1 January 1981 (Geneva) 14 February 1988 (amendment) 1 January 1996 (Marrakesh) 6 April 2014 (amendment)
Parties
12 (Geneva, as amended) 21 (Marrakesh, as amended)
Depositary
Director-General of the World Trade Organization
Languages
English, French and Spanish
The Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is a plurilateral agreement under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which regulates the procurement of goods and services by the public authorities of the parties to the agreement, based on the principles of openness, transparency and non-discrimination.
The agreement was originally established in 1979 as the Tokyo Round Code on Government Procurement,[1] which entered into force in 1981 under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.[2] It was then renegotiated in parallel with the Uruguay Round in 1994, and this version entered into force on 1 January 1996.
The text adopted in 1996 anticipated that there would be subsequent improvements. An understanding on the expected revisions was reached in December 2006,[3] and the agreement was subsequently revised on 30 March 2012. The revised GPA came into effect on 6 July 2014 and has applied since 1 January 2021 to all members.[2]
The agreement was subsequently revised on 30 March 2012. The revised GPA came into effect on 6 July 2014 and has applied since 1 January 2021 to all members.[2]
Parties
The following WTO Members are parties to the amended 1994 agreement:[4]
^ abThe agreement applied to the UK as part of its EU membership from 1 January 1996 until 31 December 2020 at the end of the transition period
^Taiwan acceded to the WTO as the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu", shortened as "Chinese Taipei"
Observer status
The following WTO Members have obtained observer status with respect to the GPA, with those marked with an asterisk (*) negotiating accession: Afghanistan, Albania*, Argentina, Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil*, Cameroon, Chile, China*, Colombia, Costa Rica*,[6] Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Georgia*, India, Indonesia, Jordan*, Kazakhstan*, Kyrgyz Republic*, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman*, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Russia*, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan*, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.[4]
Coverage
Procuring entities bound by the Agreement vary by member state. Each member state has its own Appendix 1 which forms an integral part of the Agreement detailing how the agreement applies to their national procurement activities. Each Appendix 1 has seven annexes:
The Review Body on Bid Challenges is a body set up in 1998 by party states in order to allow suppliers to challenge irregular government tenders.[8] The Review Body is independent and endeavors to process each case in an expeditious manner. The Review Body is also empowered to recommend Rapid Interim Measures (RIMs), which can be recommended within days where a Review Body finds a prima facie case for a bid challenge.[8]
UK membership after Brexit
The UK applied the agreement as part of its EU membership from 1 January 1996. After the UK left the EU on 1 February 2020, the agreement remained in force during the transition period until 1 January 2021. Discussions about continued UK membership were initiated on 27 June 2018,[9] and in October 2020, the UK was invited to become a party in its own right at the end of the transition phase.[10]
