PCC launches a package of measures to make Taiwan ready for the GPA
Yao-Chi Kuo, Chairwoman of the Public Construction Commission (PCC), Executive Yuan, stated today that Taiwan’s application for accession to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) has made significant progress as a result of fruitful bilateral consultations with GPA Parties on market access in October this year. Outstanding issues will most likely to be resolved before next formal meeting for the WTO Committee on Government Procurement in March 2003.
She further pointed out that Taiwan concluded bilateral consultations with Japan and the European Community in Geneva on 7 to 8 October 2002. Negotiations with Singapore proceeded well; several contentious issues were resolved with only one regarding service item in Annex 4 remained to be resolved. As for the consultation between Taiwan and Israel, there is only one issue regarding construction service threshold value remained to be resolved. Provided that there are no other impediments, Taiwan’s application for accession to the GPA will most likely to be adopted at the Committee meeting of March 2003.
After becoming a party to the GPA, Taiwan shall open its government procurement market to all other signatories. Situations in which this agreement exists are stated as follows: For procurement by central government entities which procure in accordance with the provisions of GPA, the threshold values are 130,000 SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) (approximately NT$5,450,000) for goods and services, and 5,000,000 SDRs (approximately NT$209,900,000) for construction services. For procurement by sub-central government entities (including Taiwan Provincial Government, Taipei City Government and Kaohsuing City Government) which procure in accordance with the provisions of GPA, the threshold values are 200,000 SDRs (approximately NT$8,390,000) for goods and services, and the amount in a two-year three-stage decreasing mode for construction services: 15,000,000 SDRs (approximately NT$629,700,000) for the first year from the effective date of the agreement, 10,000,000 SDRs (approximately NT$419,800,000) for the second year from the effective date of the agreement, and 5,000,000 SDRs (approximately NT$209,900,000), the same amount as that of central government entities, from the third year onwards after the effective date of the agreement for construction services. For procurement by all other entities (listed in Taiwan’s offer) which procure in accordance with the provisions of GPA, the threshold values are 400,000 SDRs (approximately NT$16,790,000) for goods and services, and the same amount as that of sub-central government entities for construction services.
Moreover, Taiwan’s government entities conducting procurement to which the GPA applies will have to do so in accordance with the agreement’s requirements. Suppliers from GPA parties shall receive treatment no less favorable than that accorded to domestic suppliers. In other words, preferential treatment shall not be granted to domestic suppliers, and both foreign and domestic suppliers shall have fair competition and a level playing-field to participate in domestic government procurement markets.
Kuo indicated that, according to the Commission’s statistics on award of contracts (1998~2001), Taiwan’s average value of procurement per year which will be opened to international competition after its accession to GPA is estimated to account for 43% of the total value of construction services, i.e., about NT$109.2 billion; 79% of the total value of goods, i.e., about NT$151.2 billion; and 71% of the total value of services, i.e., about NT$36.7 billion. Hence, the total value of procurement that Taiwan will open to other GPA signatories amounts to some NT$297.1 billion (approximately US$8 billion) per year, whereas, according to US’s and EC’s statistics, the total value of procurement that other GPA signatories will open is worth over US$200 billion per year, which is thirty times larger than that of Taiwan. Meanwhile, the non-discrimination guarantees provided by the agreement will help Taiwan’s industries to take advantage of overseas business opportunities.
With the aim of assisting entities in understanding how to handle procurement to which the GPA applies and encouraging domestic suppliers in exploiting overseas government procurement markets, Kuo highlighted that, since January 2002, the Commission has offered two monthly courses, “The Overview of GPA” and “The Impact of GPA and Policies in Response”, respectively for entities procuring personnel and domestic suppliers.
Furthermore, Kuo noted that, in response to Taiwan’s accession to the GPA, the Commission has not only held the GPA educational courses, but also post on the Internet the information related to GPA in both Chinese and English, including all GPA signatories’ market access offers and linkage to government procurement information system websites. Additionally, the Commission has established an English tendering publications website, tabled an easy-to-follow GPA reference schedule, and will notify GPA-covered entities the essential requirements of the GPA to ensure that Taiwan is fully ready for the GPA. Hopefully, this package of measures will be completed by the end of this year.