Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword by Pascal Lamy
- Perspective of the Chairman of the WTO Committee on Government Procurement, Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland)
- Preface
- Disclaimer
- PART I The WTO regime on government procurement
- PART II Expanding the scope of the Agreement on Government Procurement: accession and coverage
- 2 Forging a more global procurement market: issues concerning accessions to the Agreement on Government Procurement
- 3 Accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement: the case of China
- 4 India's possible accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement: what are the pros and cons?
- 5 The benefits for developing countries of accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement: the case of Chinese Taipei
- 6 The coverage negotiations under the Agreement on Government Procurement: context, mandate, process and prospects
- 7 Canada's sub-central government entities and the Agreement on Government Procurement: past and present
- 8 The procurement of state trading enterprises under the WTO Agreements: a proposal for a way forward
- 9 Addressing purchasing arrangements between public sector entities: what can the WTO learn from the EU's experience?
- PART III Revision of the procedural rules and other transparency provisions of the Agreement on Government Procurement
- PART IV Developing countries in the WTO procurement regime
- PART V Economic and social development (horizontal policies) in government procurement
- PART VI Enforcement and remedies
- PART VII Multilateralism and regionalism
- PART VIII Challenges and new directions
- Index
7 - Canada's sub-central government entities and the Agreement on Government Procurement: past and present
from PART II - Expanding the scope of the Agreement on Government Procurement: accession and coverage
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword by Pascal Lamy
- Perspective of the Chairman of the WTO Committee on Government Procurement, Nicholas Niggli (Switzerland)
- Preface
- Disclaimer
- PART I The WTO regime on government procurement
- PART II Expanding the scope of the Agreement on Government Procurement: accession and coverage
- 2 Forging a more global procurement market: issues concerning accessions to the Agreement on Government Procurement
- 3 Accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement: the case of China
- 4 India's possible accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement: what are the pros and cons?
- 5 The benefits for developing countries of accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement: the case of Chinese Taipei
- 6 The coverage negotiations under the Agreement on Government Procurement: context, mandate, process and prospects
- 7 Canada's sub-central government entities and the Agreement on Government Procurement: past and present
- 8 The procurement of state trading enterprises under the WTO Agreements: a proposal for a way forward
- 9 Addressing purchasing arrangements between public sector entities: what can the WTO learn from the EU's experience?
- PART III Revision of the procedural rules and other transparency provisions of the Agreement on Government Procurement
- PART IV Developing countries in the WTO procurement regime
- PART V Economic and social development (horizontal policies) in government procurement
- PART VI Enforcement and remedies
- PART VII Multilateralism and regionalism
- PART VIII Challenges and new directions
- Index
Summary
Introduction
In recognition of the fact that governments are often the single largest buyer of goods and services in an economy, the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) implemented the Agreement on Government Procurement (‘GPA’) to foster international competition in procurement among member governments in a transparent manner free from discrimination. Yet even within one nation, ‘government’ may consist of a myriad of smaller bodies, each with its own regulatory approach to procurement activities. The GPA made provision for the inclusion of sub-central entities because of the economic significance of such transactions but also because procurement at the regional level, as at the national level, can be implemented to achieve social or economic ends that often conflict with the principles of free trade. This chapter will examine an aspect of the WTO GPA that has attracted relatively little attention from critics: the failure of Canada until recently to commit its ten sub-central governments to the Agreement. Several reasons for Canada's past reluctance to make GPA commitments at the sub-central level of government will be explored, as will the procurement regulations that exist in its place at the provincial level. Potential benefits for regional accession to the GPA will be considered and the chapter will conclude with a brief explanation of the new provincial commitments under the GPA that were implemented by Canada in February 2010, subsequent to a related bilateral agreement reached by Canada with the United States.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The WTO Regime on Government ProcurementChallenge and Reform, pp. 175 - 196Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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