Government procurement refers to purchases of goods or services, including consultancies and professional services, construction, maintenance and material supply contracts, facilities contracts, capital equipment and property and leasing arrangements, undertaken by governments for their own consumption.
Government procurement accounts for a significant part of the economy of many countries. Although a government procurement agreement did not form part of the core WTO agreement, a number of WTO member governments signed a plurilateral agreement on government procurement. However, this was optional and did not go far enough for private sector and governments vying for new opportunities for profit and control through the liberalization of this important area. Government procurement provisions in free trade agreements stipulate that governments (national and sub-national) must treat overseas tenders no less favourably than local ones. Many bilateral agreements include provisions which already commit governments to open up this lucrative market to transnational corporations. This issue has been a contentious sticking point for Malaysia in its negotiations with Washington on an FTA and India in its negotiations with the EU. Malaysia’s procurement policy has kept foreign companies from bidding for state contracts, which US negotiators object to.
1-Apr-2012
India will not concede to EU’s demand that European companies be allowed to participate in procurements made by public sector enterprises in the country as part of a free trade agreement being negotiated.
12-Mar-2012
An impending trade deal with Europe could spell the end of procurement strategies like the one used to award the $25-billion shipbuilding contract to Irving Shipbuilding Inc. in Halifax.
28-Jan-2012
Saskatoon should request an exemption to a large-scale free-trade agreement being negotiated between Canada and Europe, a Saskatoon city committee agreed.
25-Nov-2011
Sydney Morning Herald
Selling Aussie technology to the US military just got easier.
20-Oct-2011
European Voice
The European Union is hoping to use next week’s summit with China (25 October) to press the Chinese authorities on obstacles facing European investors and to discuss access for European bidders to China’s public-procurement market.
26-Aug-2011
Livemint
India has convinced both New Zealand and Australia not to include the subject in the ongoing negotiations
22-Aug-2011
For over four years now, India has been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) - the largest trade and investment deal the country has ever embarked on. As much as New Delhi expects to lure the European market and investments closer to India, the actual consequences for the country’s economy could be dire: the open up of public procurement, the deregulation of the banking, automobile, retail and mining industries plus the adverse impact the deal will have in small-scale farmers make of this FTA a counter-productive undertaking.
9-Jun-2011
Last weekend, municipal councillors from across Canada met in Halifax for the annual Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention. On the agenda were infrastructure renewal, how to best deliver social services, and how cities should confront climate change. But if you were following the FCM’s Twitter hashtag Saturday morning, you’ll have seen that trade was perhaps the most controversial topic of discussion, namely the Canada-EU free trade agreement.
16-Dec-2010
Free-trade talks between Canada and the European Union will enter a crucial phase early next year, when the provinces will be asked to clarify where they stand on opening their procurement contracts to foreign bidders — a potential dealbreaker for the Europeans.
15-Oct-2010
600 Action News
The National Farmers Union is raising alarm bells over a proposed trade agreement between Canada and the European Union.
24-Sep-2010
Bloomberg
The trade agreement will give Canadian companies access to the government procurement market in the Central American country, including the expansion of the Panama Canal, Van Loan said at the time.
8-May-2010
The Economic Times
India is not likely to entertain requests for opening government procurement in its FTA negotiations with EU and Japan respectively.
27-Oct-2009
Europolitics
Following the conclusion of an FTA with South Korea, the European Commission’s Chief Negotiator, Ignacio Garcia Bercero, has stepped up efforts to reinvigorate the trade negotiations with India. However, two key contentious issues are standing in the way of further progress, namely tariff liberalisation and public procurement.
29-Sep-2009
Business Times
One obstacle in US-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement talks may be taken off the table following high-powered discussions on government procurement between the two trade partners.
24-Sep-2009
LiveMint
India and Japan will start a fresh round of talks on a free trade agreement on 29 September after discussions in January remained inconclusive because the countries failed to find common ground on a few contentious issues.
11-Sep-2009
Business Standard
Ahead of the next round of talks on a bilateral trade treaty with India, the European Union today said it was keen that the comprehensive pact included government procurement agreement, which India has resisted so far.
12-Jun-2009
rabble
European corporations and the EU have made clear their top objective is access to procurement within provincial jurisdiction.
8-Jun-2009
AP
Canada is interested in a free trade deal with the United States that would open up local government procurements to both countries. The interest comes as Canadian companies continue to report difficulties in winning government contracts in US cities because of "Buy American" provisions in President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill.
2-Oct-2008
The Star
Malaysia has moved one step forward in the US-Malaysia free trade agreement (FTA) talks, specifically on the issue of government procurement.
5-Jun-2008
This paper on government procurement and EPAs written by Stephen Woolcock from LSE recommends that ACP countries first open their procurement markets on a regional basis, before making commitments to the EU.
