Glossary / Regulations
WTO Government Procurement AgreementGPA
The Agreement on Government Procurement is a plurilateral WTO treaty whose parties agree to treat each other's suppliers no less favorably than their own for the procurements it covers: the listed entities, above the thresholds, with stated exceptions. Parties include the United States, the European Union and its members, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Switzerland and Taiwan, among others. In the United States the Trade Agreements Act implements it; abroad it is the legal basis on which a U.S. company can bid for a covered European, Canadian or Japanese government contract as a domestic bidder would.
Why it matters to your pipeline
The GPA is why many foreign government markets are open to a U.S. small business at all, and it tells a company which countries' buying it can approach as of right. The coverage lists and thresholds decide which tenders a foreign supplier may expect fair treatment on. GovSmith's international sources are the GPA markets first: the EU, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, plus the NATO and UN agencies that run their own rules.
When this term shows up in an opening GovSmith finds for you, your vCM explains what it means for that pursuit and does whatever it calls for. You decide; we do the work.
Example
A U.S. laboratory-equipment maker bids on a German university's above-threshold tender on TED. As a supplier from a GPA party, it is entitled to the same treatment as a German bidder on that covered procurement.
Find out what applies to you
Some terms will matter to your business right away and some won’t for years. A vCM can tell you which are which.