WTO

• Exceptions to the Agreement are provided in Article XXIII of the GPA. These exceptions provide the Parties justification for taking actions or measures relating to government procurement which are inconsistent with the Agreement. Nothing in the Agreement will be construed to prevent any Party from:

  1. taking actions or not disclosing information necessary for the protection of national security when relating to:

     1. the procurement indispensable for national security or national defense.

     2. procurement of arms, ammunition or war materials.

      

  2. imposing or enforcing measures, provided that they are not applied in a manner which constitutes a arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where the same conditions prevail , that are:

     1. necessary to protect public morals, order or safety

     2. necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health

     3. necessary to protect intellectual property

     4. related to the products and services of handicapped persons, philanthropic institutions or prison labor.

• The Bank recognizes that there are special circumstances in which competitive bidding may not be the most appropriate tendering procedure. For these cases, the bank may agree, upon request by the Borrower, on one of the other procedures allowed by the Bank. Such circumstances include cases in which (paragraph 4.2 of the BPPP):

1. there is a need to standardize equipment in order to ensure compatibility with previously acquired equipment and spare parts;

2. due to an emergency situation in the country or project area, the first invitation for bids has been voided, and it is concluded that a new invitation for bids would not be successful;

3. it is considered advisable to expand a works contract originally entered into as a result of international competitive bidding;

4. it is apparent that there have been unforeseeable market changes which have created a scarcity of certain products, or it is desirable to ensure maintenance of equipment or machinery to be acquired; or

5. there are other identifiable and demonstrable special circumstances.

• International competitive bidding is not required for the acquisition of specialized instruments, equipment, material, books and publications for education, scientific and technological projects or research, as well as for the procurement of goods and contracting of works related to the restoration and preservation of cultural or natural tourist attractions. Other procedures consistent with the objectives of the loan will be approved by the Bank (paragraph 4.3 of the BPPP).

• Not covered.

• Article 1018 contains the same exceptions as those provided in the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Article 15-18 contains the same exceptions a the ones provided in the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.

• Articles 14-18 of the Mexico-Bolivia Agreement and 12-18 of the Mexico-Costa Rica Agreement contain the same exceptions a the ones provided in the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.

• Not covered.

• Article XXI of the GPA establishes a Committee on Government Procurement. The Committee is composed by representatives from each of the Parties. It shall meet as deemed necessary but no less than once a year. The Committee?s functions are to advise the Parties on any matters related to the operation of the Agreement, including the furtherance of its objectives. It will also carry out other responsibilities that may be assigned to it by the Parties.

• The IDB?s Procurement Committee is charged with continually reviewing all Bank?s rules and policies relating to procurement, as well as resolving major procurement-related issues arising during the executions of projects. Among other issues, the Committee reviews: exceptions to the system of international competitive bidding; deviations form the established procurement norms in loan contracts; awards to bidders whose bids were not evaluated the lowest; and all protests by bidders during the procurement process. The Procurement Policy and Coordination Office provides advice and support to the Procurement Committee (paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2 of the BPPP).

• Not covered.

• Article 1021 of the Agreement establishes a Committee on Small Business which is composed of representatives of the Parties. The Committee will meet as mutually agreed , but no less than once a year, and will make an annual report, to be submitted to the Commission, on the efforts made by the Parties to promote government procurement opportunities for their small business. Among the responsibilities of the Committee are: the training of small businesses personnel in their government procurement procedures; the identification of small businesses interested in becoming trading partners of other small businesses in the territory of any other Party; the development of data bases of small businesses; to advise the Parties on the criteria used to establish eligibility for small business programs.

• Additionally, NAFTA parties agreed separately to establish a government working group which meets regularly to review any issue arising under Chapter 10 and to conduct negotiations dated therein.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Annex 8 to Article 15-02 creates a Government Procurement Committee that will supervise the application of the rules provided in the Chapter on Government Procurement. Among its activities, the Committee is responsible for: supervising compliance with the principle of equality with respect to the application of transitory reserves (set-asides) agreed between the Parties; ensure that the Parties begin negotiations with the purpose of achieving full liberalization of their procurement markets; and create a Classification System for the covered goods.

• Article 15-22 of the Agreement creates a Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Size Industry which is composed by representatives of each Party. The Committee works in the same way and has the same responsibilities as the Committee on Small Business from the NAFTA Chapter on Government Procurement. However, it not only cover small businesses, but extends it micro and medium size industries as well.

• Articles 14-21 of the Mexico- Bolivia Agreement and 12-21 of the Mexico Costa Rica Agreement provide for the creation of a Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium Size Industry. Although it is called a Working Group on these two agreements, it works in the same way and has the same responsibilities as the Committees in the Group of Three and NAFTA agreements.

• Not covered.

• As set out in article XVIII, entities must publish a notice in the appropriate publication listed in Appendix II of the Agreement. No later than 72 days after the award of each contract under the Agreement. Entities also have to promptly provide suppliers of another Party with the pertinent information requested concerning the reasons as to why a supplier?s application was rejected or their tender was not selected.

• As set out in article XIX, parties must promptly publish any law, regulation, judicial decision, administrative ruling of general application and any other procedure (including standard contract clauses) regarding government procurement covered by the Agreement in the publications listed in Appendix IV of the same.

• At the same time, the government of an unsuccessful tenderer which is a Party to the Agreement may seek additional information on the award of a contract to ensure that the process was fair and impartial. On the other hand, information which is deemed contrary to the public interest, detrimental to the legitimate commercial interest of particular enterprises or to fair competition between suppliers, shall not be disclosed without the authorization of the parties concerned.

• Each Party has to provide the Committee on an annual basis statistics on the procurement covered by this agreement.

• The Procurement Policy and Coordination Office manages the Bank?s procurement-related information system which collects procurement data from projects financed by the Bank (paragraph 6.2 of the BPPP). In addition, the Procurement Policy and Coordination Office provides quarterly and yearly reports on procurement data and disbursements which are later reflected in the Bank?s annual report.

• Not covered.

• As set out in Article 1019 of the NAFTA Chapter on Government Procurement.Parties shall promptly publish any law, regulation, precedent or judicial decision, administrative ruling of general application and any procedure, including standard contract clauses, regarding government procurement covered by the agreement.

• If requested, entities shall inform the participant suppliers on the decisions of awards of contracts, and if requested, in writing. Entities should also facilitate unsuccessful bidders who request it, pertinent information on the reasons why its offer was not selected and the characteristics and advantages of the selected offer, as well as the name of the successful bidder.

• With a view to ensuring effective monitoring of procurement covered by this agreement, each Party shall collect statistics and provide to the other Parties an annual report in accordance with the following reporting requirements, unless the Parties otherwise agree:

1. statistics on the estimated value of all contracts awarded, both above and below the applicable threshold values, broken down by entities;

2. statistics on the number and total value of contracts above the applicable threshold values

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Contains a similar provision of information requirements to the NAFTA. They are set out in Article 15-20 of the Agreement?s Chapter on Government Procurement. However, Annex 1 of Article 15-20 provides that paragraph 4 of that article does no apply to Colombia and Venezuela. Paragraph 4 refers to the additional information requirements that an entity should provide to other Parties, in order to determine if a procurement was carried out in accordance to the provisions of the Agreement. Additionally, the elaboration of the annual report is waived for a period of three years from the entry into force of the Agreement. Mexico undertakes to cooperate with Colombia and Venezuela, within a technical cooperation program, to facilitate the fulfillment of the obligations regarding this provision.

• If requested, entities shall inform the participant suppliers on the decisions of awards of contracts, and if requested, in writing. Entities should also facilitate unsuccessful bidders who request it, pertinent information on the reasons why its offer was not selected and the characteristics and advantages of the selected offer, as well as the name of the successful bidder.

• Contains a similar provision of information requirements to NAFTA. They are set out in Articles 14-19 and 12-19 of the Mexico-Bolivia and Mexico-Costa Rica Chapter on Government Procurement.

• If requested, entities shall inform the participant suppliers on the decisions of awards of contracts, and if requested, in writing. Entities should also make available to unsuccessful bidders who request it, pertinent information on the reasons why its offer was not selected and the characteristics and advantages of the selected offer, as well as the name of the successful bidder.

• Not covered.

WTO

• Article V.8 of the GPA provides for technical assistance for developing countries. Developed countries are legally obliged to provide all technical assistance which it deems appropriate in the field of government procurement to developing countries upon their request.

• Article V.9 states that the assistance shall be provided on the basis of non-discrimination among developing country Parties and shall relate, inter-alia, to:

1. the solution of particular technical problems relating to the award of the a specific contract; and

2. any other problem which the party making the request and another Party agree to deal with in the context of this assistance.

• Parties should consult regularly in the use of information technology to ensure that the Agreement does not constitute a burden to technical progress.

• Developed country Parties shall establish, individually or jointly, information centers to respond to reasonable requests from developing country Parties for information relating to, inter-alia, laws, regulations procedures and practices regarding government procurement, notices about intended procurements which have been published, addresses of the entities covered by the Agreement, and the nature and volume of products or services procured or to be procured, including available information about future tenders. The committee may also set up an information center.

• The Procurement Policy and Coordination Office of the IDB provides training and advice to Bank and Borrower personnel (paragraph 6.3 of the BPPP). In addition, the Bank can approve specific technical cooperation projects to support activities in any borrowing country.

• Not covered.

• As set out in Article 1020, Parties have an obligation to cooperate to increase understanding of their respective government procurement systems in order to extend access to government procurement to suppliers of other parties. Parties shall provide each other information concerning training of personnel, suppliers, as well as information on the procurement systems and procurement market opportunities.

• The training and orientation programs referred to include:

1. training of government personnel directly involved in government procurement procedures;

2. training of suppliers interested in pursuing government procurement opportunities;

3. an explanation and description of specific elements of each Party?s government procurement system, such as its bid challenge mechanism; and

4. information about government procurement market opportunities.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Article 15-21 contains a similar provision as NAFTA.

• Articles 14-20 of the Mexico-Bolivia Agreement and 12-20 of the Mexico-Costa Rica Agreement contain a similar provision to NAFTA.

• Not covered.

• The entities are listed in Annex 2 of Article 15-20: for Mexico the Dirección General de Organismos Comerciales Multilaterales (SECOFI); for Colombia the Ministerio de Desarrollo Económico; and in the case of Venezuela the Instituto de Comercio Exterior.

• The Agreement does not specify any entities in charge of gathering information.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Article 1023 allows Parties to divest an entity of its obligations under the Chapter on Government procurement if it is no longer under federal government control (e.g. privatization). This could be achieved through the public offering of shares or through other methods. However, Parties shall be previously notified of the divestiture and they may object to withdrawal on the grounds that the entity remains under federal government control.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Article 15-24 contains a similar provision to NAFTA.

• Articles 14-23 of the Mexico-Bolivia Agreement and 12-23 of the Mexico-Costa Rica Agreement contain a similar provision to NAFTA.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• "Rectifications" and transfer of an entity are allowed in exceptional cases, as set out in Article 1022 of the Agreement. Any transfers shall be notified to the other Parties, along with the explanations and other information regarding the consequences of the change for the agreed coverage, as well as a proposal for compensatory adjustments. The other Parties will consider and determine whether any proposed adjustment is adequate to maintain a comparable level of coverage as existed before the modification . When a Party does not agree that the adjustment or compensation is sufficient, it has a recourse to the general dispute settlement procedures under NAFTA.

• Parties are allowed to make rectifications of purely formal nature and other minor adjustments without the obligation to compensate, provided that they are timely communicated to the other Parties. It may also undertake legitimate reorganizations of the entities covered by the agreement through decentralization, privatization and other measures directed to implement such programs, provided that they are not used to avoid the obligations of the Chapter on Government Procurement.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Not covered.

• Article 15-23 contains a similar provision to the NAFTA Chapter on Government Procurement.

• Articles 14- 22 of the Mexico-Bolivia Agreement and 12-22 of the Mexico-Costa Rica Agreement contain similar provisions to the NAFTA Chapter on Government Procurement.

• Not covered.