The WTO announced that on 18 May 2020, the WTO Committee on Government Procurement received Brazil’s bid to start negotiations on joining the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). Brazil said it would circulate the necessary accession documents as soon as the COVID-19 situation allows it. The announcement said, in part:
In its statement, Brazil said that it hopes to present its initial market access offer and to reply to a checklist of issues about its government procurement legislation as soon as the COVID-19 crisis allows a return to normal working conditions. This will be the kick-off for negotiations with other GPA parties.
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Brazil was granted observer status by GPA parties in October 2017. At that time, Brazil said its request reflected a desire from the Brazilian people to modernize the economy and improve the management of public resources. Brazil also noted at that point that it had negotiated government procurement chapters in regional and bilateral free trade agreements that were based largely on the provisions of the GPA.
*** The GPA is a plurilateral WTO agreement, meaning that not all WTO members are parties to the Agreement. It is open to all WTO members but is binding only for those members that have joined it…. Currently, 48 WTO members (including the 27 member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom) are bound by the Agreement. Australia became the most recent member acceding to the Agreement in 2019.
