and iterative tendering. Although these practical issues have received little attention from scholars they are important both to the GPA’s and for broadening participation in WTO procurement disciplines. In this context the author argues strongly for a flexible and practical approach to interpreting and developing WTO rules. From this perspective the book provides a valuable case study on the controversial issue of WTO regulation behind national borders.
The detailed treatment of both broad themes and practical issues makes this work indispensable both for procurement specialists – in particular, for lawyers, policy makers and procurement practitioners - and for those interested more generally in WTO regulation.
Contents:
1. Government Procurement and its Impact as a Barrier to Trade;
2. Procurement Disciplines in GATT/WTO: A History and Introduction;
3. The Multilateral Agreements and Government Procurement;
4. The GPA: Membership Issues;
5. Coverage of the GPA;
6. National Treatment and MFN under the GPA;
7. The GPA’s Award Procedures: an Introduction;
8. Open and Selective Tendering Part I: From Publicity to Submission of Tenders;
9. Open and Selective Tendering Part II: Supplier Qualification and Use of Supplier Lists;
10. Open and Selective Tendering Part III: Submission of Tenders, Contract Award and Information Provisions;
11. Limited Tendering; 12. Technical Specifications;
13. Secondary Policies under the GPA;
14. Enforcement and Surveillance;
15. The GPA: Review and Assessment;
16. Expanding Participation in WTO Procurement Disciplines.
Review
“Beneath its somewhat ordinary title is a work of extraordinary depth and quality…. [It] stands as a considerable accomplishment in public procurement research and insight. ….Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this treatise is its advocacy of a new approach to regulation…. [The author’s] thorough command of the material and exceptional awareness of implementation concerns are a rare confluence of the theoretical with the practical…. This book should be the standard against which all future studies of the WTO on procurement are judged. Perhaps most importantly, the work’s lasting impact may be the many valuable, sensible and constructive criticisms of the GPA. In trying to achieve real-world implementation of its lofty goals, the WTO would be well advised to learn from Professor Arrowsmith”
Robert E. Lloyd (US Department of State) (Journal of Public Procurement)
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