Plurilateral Agreements

Saravanan. APhD Candidate

RGSOIPL

Disclaimer:

Images, content, and published articles are for reference and illustrative purposes only. Under no circumstances should any image, logo, content or article be viewed as an endorsement for this presentation or any of its contents. This presentation is intended for educational purposes only.

2

3Source: https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/wts_future2013_e/nakatomi.pdf

4

Introduction: WTO members subscribe to all WTO agreements After Uruguay Round 4 agreements were remained originally

negotiated in Tokyo Round Annex 4 Plurilateral Trade Agreements

Which had narrower group of signatories – known as ‘plurilateral agreements’

1. Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft- Annex 4(a)2. Agreement on Government Procurement- Annex 4 (b) 3. International Dairy Agreement- Annex 4 (c)4. International Bovine Meat Agreement- Annex 4 (d) Bovine Meat and Dairy Agreement were terminated in 1997

Other Plurilateral Agreements are, Information Technology Agreement (ITA), Anti-Counterfeiting Trade

Agreement (ACTA), Financial Services Agreement & Basic Telecommunications Services Agreement

5

Characteristics of Plurilateral Agreements:

Paving the way for addressing specific issues and areas

Allowing flexibility in the choice of participants Responding to the changing needs of industries

with agility Preparing for multilateral rulemaking in the future

6

Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft:

EIF on 1st Jan 1980 It now has 32 signatories It eliminates import duties on all aircraft

Other than military aircraft Product Coverage:

All civil aircraft All civil aircraft engines and their parts and components All other parts, components, and sub-assemblies of civil aircraft All ground flight simulators and their parts and components

Whether it is used as original or replacement equipment in Manufacture, repair, maintenance, rebuilding, modification or

conversion of civil aircraft

7

Cont… Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade apply to trade in

civil aircraft (Art 3) Certification requirements, specifications on operating and

maintenance procedures shall be governed by TBT Signatories shall purchase the products only on a

competitive price (Art 4) No discrimination against suppliers

Signatories shall not apply any QR , import licensing as well as export licensing or other similar requirements to restrict imports of Civil Aircraft (Art 5)

DSU - Articles XXII and XXIII of GATT will be applicable

8

Government Procurement- Opening up for competition:

In most countries, Govt and its agency is the biggest purchaser of goods of all kinds,

Ranges from basic commodities to high-technology equipment It accounts for 10-15% of GDP of World Economy

They also buy large amounts of services and construction services

E.g. telecommunications, roads, airports and power stations It should have Sound public procurement system based on

Transparency, integrity and competition To maximize benefit arising from procurement for citizens

Political pressure favours domestic suppliers over foreign competitors

9

Evolution of the GPA: Early efforts to bring GP under OECD framework Then brought into Tokyo Round with GATT in 1976 As a result, First agreement on government procurement was signed in 1979

and eif in 1981 Amended in 1987 and eif in 1988

Parties were again agreed to extend the scope and coverage of the agreement with Uruguay Round

Finally new Agreement on Govt Procurement cif in 1.1.1996 GPA parties again renegotiated during Doha Round

Outcome adopted in 2012 Latest version of AGP- cif on 6th April 2014 GPA- continue to improving

Armenia, Montenegro, New Zealand- 2015 Republic of Korea- Jan 2016

10

Agreement on Government Procurement:

Currently- 17 parties 30 members as GPA Committee as observers

10 are in the process of acceding

Purpose is to open up as much of this business as possible to international competition

Transparent provision: Laws, regulations, procedures and practices regarding GP

Also signatories shall ensures that they do not discriminate against foreign product or suppliers

GPA has two elements 1) General rules and obligations 2) Schedules of commitments- thresholds levels of each entities are

indicated

11

Cont… General Rules and Obligations:

Mainly concern tendering procedures Evolved through different versions to enhance fair and non-

discriminatory condition of international competition To reflect new developments in procurement field

e.g. wide use of e-tendering

Principles and procedural requirements set out in GPA do not automatically apply to all procurement activities

Those specified in parties coverage schedules have to carried out in accordance with General rules of GPA

Same like MA commitments in GATS

12

Cont… Under revised GPA- Schedule of each party contain 7 annexes

Annex 1: central government entities Annex 2: sub-central government entities Annex 3: other entities Annex 4: goods Annex 5: services  Annex 6: construction services  Annex 7: general notes

Exceptions to the coverage: Procurement of Arms, ammunition for national security and defence purposes To protect public morals, safety, human, plant or animal life or health

Link of e-GPA: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/gp_app_agree_e.htm

DSU- 4 cases till to date Korea Procurement 2- US Procurement Japan Procurement

13

Korea – Procurement: (DS163) US requested for consultation on 16 Feb 1999 w r t Certain procurement practices of construction of Inchon

International Airport by Korea Airport Authority (KAA) New Airport Development Group (NADG)

Korea’s Concession in Schedule: Qualification for bidding as a prime contractor

Domestic partnering is mandatory Absence – breach of GPA

US claimed such practices were inconsistent with Korea's obligation under GPA

14

Cont… US contended KAA and NADG are within the scope of

central Govt entities specified in Annex 1 of GPA Art 1(1) apply to procurement of airport construction

Panel found that, KAA and NADG were not covered under Korea's Appendix 1 of GPA

This construction project was not covered by Korea’s commitments under GPA

US had failed to prove that it had reasonable expectations that a benefit had accrued

15

Dairy and Bovine Meat agreements: Both the agreements were scrapped at the end of 1997

Setback: Signatories- decided that these sectors were better handled

under AoA and SPS Agreements

Major exporters of dairy products did not sign the Dairy Agreement

16

Thank you…