(1) Current status of the number of countries and regions participating in the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement
Originally there were 23 countries and regions participating in the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. At the end of 2003, parties to the Agreement were 28 countries and regions.
(Note) Parties to the Agreement on Government Procurement (as of 31 March 2003)
Japan, United States, Canada, European Community (EC), United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Netherlands with respect to Aruba, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Israel, Korea, Hong Kong China, Liechtenstein, Singapore
(2) The Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement (Reference Materials III-2)
In December 1996, the first Ministerial Conference since the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Singapore, with ministers and officials from 127 countries participating. At this first Ministerial Conference, it was decided to establish a Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement.
In response to this, since the first meeting was held in May 1997, further formal meetings, a number of informal meetings and friends meetings have taken place.
The Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement is a forum to carry out studies on transparency in government procurement in a way designed to be conducive to the policies of each country, and since it is positioned to specify elements that each country could agree to on government procurement, countries other than the signatory nations (as mentioned above) to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement have also become members of the Working Group.
At the third WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle, discussions were conducted on launching negotiations towards forming an agreement concerning transparency in government procurement, based on the discussions of such working groups.
In addition, at the fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha (Qatar) in November 2001, the Ministerial Declaration decided that parties would keep studying on transparency in government procurement and negotiate about multilateral rules after the fifth Conference.