Other Entities Covered under GPA

GPA parties use two approaches to define coverage of Other Entities under the Agreement. 

All the parties to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), with the exception of the Netherlands with Respect to Aruba (Aruba), cover procuring entities in a category referred to as “Other Entities". This category, together with central government entities and sub-central government entities, constitutes the three categories of entities covered by the GPA. A recent post described the wide range of sub-central entity coverage under the GPA. The GPA parties’ coverage of Other Entities is even more diverse, as illustrated in a White Paper on a “Comparison of GPA Parties’ Coverage of Other Entities”. The White Paper compiles, and offers a comparison of, the Other Entities coverage of the GPA parties. This comparison is based on the parties’ coverage following the recent revision of the GPA. The comparison includes the coverage of Montenegro and New Zealand, even though they are not yet GPA parties. However, they have been approved for membership, and each will be added to the GPA roster as soon as it submits its instrument of accession to the WTO. As with sub-central government coverage, the parties divide into two groups in their approach to the coverage of Other Entities. One group limits its coverage to the Other Entities that it lists. That group is comprised of nine GPA parties: Canada, Hong Kong, China, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and the United States. The second group bases its coverage on entities that fall within certain classifications and that undertake activities in specified sectors. Each provides an indicative -- but not a definitive -- list of the entities that are covered. This group includes seven parties: Armenia, the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway and Switzerland. Each party’s Other Entities coverage is described in detail in the White Paper. Jean Heilman Grier Related Posts GPA Gains Two New Members Implementation of Revised GPA New Procurement Opportunities under Revised GPA Sub-central Entities Covered under GPA TTIP Negotiations: US-EU Procurement Commitments U.S. Procurement Covered under Revised GPA