WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): Progress and Challenges 2025

In 2025, there were no very significant or major qualitative changes in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) “WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)” or Government Procurement Agreement, but – “modest developments” meaning limited/minor progress – occurred. Specifically, work is underway on increasing transparency and several new applicant countries (Accession candidates). Primarily, although there was thought of expanding the GPA, no new member joined in 2025.

The WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) is a multilateral agreement under the World Trade Organization, which has been created to open up government procurement markets among member countries and ensure transparency, impartiality, and open competition, so that equal opportunities are ensured for suppliers from other GPA member countries.

Major Progress and Changes

✅ Transparency and Committee Activities

On November 26, 2025, the WTO Committee on Government Procurement decided that in the future, their activities will be made accessible and transparent to the public. This includes – annotated meeting agendas, informal session summaries, and “work-programme,” etc. This transparency is especially crucial for activities like “sustainable procurement,” “SMEs” and the collection and reporting of statistical data.

Through this decision, the contractual process of the GPA, the interim stages of discussions, and the policy-making process will be open to the public – which is a part of a “reform by doing” journey.

✅ Accession (Attempts to add new members)

In 2025, there were applications/attempts by some candidates for the GPA, but no new country joined.

Albania and Costa Rica presented their market-access offers, but their accession is still obstructed due to objections from some parties.

Timor-Leste has emerged as a new applicant – it is the first Least-Developed Country (LDC) to apply for accession to the GPA.

Furthermore, China has announced that they will no longer seek “special and differential treatment” (which was reserved for developing countries) when preparing market-access offers for the GPA in the future. This, however, is an old strategy of theirs, and such expectations had previously obstructed the GPA’s progress.

Another positive aspect: Tajikistan has resumed its GPA-Accession process – which had been stalled for many years previously. They are currently negotiating an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union, which also includes the topic of government procurement.

However, overall, for 2025, the phrase “there was accession progress but no new member joined” is the most relevant.

Challenges and Limitations

Although the decision to increase transparency has been taken, yet:

• Some “responsibilities and tasks” previously designated for the GPA (such as: balancing developing countries under Article V, GPA modification, and coverage expansion) are still in their old state; no progress was made on these in 2025.
• Accession is being hampered because the market access offers and other conditions of new members who wish to join are not being confirmed, meaning that mere application or promise is not enough.
• Specifically, the compatibility of GPA with the domestic procurement policies of major powers (such as the US, Canada) is a major challenge. There are concerns in 2025 regarding some new procurement rules of the US and Canada (such as prioritizing local content).

Possibility and Impact for Bangladesh or Developing Countries

Although no new member joined in 2025, the increase in transparency of the WTO/GPA and the applications of new candidates show that – the GPA is still alive, relevant, and expandable.

• Increasing transparency means: it will now be easier for non-member countries to learn about decisions, work-methods, and policies – consequently, fairness and competition will increase in the international arena.
• Developing countries may gain access to the GPA (as Timor-Leste is trying), which will open their government procurement markets internationally – potentially creating opportunities for more budget, development projects, and foreign investment.
• Countries that are already GPA members will operate by aligning their procurement policies with international standards and competitive markets – which can improve the quality and standard of work.

For countries like Bangladesh, which want to make the government procurement process efficient, transparent, and competitive – the expansion of the GPA and its associated policies hold importance.

Conclusion

In 2025, the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) did not stir as a major milestone in history. No new country joined. However, the decision to increase transparency and applications from a few new countries have come — which shows that the GPA is still dynamic.

These “modest developments” – although brief, can bear the fruit of possibility for the future if countries prepare, advance market-access negotiations, and formulate and amend their own procurement policies for international competition. Source: WTO Procurement Agreement: Modest Developments in 2025