US embassy cable - 02AMMAN6707

UNCLAS AMMAN 006707 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR FOR NED SAUMS 
GENEVA FOR WTO DEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, JO, WTRO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN GPA ACCESSION UPDATE 
 
1.  (u)  Summary:  Jordan has nearly completed its initial 
Entity Offer for accession into the WTO's plurilateral 
Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).  While a few hurdles 
remain, including settling on the all-important offsets in 
the General Notes of the Offer, the GOJ is certain it will 
meet its initial commitment to WTO delegations in Geneva to 
have their Offer presented by the end of 2002.  GPA Progress 
would be a fitting topic for discussion at the December 11 
Joint Commission meeting in Washington.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (u)  Jordanian Trade Ministry officials confirmed 
November 7 that they are 80% finished with their initial 
Entity Offer to accede to the WTO's Government Procurement 
Agreement (GPA).  They admit that the most daunting task - 
completing the General Notes and agreeing with affected 
private sector elements on offsets - still lies ahead.  To 
this end, the GOJ will chair a final meeting of the GPA 
National Committee, a public-private sector group that has 
been hammering out positions that address private-sector 
entities' particular concerns about opening their sectors to 
competition.  MoIT officials hope to get from this meeting a 
final list of offset requests.  Once that has been 
accomplished, the draft Entity offer with the National 
Committee's endorsement will be sent to the cabinet for 
approval.  MoIT officials said there would be "no problem" 
passing the Offer through the cabinet, and expressed 
confidence they would be able to submit a formal offer well 
in time to meet their original commitment to the WTO 
committee of a year-end submission. 
 
3.  (u)  In a related effort to make national legislation 
compatible with GPA accession, Jordan's Government Tenders 
Directorate recently hired an independent legal expert to 
redraft the February 2002 draft Public Procurement Law into a 
regulation and instructions.  The redraft, it is hoped, will 
bring Jordan's current procurement regime more in line with 
its expected obligations as a GPA member. 
 
4.  (u)  Comment:  Trade ministry officials tell us Jordan's 
efforts to date have won praise from a number of delegations 
in Geneva.  As Jordan's self-imposed deadline for submission 
of its Entity Offer approaches, it might be useful to add GPA 
issues to the agenda for the Joint Commission meeting 
scheduled for December 11 in Washington.  Should the offer be 
presented before then, the parties could discuss next steps 
and find out what sort of technical assistance Jordan can be 
expected to request for the negotiations process.  End 
comment. 
GNEHM