The WTO’s e-GPA Project Enhancing the Transparency and Accessibility of GPA Market Access Information 1 by Kodjo Osei-Lah WTO Secretariat 8 April 2014 UN/CEFACT Forum on eProcurement

The Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA): an overview o A plurilateral agreement within the WTO system – Establishes the rules governing trade in GPA covered procurement markets. – Currently covers 43 WTO Members – Part of the WTO system (and enforceable under the DSU) o Objectives comprise – Access to other GPA Parties’ covered procurement markets – Improved value for money in each participating Member’s procurements – Good governance (transparency, fair competition and an absence of corruption in Parties’ procurement markets) o Membership increasing over time – an additional 10 WTO Members in process of accession to the Agreement o Successful conclusion of renegotiation of Agreement – comprises both text and market access commitments of the Agreement – revised Agreement entered into force on: 6 April

Modifications Coverage Thresholds Simulations www Notifications Accessions Negotiations Publication Media National Legislation Parties’ Web Portals Integrated WTO Market Access Gateway WTO e-GPA portal: schematic illustration Statistics

e-GPA: Objectives o Create an integrated database of GPA coverage data to serve as a market access information resource – for use by governments, businesses and other interested parties o Create a seamless online digital tool for notifications, statistical reports and related data in support of an enhanced information provision service o Better publicize the commercial opportunities available under the Agreement – thus foster interest in and accessions to the Agreement o Synergise with an integrated database of trade measures across the WTO (via i-TIP) 4

e-GPA: Expected Benefits o Improved service to Members – enhanced transparency and accessibility of market access (MA) information – enhanced visibility of the size and extent of MA opportunities – efficient access to information on commercial opportunities – provide a rich resource for policy analysis, e.g. accession to the Agreement; future negotiations; technical assistance o Improved productivity – foster a more efficient administration of the Agreement – synergy/linkage with horizontal, integrated database of trade measures across the WTO (via i-TIP) 5

Project Components o Multi-modular approach, phased implementation o Phase I – development and implementation of – core, web-based application; core modules encompassing: coverage (MA), thresholds, classification systems commence work on modifications, statistics, notifications – Current state of play: well-advanced in Phase I o Future phases – further enhancements on phase I – development of more advanced functions a simulations engine, to handle: accessions, negotiations a management and control module 6

Key deliverables & milestones o Phase I – Core application/Basic Functions: June 2014 – e-GPA portal pre-loaded with baseline GPA MA data, and with browse, search and basic reporting functions Beta release version to GPA Parties for initial trials: May 2014 Public release version: end June 2014 o Phase II – Enhancements: Dec 2014 – e-GPA portal with enhanced functions including modules covering modifications, statistics, and notifications digital submissions, enhanced reporting, more external linkages o Phase III – Advanced functions: TBD – e-GPA portal with advanced functions advanced modules including simulations (for accessions/negs) Web services, further enhanced reporting, analytics 7

Implementation and related issues o State of play with implementation – core application developed, with core functions (basic browse/filter; database pre-loaded with baseline data) sneak preview – commencing development of enhancements (Phase II) o Implementation challenges – ensuring smooth data interchange through system to system communications compatibility of data formats, e.g., with regard to statistics linking to Parties’ related websites 8

e-GPA: Linkages with UN/CEFACT work …linkages with UN/CEFACT work on e-procurement standards…? 9

Thank you Kodjo OSEI-LAH WTO Secretariat 10