The Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) is a WTO plurilateral treaty (updated 2014). 22 member parties (48 countries — EU counts as one) give each other's firms domestic-market-level tender access.
Who is in, who is out
- If your firm is EU-established this article does not apply: internal-market rules outrank the GPA and your access is already complete.
- Parties include: the EU (all 27 counted as one), the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Ukraine, Montenegro, Moldova, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Armenia.
- Non-parties include Turkey (observer), Serbia (acceding), Russia, China (application pending), India and Brazil.
- A firm from a non-party country can still bid in the EU — access comes from the non-discrimination principle and any bilateral agreement (for Turkey, the EU-Turkey Customs Union), not from the GPA.
Why it matters
TED notices carry a 'GPA covered: yes/no' field. If yes, the buyer *may* exclude firms from non-signatory countries — it is an option, not an obligation. Most buyers never use it; the odds rise in defence, rail and telecom.
Three takeaways if your country is not a party
- 'GPA covered: yes' means higher risk — if you are excluded, the grounds for appeal are weak.
- When the buyer is an EU institution (Commission, ECB, EIB) the rule is applied more strictly.
- Municipal and regional tenders almost never apply it — the bulk of the market stays open.
The only durable fix is accession: once your country joins, access is equal without exception. In the meantime the practical route on GPA-covered tenders is a consortium with an EU-established partner — if the bidding legal entity is EU-established, the field does not bite.