Meeting of the Committee on Government Procurement, 15 March 2018, Brussels

Report

The first meeting of the EU/Canada CETA Committee on Government Procurement took place on 15 March 2018 in Brussels.

Discussion topics included:

Recent legislative developments, in particular the EU’s package on strategic public procurement and in particular its focus on sustainability, social responsibility and innovation as well as possible cooperation with Canada in this field;

The implementation of the CETA government procurement chapter, namely:

1. The requirement to bi-annually adjust CETA threshold values into domestic currency and possible  mechanism for such adjustment (e.g., using same threshold adjustment methodology that is outlined by the WTO Committee on Government Procurement in its “Decisions on Procedural Matters Under the Agreement on Government Procurement (1994)”, Annex 3 “Modalities for Notifying Threshold Figures in National Currencies”);
2. Canada informed the EU of the technical updates that need to be made to Annex 19-8 of Canada’s market access schedule and both Parties discussed the  process for such updates;
3. Canada also updated the EU on the ongoing work in developing Canada’s single point of access for public procurement. Canada was keen on learning from the EU’s experience with Tenders Electronic Daily(TED). In this regard, the EU shared its experience with TED and agreed to supply further information as appropriate.
4. The Parties also exchanged information regarding existing bid challenge mechanisms/domestic review procedures;
5. The Parties further discussed public procurement opportunities, particularly in the space sector, that have been mutually opened under CETA. Both sides recognised the importance of providing further guidance to stakeholders to access procurement opportunities under CETA;

The Committee on Government Procurement will report to the CETA Joint Committee on its ongoing work.