The development and challenges for government procurement within WTO

Abstract

For many years, the members of the WTO have been putting their effort into the building of regulations governing the sector of government purchases. However, after having been through many rounds of negotiations, the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is still classified as a non-binding agreement for all WTO’s members. Thus, this raises a question, would the rise of Regional Trade Agreements, which contain regulations governing government purchases, be a factor affecting the existence of the GPA? The following article analyzes and gives comments on the achievement as well as the challenges of the WTO concerning government purchases amid the rising age of the RTAs. It thereby clarifies the RTA with commitments on government procurement will be the motivation for the development of GPA within WTO.