When a undersigned government feels that its rights under this agreement are nullified or compromised by another signatory, it may request the initiation of WTO dispute settlement procedures to resolve the issue. The WTO dispute settlement procedure is described in the exporter`s guide to the WTO dispute settlement agreement. When a supplier believes that this agreement is in violation, it is encouraged to consult with the purchasing entity to resolve the issue. If such consultations do not result satisfactory, each undersigned government should provide that it imposes timely, transparent and effective non-discriminatory procedures that would allow suppliers to challenge alleged breaches of the agreement. Suppliers may be required to initiate an appeal procedure within a specified period of time (no less than ten days) from the date the basis of the complaint was known. Disputes must be heard by an impartial independent tribunal or audit body that is not interested in the outcome of the award of the contract. Dispute proceedings must be completed “in due course.” The GPA is a multi-lateral agreement within the WTO framework, which means that not all WTO members are parties to the agreement. Currently, the agreement consists of 20 parties, with 48 WTO members. Thirty-six WTO members/observers participate in the GPA committee as observers. Of these, 12 members are in the process of joining the agreement. The agreement came into force in 1979 as the Tokyo Round Code on Government Procurement,[1] which came into force in 1981 under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

[2] It was then renegotiated in parallel with the 1994 Uruguay Round and this version came into force on 1 January 1996. The agreement was then revised on March 30, 2012. The revised MPA came into effect on July 6, 2014. [2] Of these three areas, GPA work is the most active and has led to significant trade liberalization. On 6 April 2014, the revised GPA came into force and marks an important step in the WTO. Any company in a signatory country wishing to sell GPA goods or services to a purchasing entity in another signatory country, which is listed in Schedule I of the GPA, may benefit from this agreement. The World Trade Organization estimates the value of the public procurement opportunities covered by the agreement at several hundred billion dollars a year. (a) Authorized products from WTO GPA countries and countries trading in FREI products are entitled to non-discriminatory treatment in point 25.402(a) (1). The GPA and WTO free trade agreements define attribution procedures for fairness (see 25.408). Achieving “value for money” is a priority for most procurement systems.

But how? Open, transparent and non-discriminatory purchases are generally seen as the best way to achieve this goal, as they optimize competition between suppliers. At the same time, there are competing policy objectives: many governments also use public procurement to achieve other domestic policy objectives, such as promoting certain local industrial sectors or social groups.