New Trade topics / Government Procurement

Under Article 35 of CEFTA 2006, the eight Parties have committed themselves inter alia to ensuring that procurement takes place in a transparent and reasonable manner, treats all suppliers of the other Parties equally, and is based on the principle of open and effective competition.  In addition, the Parties agreed that by 1 May 2010 to ensure that the goods, services and suppliers of the other Parties are granted a treatment no less favourable than that accorded to domestic goods, services and suppliers.  OECD through its SIGMA programme has assessed the current status of the public procurement systems in the CEFTA Parties, as part of its contribution to the EC’s annual Progress.  The OECD’s Private Sector Development Division organised a Workshop on Public Procurement in Ljubljana in November 2009 to assist the Parties to identify how best they can meet the 1 May 2010 deadline. 
All newly adopted laws on government procurement in CEFTA Parties incorporate the principles of equality of all suppliers, effective competition and no less favourable treatment of foreign suppliers as of 1 May, 2010. The question of how to promote and upgrade transparency at a regional level is still open and requires further work by all CEFTA Parties.  We are pleased to inform that the the first step has already been taken by including  all the laws and corresponding implementing agency contacts on the CEFTA web site on the link http://www.cefta2006.com/new-trade-topics.