Chapter 15 Plurilateral Trade Agreements

Overview  Two agreements remain signed by only a few WTO members:  Civil aircraft  Government procurement

Agreement on Trade in Civil aircraft  The Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft now has 26 signatoriesAgreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft  The agreement eliminates import duties on all aircraft, other than military aircraft, as well as on civil aircraft engines and their parts and components, all components and sub-assemblies of civil aircraft, and flight simulators and their parts and components.

An Agreement on Government ProcurementAgreement on Government Procurement  The first negotiated during the Tokyo Round.  The agreement has twenty- five members.

 In most countries the governments, and its various agencies are the biggest purchasers of goods and services of all kinds, ranging from basic commodities to high-technology equipment.  At the same time, the political pressure to favour domestic suppliers over their foreign competitors can be very strong.

A Glance of the Agreement on Government Procurement  Its purpose is to open up of this business to international competition.  It is designed to make laws, regulations, procedures and practices regarding government procurement more transparent  To ensure government do not protect domestic products or suppliers, or discriminate against foreign products or suppliers.

Fair and non-discriminatory conditions  For example, governments will be required to put in place domestic procedures by which aggrieved private bidders can challenge procurement decisions and obtain redress in the event such decisions were made inconsistently with the rules of the agreement.

Elements  It has two elements general rules and obligations schedules of national entities  In each member country whose procurement is subject to the agreement.

The coverage  Extend international competition to include national and local government entities  Whose collective purchases are worth several hundred billion dollars each year

Exercises  Retell the Main Idea of this Chapter  Say the general review about laws, regulations, procedures and practices regarding government procurement of the mainland of our China.