GENEVA (WAM)
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has upgraded its online platform on trade and government procurement (e-GPA Gateway), providing more user-friendly access to information relevant to parties involved in the Agreement on Government Procurement 2012 (GPA 2012).
The revamped e-GPA Gateway provides enhanced access to information on the commitments and procurement systems of WTO members that are parties to the GPA 2012. The market access opportunities available under the GPA 2012 are estimated to be worth more than $1.7 trillion annually.
New and improved features include a tool to browse each party's market access commitments; analysis and reporting tools about the thresholds set by each GPA party above which public contracts can be granted; an Advanced Search tool allowing users to search for information on particular GPA parties and covered procuring entities, goods and services; a tool to search for modifications of coverage, enabling users to see changes in GPA parties' coverage commitments and compare different versions of coverage, and improved access to information on current procurement opportunities, applicable national legislation and statistics and GPA parties' notifications of their publication media.
The e-GPA Gateway was developed by the GPA parties and the WTO Secretariat, with close collaboration between the Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division and the Information Technology Solutions Division. It complements other initiatives by the WTO Secretariat aimed at creating an integrated, interactive database of trade measures across the Organisation.