[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 887 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 887

  Recognizing the World Trade Organization member, Chinese Taipei's, 
accession to the Government Procurement Agreement on July 15, 2009, and 
   extending hope and good faith that this will promote its domestic 
              economy and position in the global economy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 2009

 Mr. Andrews (for himself, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Melancon, Mr. 
   Moran of Virginia, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Spratt, Mr. Cassidy, and Mr. 
Scalise) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on 
  Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing the World Trade Organization member, Chinese Taipei's, 
accession to the Government Procurement Agreement on July 15, 2009, and 
   extending hope and good faith that this will promote its domestic 
              economy and position in the global economy.

Whereas the GPA, signed into force in 1994, establishes an agreed framework of 
        rights and obligations among its parties with respect to their national 
        laws, regulations, procedures, and practices in the area of government 
        procurement;
Whereas it is classified as a ``plurilateral'' agreement in accordance with 
        Annex 4 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade 
        Organization (WTO) and does not include all member states of the WTO, 
        the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) represents an elite trading 
        body;
Whereas the GPA maintains beneficial relationships between its parties through 
        its scope being expanded to incorporate a series of bilateral agreements 
        between individual parties (Article XXIV: 6);
Whereas in order to maintain the fair plurilateral and cooperative nature of the 
        Agreement, in addition to promoting economic growth between parties, 
        special rules and procedures have been enacted;
Whereas of particular interest is the provision disallowing ``cross-
        retaliation'', the suspension of concessions or other obligations under 
        the GPA as a result of disputes arising under the other WTO Agreements 
        because of any dispute arising under the GPA (Article XXII: 7);
Whereas in an effort to promote fair trading practices, the GPA has established 
        a domestic bid challenge system, giving suppliers, believing that 
        procurement has been handled inconsistently with the requirements of the 
        GPA, a right of recourse to an independent domestic tribunal in which 
        parties may confer the authority to hear challenges by suppliers in 
        national courts or in an impartial and independent review body (Article 
        XX);
Whereas in order to maintain transparency within the WTO, each government must 
        collect and provide to the other parties statistics on its procurement 
        covered by the Agreement, in addition to the general requirement of 
        publishing laws, regulations, judicial decision, administrative rulings, 
        et al. (Article XIX: 5); and
Whereas all members of the GPA have shown their dedication to promoting the 
        global economy through the maintenance of these upstanding ideals: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) extends congratulations and welcomes Chinese Taipei 
        into the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA);
            (2) encourages Chinese Taipei to uphold the standards set 
        forth by the GPA in an effort to promote and maintain good and 
        beneficial economic relations between WTO member states; and
            (3) strongly encourages Chinese Taipei and its government-
        owned entities to recognize and comply with international 
        arbitration agreements and arbitration awards as provided in 
        the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation of 1978.
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