Transparency in Government Procurement

Section V Summary of the effect of preferential treatment

We present that procurement policies favouring domestic firms and products can impede international commerce especially when there is an outright ban for foreign suppliers . But at the same time local firms will greatly benefit thereby boosting national income . A liberalized policy on the other hand may achieve the WTO aim of market access , which in turn will positively affect national welfare , but transparency reform need not improve market access and welfare simultaneously . We shall also highlight the importance of transparency in PP to

global trade initiatives

Section VI Measures to improve transparency in procurement policies

We shall review reform initiatives and the factors aiding or hindering such reforms . International commitment in improving market access and national welfare shall also be discussed . We shall provide an overview of the achievements and failures of the following agreements in this regard

GATT 1947

The Tokyo round 1979

The Uruguay round 1994

The Singapore ministerial conference (1996

The Doha ministerial declaration (2001

Beyond the Cancun collapse

The concluding remarks are given in section VII

ACRONYMS

OECD

WTO World Trade Organisation

SNA

EC European Commission

EU European Union

PP Public Procurement

GATT General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs

OECD , The Size of Government Procurement Markets 11-Feb-2002

Available at http /www .oecd .org /dataoecd /34 /14 /1845927 .pdf

This is a method of gathering national data on procurement expenditure directly from the national procurement agencies of various countries

study OECD Draft instrument on Government Purchasing Policies Procidures and Practices forwarded to GATT in 1976 for better understanding

Breton and Salmon (1995

Corrupt officials expand expenditures (Hines , 1997 . For a detailed political economy rationale for reform see Hoekman (1998

OECD , The Size of Government Procurement Markets 11-Feb-2002

Available at http /www .oecd .org /dataoecd /34 /14 /1845927 .pdf...