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Hong Kong joins WTO Government Procurement Agreement

Hong Kong will soon become a party to the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Government Procurement following a unanimous agreement by all signatories of the Agreement on December 5 to accept Hong Kong's participation.

The Agreement on Government Procurement provides for a set of rules that govern the procurement of goods and services by government and other public entities of signatories.

Under the Agreement, each signatory is obliged to treat the products, services and suppliers of other signatories in public procurement as if they were of domestic origin.

The Agreement also stipulates very detailed rules on tendering procedures, technical specifications and challenge procedures. The objective of all these requirements is to ensure that foreign products and suppliers can compete on a level playing field with domestic products and suppliers for public procurement contracts.

"We are pleased that Hong Kong can become a party to the Agreement. This will provide greater opportunities for our exporters and suppliers to tap into overseas government procurement markets," a Government spokesman said.

"Our participation in the Agreement would also reinforce the confidence of overseas and local suppliers in our already open and non-discriminatory government procurement system."

The exact coverage for each signatory is defined in its schedule of commitment attached to the Agreement.

Hong Kong's schedule includes the procurement of goods, services and construction works above certain specified contract values by all government departments as well as by the Urban and Regional Councils, Hospital Authority, Housing Authority, Airport Authority, Mass Transit Railway Corporation, and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.

The Agreement was first concluded in 1994. Although Hong Kong participated actively in the negotiations then, it did not sign the Agreement because other negotiating parties included at the final stage of negotiations some discriminatory provisions in the Agreement which were objectionable in principle to Hong Kong.