Gu Liaohai: Inspiration from Australia to GPA (14)

Gu Liaohai/Wen

Australian third offer

On June 2, 2017, when I saw Australia's third offer, I reminded me of the situation of applying for GPA two countries two years ago. One is Tagikistan and the other is Australia. The former may be unfamiliar to everyone, and the popularity of the latter is very high in the world, especially in Australia at the time that there was a ambitious goal at the time. It is planned to complete the negotiations of joining the WTA GPA in the first half of 2016. Tagikistan applied to join the "Government Procurement Agreement" on February 10, 2015. To fulfill its promise of launching the "Government Procurement Agreement" to join the negotiations when he joined the World Trade Organization on March 2, 2013, Tajikistan applied to join the GPA The initial coverage is distributed on February 16, 2015. Immediately afterwards, Australia applied to join the GPA on June 2, 2015, promising to complete all negotiation tasks within one year. Two years have passed, and Australia's progress in negotiations is relatively slow, and there is no desire to reach as scheduled. But Australia is always active, which is completely different from my country.

Amend the offer again

The third offer in Australia was actually an offer after the improvement of the amendment of the amendments on September 30, 2016 and the second revision. At the request of the Australian delegation, the WTO government procurement committee issued Australia to join the "Government Procurement Agreement" on June 2, 2017 to submit the second revised quotation. In the first part of the list of attachments, Australia joined the "Government Procurement Agreement" instructions:

1. Australia is honored to propose a market access offer to members of the World Trade Organization "Government Procurement Agreement".

2. According to Australia's first revised offer on September 30, 2016, the further revised market access quotation responded to the suggestion of the few parties of the GPA. The important market access provided and the domestic background of federal government procurement considers this revision.

3. In this context, the further revised quotation responded to the relevant suggestions and requests, and improved the clarity through the following ways: including two additional central government entities, one in Annex 1, and the other in the attachment in the attachment 3 in other entities of 3 (about GPA Annex III, I will introduce and analyze in subsequent manuscripts, and will not be explained here for the time being), so that the entity coverage is equivalent to the coverage of the cross -Pacific partnership agreement; There is an understanding that the intention of this description has been included in the second article.

The "Danshu" of the Australian Ministry of National Defense follows the principle of "safety and general exception" stipulated in Article 3 of the Government Procurement Agreement.

4. The quotation after this revision does not affect the similar market access provided by other parties.

5. Australia is retained at any time before the end of the negotiations to withdraw, modify or reduce the right to withdraw or reduce the right to this offer. Australia reserves the right to correct any errors or omissions.

In the second revised offer, Australia's appendix also provided seven attachments and corresponding interpretations. Because of the past dozen manuscripts, I started with the theme of "central government entity" around GPA Annex I. The content of the Australian Annex 2 to Annex 7 is left in the subsequent articles to introduce and analyze.

Judging from the entity revised again in Australia, compared to the 63 institutions after the first revised, the 19th "central government entity", namely the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, total. 64 entities, the new institutions adopted the suggestions of GPA parties such as Canada, Japan, and the United States.

In addition to the new entities in Australia, the other 63 central government entities and its remarks are consistent with the content of the first revised list, and I no longer repeat all the entity list content in this article.

Response to Canada

On June 16, 2017, at the request of the Australian delegation, the government procurement committee distributed the following letters. Australia thanked Canada for their opinions and improvements in accordance with Australia's amendments.

Australia made the following answers to Canada distribution.

Question one:

In Canada's central government entity, which Australia, Australia, Australia has not yet dealt with Canada's previous request to add two entities in attachment 1. Canada invites Australia to increase the following entities:

(1) Australian Transport Safety Bureau; and

(2) Old Parliament House.

Answer 1:

Australia's second revised quotation on June 2, 2017, including two entities proposed by Canada, the "Australia Traffic Safety Agency" and the "Old Parliament Building" in Appendix III.

Question 2:

Canada requires Australia to include another entity into the list, that is, the National Health and Medical Research Council (The National Institute of Clinical Studies LTD), the committee is based on its old name. Integrated into the "Australia-the United States Free Trade Agreement" (for the FTA of Australia and the United States, for details, see the author in this article in the 5th draft of "Australia's Add to GPA"). Given the above -mentioned entities as illegal federal entities, we believe that it should be included in the central government entity scope of Annex 1.

Answer 2:

Australia cannot agree with this opinion and request of Canada.

Problem three:

In response to the preliminary improvement of Canadian improvement on January 25, 2016, Australia pointed out that "the Australian government does not intend to use the" Australian Industrial Capability Plan "at any time to eliminate any specific purchases that should be covered. Attachment 1 The language of item D in "Dan Book" 4 is reflected.

Answer 3:

In order to ensure the consistency between the Australian trade agreement, Australia has no way to agree to this request in Canada.

Author's interpretation:

In the response between Canada and Australia, I noticed that two entities that exist in multiple FTAs ​​have not been included in a list of attachments of GPA, which has caused multiple opponents of GPA. The opinions have been concerned about these two entities. In Australia, Australia agreed to add the "Australian Traffic Safety Agency" and "Old Parliament Building" to the central government entities in Annex 1.

However, it is more interesting that Australia conducted technical processing in the second revision list to arrange the "Old Parliament Building" in the "other entities" in Annex III.

From the perspective of the rules of GPA, the central government entities of Annex 1 have been restricted and restricted, especially in terms of transparency. Procurement tools and corresponding statistical data reports are required.

Since the birth of the first edition of GPA in 1979, for more than 40 years, the central government entities of the GPA parties have been strictly monitored or restricted by GPA in contract grants of goods, engineering and services. Based on this, the entity list appears in different attachments of members of the GPA, which means compliance with different rules of GPA.

As far as the "Dan Book" of the Australian Ministry of National Defense is concerned, some entities and procurement targets of the Ministry of National Defense are excluded from the jurisdiction of GPA. The opponent's objection or question. Therefore, I personally think that the bidding of Australia at Annex I is not much distance between the parties and the parties, and the possibility of consistent opinions between the parties is greater.

Australia replied to the United States

On June 16, 2017, at the request of the Australian delegation, the government procurement committee distributed the following letters. Australia's response to Australia's first amendments to Australia's amendments to the United States. Australia thanked the United States of America for comments submitted by Australia's first revised bid. Australia made the following answers to the issue of distribution.

For the central government entity of Annex 1

Question one:

The United States requires Australia to add the following entities in Annex 1:

(1) Old parliamentary building and

(2) Australia Traffic Safety Agency.

Answer 1:

Australia's aforementioned aimed at the second revision quotation, including these entities, the "Australia Traffic Safety Agency" and the "Old Parliament Building" in Appendix 1.

Question 2:

The United States requires Australia to delete item C in the "Dan Book" 2. Article 3 of the revised "Government Procurement Agreement" involves basic safety exceptions.

Answer 2:

Australia has deleted the instructions in Dan Dan 2, on the grounds that Article 3 of the revised "2012 Government Procurement Agreement" involves basic safety exceptions.

Author's interpretation:

As I stated in the previous manuscript, the problems raised by the United States are suspected of "fried rice" and have no new ideas. Because as early as a year ago, multiple parties of the GPA proposed the two entities in front, and there was no controversy. For Australia's offense, the United States has not raised more problems, mainly because the two parties have already deposited the US -Australian FTA, and the government procurement market covers the size of the government procurement market far exceeding the coverage of GPA. In other words, the United States has not had much objection to Australia's "Government Procurement Agreement".

Australian Answer EFTA member

On June 16, 2017, at the request of the Australian delegation, the government procurement committee distributed the following letters. Australia answered the comments from Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein's proposal to Australia's amendments. Australia thanked the European Free Trade Alliance, a member of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland for the first amendment to be submitted for comments on the first revision of Australia. Australia made the following answers to the questions raised by the European Free Trade Alliance.

For the central government entity for Annex 1

Question one:

The European Free Trade Alliance countries cover all central government entities in Annex 1 and require Australia to be included in other entities to comply with Australia's obligations in other international trade agreements (such as TPP, KAFTA, and Jaepa). Answer 1:

In Australia's second revised quotation, Australia also includes two entities, namely the "Australia Traffic Safety Agency" and the "Old Parliament Building" of the Annex III. Therefore, Australia's coverage of the central government's entity is now consistent with the recent trade agreement between Australia.

Australia answered the Republic of Korea

On June 19, 2017, at the request of the Australian delegation, the government procurement committee distributed the following letters on June 16, 2017.

Australia's response to South Korea's first amendment quotation in Australia. Australia thanked South Korea for submitting opinions and improvement requests for the first revision of Australia. Australia made the following answers to the questions raised by South Korea.

For the central government entity of Annex I

Question one:

The number of entities covered by Australian Annex 1 decreased from 65 to 63. Therefore, the Republic of Korea requires Australia to include all central procurement entities, or to prove that the coverage of Annex 1 has not changed technically.

The initial quotation of Australia is deleted to delete two entities to reflect the changes in government agencies, namely the Australian Criminal Tracking Agency (CRIMTRAC), the family court and the federal tour court.犯罪追踪局（CrimTrac）已与澳大利亚犯罪委员会合并，组成澳大利亚刑事情报委员会（the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission），该委员会已纳入附件一的清单中；澳大利亚贸易委员会更名为澳大利亚贸易和投资委员会（Australian Trade and Investment Commission; the Ministry of Agriculture is renamed the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources; Department of Industry, Innovation and Science; the Ministry of Environment is renamed the Department of the Environment and Energy; the house court and the federal tour court have merged with the Federal Court of Australia. The changes in all the entity names of the Appendix List of Bid Listing Listing List of Australia on September 30, 2016 are due to changes in the organizational structure of these entities, that is, government agencies have changed. There is no negative effect on the coverage.

Since July 1, 2016, the list of Australian Federal Courts has provided company services including purchasing for family courts and federal patrol courts. Therefore, the coverage of Annex I has not changed. We noticed that Australia's second amendment offer includes two additional entities, namely the "Australia Traffic Safety Agency" and the "Old Parliament Building in Australia's Traffic Safety Agency".

Question 2:

Attachment 1 "Dan Book" 2, South Korea requires that Australia not only does not only be in attachment 1, but also deletes the exception of the procurement of motor vehicle procurement in attachment two and 3.

Answer 2:

In Australia's second revised quotation, since January 1, 2019, accessories 1 and Annex 3 have deleted the exception of motor vehicle procurement. Australia has previously deleted some exceptions to the entity of the central government in Annex III. The department is still highly sensitive to Australia.

Author's interpretation:

Just as I evaluate the US issue, the aforementioned issues raised by the Republic of Korea also have the same suspects of "fried rice", without any new ideas. Because of the so -called objections in South Korea, before this letter, the response between the European Union and Australia had explained the corresponding questions. As the FTA between South Korea and Australia, the size of the government procurement market covered by the government has exceeded the scope of GPA, one of which is proposed by the Republic of Korea to repeat the issue of the EU, and on the other hand, it has no impact on Australia's GPA.

Ukraine's here

On July 5, 2017, at the request of the Ukrainian delegation, the government procurement committee distributed the following letters on July 3, 2017. Ukraine commented on Australia's second amendment offer.

Ukraine thanked Australia for submitting the second quotation to the "Government Procurement Agreement" for the "Government Procurement Agreement", which was issued by the Secretary of the Government Procurement Agreement on June 2, 2017.

Ukraine also thanked Australia for submitting a written reply on Ukraine.

Ukraine's opinion, as shown below, seeks to further improve Australia, Ukraine reserves the right to withdraw, modify, reduce or extend its request for revising requests in accordance with Australia and other GPA contractors.

For the list of central government entities with Annex 1, Ukraine thanked Australia for adding two central government entities in its Appendix I and Annex III. Ukraine hopes to reiterate its request for Australia to clarify all the Australian central government entities that are constrained by the Australian government procurement framework in the list of central government entities? If some central government entities are not clearly included in the list, can Australia provide specific reasons for this? The coming of the European Union

On July 17, 2017, for Australia to join the "Government Procurement Agreement", in accordance with the request of the European Union delegation, the Government Procurement Commission distributed the following letter on July 17, 2017.

The European Union commented on Australia's second revised quotation.

The European Union welcomes Australia for their efforts to join the Government Procurement Agreement and thank Australia for submitting a second modification quotation in June 2017, including some improvements.

The European Union encourages Australia to work hard to submit the final offer quickly.

The European Union submits its opinions here to further improve Australia's second amendments.

In particular, the European Union reminded Australia to pay attention to its comments on Australia's amendment offer on December 22, 2016. The European Union reserves the right to withdraw, modify, reduce or extend its comments based on the negotiations with Australia and other GPA parties.

If Australia failed to solve some issues issued by the European Union on December 22, 2016 and some issues expressed in this description, the European Union will consider how to deal with Australia's coverage of Australia does not conform to the fact that the EU's commitment in the Government Procurement Agreement.

The EU requires some amendments to the second revision offer to meet the EU's commitment to the "Government Procurement Agreement". The EU's opinions and requirements on further improvement are as follows:

First, the European Union noticed that Australia has introduced some changes and improved the offer in some ways.

Second, the European Union welcomes two central government entities (Australia Traffic Safety Agency and Old Parliament Building in Annex 1).

Third, the European Union noticed that low sub -central levels such as public entities operated by the European Union's cities and public institutions have not been included in the quotation.

Fourth, the European Union welcomes the cancellation stages. As of January 1, 2019, the exception of motor vehicles of the central government and other entities

Fourth, the European Union has noticed that Australia has deleted a security description of GPA permits, but there is an understanding that Article 3 (security and general exception) of the "Government Procurement Agreement" has covered the intention of the description.

Overall, in terms of the central government entities, the EU, the EU welcomes the Australian Transport Safety Agency. At present, Australian attachments have 64 entities. The EU reviews its requirements in the initial offer aimed at the initial quotation aimed at the central first -class entity. However, the "Dan Book" of Attachment 1 on the procurement of motor vehicle procurement was maintained until January 1, 2019. The EU welcomes this improvement. The scope of item A in the "Dan Book 4" of Attachment 1 has expanded, including "engine, turbine and components" in the table containing the list of goods. The EU reviews that the clause has been canceled by Australia before. See the comparison between the initial quotation and the revised quotation, the EU requires the reason why Australia clarified the reasons for the re -introduction of the clause. The European Union noticed that Australia should restrict exceptions because they reduced the scope of application of the Government Procurement Agreement. Based on this, the EU reviews its requests on the initial offer of February 10, 2016 3, 4.A, 4.B, 4.D (current number).

Australian Australia will be answered for the above -mentioned issues proposed by Australia's third quotation and its "Danshu", the above -mentioned issues proposed by the GPA contract, and the above issues proposed by the GPA.

(To be continued, please continue to pay attention)

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