Costa Rica’s and Albania’s accessions to the GPA 2012 edge closer to conclusion

Progress on accessions to the GPA 2012

Parties welcomed Costa Rica's "final" market access offer submitted in January 2025. Reaffirming its strong commitment to acceding to the GPA 2012 as soon as practicable, Costa Rica's representative, Leonor Obando, said: "We are prepared to accept the challenges and opportunities that membership in the GPA will provide. We firmly believe that our accession will not only improve Costa Rica's economy but will also serve as a catalyst for the expansion of the GPA to the Latin American region." Costa Rica is the first Central American WTO member seeking to become a party to the Agreement. 

Progress was also achieved on Albania's accession, with parties welcoming the "final" market access offer it submitted in January. Albania's representative Reida Kashta stated: "We would like to conclude our accession negotiations as soon as possible and are collaborating with GPA parties towards this objective."

The Committee also discussed the ongoing GPA accession negotiations of China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. 

An infographic explaining accession to the Agreement is available here.

Improving SME participation in government procurement  

As a follow-up to a recent Committee decision on best practices for supporting the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in government procurement, the Dominican Republic shared information about its initiatives to increase dialogue with the private sector and promote a more inclusive procurement environment. GPA parties welcomed this information.

Greater access to historical GPA documents

The Committee's decision to derestrict additional historical documents will provide the public with greater access to records of past Committee meetings on the WTO website.

Work programme on sustainable procurement

Parties welcomed the publication on the WTO website of compilations of green public procurement-related provisions that certain GPA parties have implemented in their domestic government procurement systems or included in international instruments, such as free trade agreements. These compilations emerged from the Committee's agreed Work programme on sustainable procurement and can be accessed here.

Further upgrade to the e-GPA Gateway

The WTO Secretariat provided an update on a new e-GPA notification system, jointly developed by the Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division and the Information Technology Solutions Division to enable parties to submit GPA notifications online for the first time. The new system, which will be launched after further testing, follows the release of a separate component of the e-GPA Gateway modernization in 2024.

Background

The GPA 2012 is a plurilateral agreement that aims to open government procurement markets among its parties on a reciprocal basis and to the extent agreed between GPA parties. It also aims to make government procurement more transparent and to promote good governance.

The Agreement currently has 22 parties, covering 49 WTO members, including the European Union and its 27 member states (counted as one party). While open to all WTO members, it is binding only for those members that have acceded to it. The list of current GPA parties can be found here.

Reciprocal market opening assists GPA parties in purchasing goods and services that offer the best value for money. The Agreement provides legal guarantees of non-discrimination for the goods, services and suppliers of GPA parties in covered procurement activities, which are worth an estimated USD 1.7 trillion annually. Government procurement typically accounts for about 15 per cent of developed and developing economies' GDP. 

In October, an event was held at the WTO to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the GPA 2012 entering into force in 2014. The event's summary can be found here.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Committee on Government Procurement is scheduled to take place on 18 June.

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