Europese Commissie verheugd met toetreding Taiwan tot GPA (en)

The European Commission has today warmly welcomed the formal decision by the members of the Committee on Government Procurement to adopt the accession of The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei) to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

Commissioner for Trade, Catherine Ashton i, said: "This accession will provide new opportunities in public procurement for businesses in both the European Union and Chinese Taipei. The Commission will continue to seek market access for European companies, especially to help our small and medium-sized enterprises."

Commissioner for the Internal Market Charlie McCreevy i added: "Expansion of GPA membership has always been one of the key objectives of the EC as it leads to further business opportunities for European suppliers. Also, GPA membership guarantees fair, transparent and non discriminatory procurement procedures. The EC believes that the accession of Chinese Taipei to the GPA will pave the way towards the expansion of GPA membership and that other WTO members will join the Agreement soon".

Background

The GPA is the only comprehensive set of plurilateral rules on government procurement. It sets international standards for best practice and transparent rules for public procurement projects, such as in transport or construction infrastructures that generally require large public investment. GPA beneficiaries ultimately are the taxpayers in all GPA member economies, as GPA sets standards and rules that lead to more transparency and competition in public procurement, and thus to more cost-efficiency and better value for money. Most importantly, the application of GPA rules provides companies bidding for contracts with increased business opportunities and a fair level playing field and enables public authorities to make informed choices.

Chinese Taipei's market for government procurement was worth EUR 14.3 billion in 2006 and EUR 16.8 billion in 2007. Foreign suppliers have had a share of 20% in total government procurement worth more than EUR 120billion in Chinese Taipei over the past 10 years. EU companies gained 3% of the total, worth around EUR 3.7 billion.

For more information on EU Trade policy see http://ec.europa.eu/trade/