A WTO committee granted a request by Taiwan to extend by one month the deadline to complete procedures for accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) said on Friday that Taiwan had requested an extension until tomorrow for “administrative” reasons.
The WTO Committee on Government Procurement approved Taiwan’s application to join the GPA on Dec. 9. The government was required to submit an instrument of accession to the WTO Secretariat within six months as part of accession procedures.
The Legislative Yuan endorsed the decision to join the GPA on May 15.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said there was then a two-week waiting period for members of the legislature to express dissent before President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) could sign the instrument.
When the two weeks were over, Ma was on his trip to Central America, making an extension necessary, the official said.
The GPA is a 1981 pact to open up government procurements to international competition. It was designed to ensure that governments do not favor domestic products and suppliers over foreign competitors.
The GPA includes 40 countries. Following Taiwan’s accession, government procurements will be open to companies from other GPA countries and vice versa.
The WTO estimates the GPA procurement market is worth US$5.55 trillion per year.
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