Taiwan to Join WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement
The government of Taiwan has announced that it will seek to join the Government Procurement Agreement (“GPA”), a plurilateral agreement organized and administered by the World Trade Organization that ensures fairness of competition between domestic and multinational enterprises bidding on government procurement, tender and construction projects. After the GPA takes effect, which is expected in January or February of 2009, Taiwan will be bound to GPA standards designed to make laws, regulations, procedures and practices associated with government procurement more transparent. This is widely expected to lift protections for domestic products and suppliers, greatly benefiting the ability of multinational enterprises to compete for government procurement and public construction projects.
The international community has urged Taiwan to join GPA ever since Taiwan became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2002. Taiwan’s government had originally promised to sign the GPA in January of 2003.
After Taiwan begins adhering to the GPA, a new domestic procedure will be implemented allowing private bidders to challenge government procurement decisions and obtain redress if such decisions are found to violate the GPA’s rules. The GPA will apply to all government contracts whose value exceeds certain threshold amounts depending on the category each contract falls under, such as about USD 7,000,000.00 for construction projects and USD 570,000.00 for goods and services contracts.
In addition to clearing a level playing field for multinational businesses bidding for procurement and construction projects in Taiwan, joining the GPA will also open up opportunities for Taiwan-based businesses to take part in government procurement and public construction projects in other countries and territories that have already joined the GPA, including 32 European countries, Japan, the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Israel.
To learn how Pamir Law Group provides practical and effective support for bidding on government procurement and construction projects in Taiwan contact us.
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