Outhwaite, Opi --- "Human rights and national procurement rules in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement" [2019] ELECD 1133; in Martin-Ortega, Olga; Methven O'Brien, Claire (eds), "Public Procurement and Human Rights" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 23

Book Title: Public Procurement and Human Rights

Editor(s): Martin-Ortega, Olga; Methven O’Brien, Claire

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Human rights and national procurement rules in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement

Author(s): Outhwaite, Opi

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

Under the framework of the World Trade Organization the market has been opened up for international trade in the procurement of goods and services. The national procurement rules and policies of parties to the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) are, consequently, subject to WTO rules, which aim to prevent trade discrimination and to reduce barriers to international trade. National procurement rules which promote human rights policies have the potential to conflict with these WTO rules. It is therefore crucial to understand the extent to which GPA rules permit, explicitly or implicitly, the promotion of human rights within national procurement rules. This chapter analyses this potential in detail, considering the express wording of the GPA, the broader application of WTO free trade principles and jurisprudence, the application of exceptions and exemptions to the core rules and the rules governing the main phases of the procurement process. The chapter argues that while there are opportunities for human rights to be incorporated in national rules in a way that is GPA compliant, these opportunities are, in the absence of express reference to human rights, not comprehensive or certain. Further revisions are needed to develop the GPA and international drivers as well as the interests of states that will act as drivers for this change.