WTO Members Admit Aruba to Procurement Agreement

Parties to the revised World Trade Organization procurement agreement will formally admit the Netherlands with respect to Aruba on Oct. 31, following that territory’s submission of all necessary documents over recent months, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). Aruba is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The WTO Agreement on Government Procurement entered into force on April 5 for the U.S., European Union, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Norway and Singapore. Japan acceded to the pact in mid-April. Each country must wait 30 days after it adopts the revised agreement and notifies the WTO, before the revised agreement can enter into force. Negotiators finalized the terms of the agreement in 2012. The pact aims to ensure governments treat procurement competition with transparency and fairness.