WTO ¦ Government procurement - Parties and observers to the GPA

Click the + to open an item.

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, 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
Chinese Taipei	15 July 2009
United States	1 January 1996

Observers — WTO Members back to top

Observer government	Date of acceptance by committee as observers
Albania *	2 October 2001
Argentina	24 February 1997
Armenia *	16 July 2004
Australia	4 June 1996
Bahrain	9 December 2008
Cameroon	3 May 2001
Chile	29 September 1997
China *	21 February 2002
Colombia	27 February 1996
Croatia	5 October 1999
Georgia *	5 October 1999
Jordan *	8 March 2000
Kyrgyz Republic *	5 October 1999
Moldova *	29 September 2000
Mongolia	23 February 1999
New Zealand	9 December 2008
Oman *	3 May 2001
Panama *	29 September 1997
Saudi Arabia	13 December 2007
Sri Lanka	23 April 2003
Turkey	4 June 1996
Ukraine	25 February 2009
* 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.