EU for transparency clause to be factored in govt procurements

While the EU and the US have been pushing for including this issue in the working group discussions, a number of developing countries, including India, have maintained that any WTO transparency agreement should be restricted to transparency in procedures and should not be extended to procurement policies. There should be no obligation to change domestic laws and regulations. New Delhi earlier had pointed out at the working group discussions that government procurement was one of the very few policy instruments for the developing countries to achieve socio-economic goals and no WTO accord should place any restrictions on this score. Some of EU’s listed benefits, however, go against the concerns shown by the developing countries.

In its paper, the EU has stated that governments and public entities have a political duty to purchase goods, services and works through the most economically advantageous offer, and that more transparency in procurement open to foreign suppliers contributes to increased competition and lower prices, thereby reducing budget expenditure.

While India and some other developing countries believe that the policy should be restricted to international procurement alone, the EU is of the opinion that the future agreement on the issue should apply to all procurements, without distinction between national or international. It has also argued that this will allow domestic bidders to benefit from a more open and transparent process, besides avoiding unnecessary cost.