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The relationship between services trade and government procurement commitments: Insights from relevant WTO agreements and recent RTAs

Author

Listed:
  • Anderson, Robert D.
  • Locatelli, Claudia
  • Müller, Anna Caroline
  • Pelletier, Philippe

Abstract

To date, government procurement has been effectively carved out of the main multilateral rules of the WTO system. This paper examines the systemic and other ramifications of this exclusion, from both an economic and a legal point of view. In addition to relevant elements of the WTO Agreements, particularly the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), it derives insights from a large number of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) that embody substantive provisions on both government procurement and services trade. An important finding is that, from an economic perspective, general market access commitments with respect to services trade and commitments regarding government procurement of services are complementary and mutually reinforcing. In contrast, from a legal point of view and at the multilateral level, disciplines in the two areas have been "divided up" into two Agreements with different (but complementary) spheres of application: the key provisions regarding the scope of application of the GATS and the GPA make clear that each serves purposes that the other does not. Analysis of corresponding provisions of RTAs broadly supports and extends this finding. In light of the foregoing, a question arises as to possible ways of deepening disciplines in this area. Part 5 sets out, for reflection, several related options: (i) the built-in mandate in the GATS for negotiations on services procurement (Article XIII:2); (ii) "multilateralization" of the GPA; (iii) the reactivation of work in the (currently inactive) WTO Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement; and (iv) the taking up of relevant issues in the context of bilateral or regional negotiations. Overall, we find that each of these possibilities has potential merits, though none is without related challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Anderson, Robert D. & Locatelli, Claudia & Müller, Anna Caroline & Pelletier, Philippe, 2014. "The relationship between services trade and government procurement commitments: Insights from relevant WTO agreements and recent RTAs," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2014-21, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd201421
    DOI: 10.30875/8caac2ca-en
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Monteiro, José-Antonio, 2016. "Provisions on small and medium-sized enterprises in regional trade agreements," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2016-12, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    2. Robert D. Anderson & Anna Caroline Müller, and Philippe Pelletier, 2015. "Regional Trade Agreements & Procurement Rules: Facilitators or Hindrances?," RSCAS Working Papers 2015/81, European University Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agreement; Budget; Commercial Policy; Corruption; Developing Countries; Developing Country; Development; Economic Integration; Expenditure; GATT WTO; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Government; Government Expenditures; International Trade Agreements; International Trade Organizations; Liberalisation; Liberalization; MFN; Multilateralism; Openness; Optimal Trade Policy; Policy; Policy Making; Protection; Protectionism; Protectionist; Public Economics; Public Expenditure; Public Finance; Public Works; State Finance; Trade; Trade Agreements; Trade Liberalization; WTO;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F5 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • F59 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Other
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • K2 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law
    • K29 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Other
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
    • O29 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Other

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