Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
FTAA Draft Text, Canada's Positions and Proposals, and Frequently Asked Questions
Draft Chapter on Government Procurement - Canada's Position and Proposals
Canada's Proposal
Definition of Government Procurement - February 2000
As a means of facilitating further progress in the negotiations, it would be useful to have a common understanding of both what is and is not included in the term government procurement. Given the wide variety of domestic legislation and organization structures that exist among the FTAA members, it may be beneficial to develop a broad, illustrative definition to give greater precision to what is intended to be included in or excluded from procurement. This definition could evolve during the course of the negotiations to take into account any new developments.
Guidance regarding a possible approach may be provided by existing international agreements which identify activities which are to be included and activities which are not to be included. One example is Canada's General Note 2 to the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement which provides a form of definition of procurement, as follows:
"2. Procurement in terms of Canadian coverage is defined as contractual transactions to acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the government. The procurement process is the process that begins after an entity has decided on its requirement and continues through to and including contract award. It does not include non-contractual agreements or any form of government assistance, including but not limited to, cooperative agreements, grants, loans, equity infusions, guarantees, fiscal incentives, and government provision of goods and services, given to individuals, firms, private institutions, and sub-central governments. It does not include procurements made with a view to commercial resale or made by one entity or enterprise from another entity or enterprise of Canada."
While the definition of government procurement should not be confused with the coverage itself, we believe that both concepts are closely related. Hence, any definition of procurement would benefit from a reference to the various modalities of procurement. With respect to concessions, it will be necessary to distinguish between the action that creates a concession, which may be considered in the context of a definition of procurement, and the procurement by concessions, which may be examined in the context of coverage of entities and enterprises.
Back to the List of Canada's Proposals on Government Procurement
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