1. Ministers invite the Committee on Government Procurement established under the Agreement on Government Procurement in Annex 4(b) of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization to clarify that:
(a) a Member interested in accession according to paragraph 2 of Article XXIV of the Agreement on Government Procurement would communicate its interest to the Director-General of the WTO, submitting relevant information, including a coverage offer for incorporation in Appendix I having regard to the relevant provisions of the Agreement, in particular Article I and, where appropriate, Article V;
(b) the communication would be circulated to Parties to the Agreement;
(c) the Member interested in accession would hold consultations with the Parties on the terms for its accession to the Agreement;
(d) with a view to facilitating accession, the Committee would establish a working party if the Member in question, or any of the Parties to the Agreement, so requests. The working party should examine: (i) the coverage offer made by the applicant Member; and (ii) relevant information pertaining to export opportunities in the markets of the Parties, taking into account the existing and potential export capabilities of the applicant Member and export opportunities for the Parties in the market of the applicant Member;
(e) upon a decision by the Committee agreeing to the terms of accession including the coverage lists of the acceding Member, the acceding Member would deposit with the Director-General of the WTO an instrument of accession which states the terms so agreed. The acceding Member's coverage lists in English, French and Spanish would be appended to the Agreement;
(f) prior to the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement, the above procedures would apply mutatis mutandis to contracting parties to the GATT 1947 interested in accession, and the tasks assigned to the Director-General of the WTO would be carried out by the Director-General to the CONTRACTING PARTIES to the GATT 1947.
2. It is noted that Committee decisions are arrived at on the basis of consensus. It is also noted that the non-application clause of paragraph 11 of Article XXIV is available to any Party.
