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Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
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Explanatory note:
Initial Canadian Offer for Government Procurement
Table of Contents
Context of the negotiations
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations are proceeding on two simultaneous tracks. The first is a general negotiation focussing on general rules and commitments, including issues of an institutional nature. In the context of the Negotiating Groups on Government Procurement (NGGP) Canada's general objective is to develop obligations that provide for openness, fairness, and a non-discriminatory treatment that would result in improved market access for Canadian suppliers under a transparent and predictable rules based framework. For more information on Canada's position and proposals on government procurement please refer to: Canada's Position and Proposals (Government Procurement).
The second track deals specifically with market access for government procurement. The Government of Canada and the 33 other democratic countries participating in the FTAA negotiations have begun the process of exchanging initial market access offers in goods, services, investment and government procurement.
The deadline for the exchange of initial offers is February 15, 2003. Countries will then have until June 15, 2003 to request improvements to the offers. Countries have been requested to present their revised offers and to commence negotiations on improvements by July 15, 2003. Smaller or lesser developed countries have been provided the option of postponing the exchange of their initial offer for government procurement until July 2003.
Canada as a leader for transparency in trade negotiations
The Government of Canada today continues to ensure that its citizens are the world's most informed on trade negotiations by making public the specific government procurement Canada is proposing to open to FTAA partners.
Nearly two years ago, Canada convinced its trading partners in the hemisphere to release the draft negotiating texts of the FTAA. At the time, the Minister for International Trade called the decision a noble experiment in citizen involvement, which applied new norms and expectations to trade agreements. He also promised to continue to work to make trade negotiations more open and transparent. Canada continues to push hard on this topic because we support open and transparent institutions as away to ensuring trust in the democratic system. Today is important milestone in achieving this objective.
What is the Canadian Initial Offer in Government Procurement ?
Canada's initial offer in government procurement offers substantial coverage of goods, services and construction services at the federal level, subject to final agreement on the provisions of any chapter of the Agreement and a satisfactory balance of rights and obligations which are acceptable to Canada. As is the case in other trade agreements, the FTAA government procurement chapter covers only the organizations, goods, services and construction services specified in the offer.
Canada's initial offer on government procurement does not include the provinces or municipalities.
Canada reserves the right to review and amend its initial offer for government procurement, depending on obligations contained in the final text of the Agreement. To view the current draft texts, please see 2002 Draft government procurement text and the Description of the Chapter.
How to read the offer:
General Conditions:
This section identifies the conditions and provisions to which Canada's initial offer is subject.
Annex 1:
The Entities Annex states which federal departments and agencies would be subject to the agreement and the relevant thresholds for goods, services, and construction services.
Annex 2:
The Goods Annex offers to cover all goods for most departments and agencies listed in Annex 1. However, for national-security related organizations, only specific goods have been included.
Annex 3:
The Services Annex offers to cover all services, except those identified as being excluded from the obligations of the Chapter.
Annex 4:
The Construction Services Annex offers to cover all construction services within the classification system on which Canada is basing its offer, except those identified as being excluded from the obligations of the Chapter.
Annex 5:
Canada's General Notes identify specific exclusions that are applicable to all of the annexes of Canada's initial offer on government procurement.
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