WTO ¦ Government procurement - Parties and observers to the GPA

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Parties to the Agreement back to top

Most Parties have been bound by the Agreement since its entry into force on 1 January 1996. For some, it entered into force at a later date. Some Parties have joined the Agreement by way of accession.

Parties	Date of entry into force/accession
Canada	1 January 1996
European Communities with regard to its 27 member States:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom	1 January 1996
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia	1 May 2004
Bulgaria and Romania	1 January 2007
Hong Kong , China	19 June 1997
Iceland	28 April 2001
Israel	1 January 1996
Japan	1 January 1996
Korea	1 January 1997
Liechtenstein	18 September 1997
the Netherlands with respect to Aruba	25 October 1996
Norway	1 January 1996
Singapore	20 October 1997
Switzerland	1 January 1996
United States	1 January 1996

Observers — WTO Members back to top

Albania *	Jordan *
Argentina	Kyrgyz Republic *
Australia	Moldova *
Armenia	Mongolia
Cameroon	Oman *
Chile	Panama *
China	Sri Lanka
Colombia	Chinese Taipei *
Croatia	Turkey
Georgia *
* negotiating accession.

Observers — International intergovernmental organizations back to top

How to become an observer? back to top

Article XVII of the Agreement on Government Procurement establishes basic transparency requirements for becoming an observer to the Agreement. The process of becoming an observer is set out by a Decision of the Committee on Government Procurement GPA/1, Annex 1.