Derestricted
FTAA.nggp/inf/102/Rev.1
August 12, 2003
Original: Spanish
Translation: FTAA Secretariat
FTAA – NEGOTIATING GROUP ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
ECUADOR
REQUEST FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Introduction
Ecuador requires technical assistance in order to make adequate progress in the
negotiations underway regarding access in government procurement. Basically,
Ecuador needs to make a general assessment of the negotiations process and to
finance the contracting of support personnel for the forthcoming phases in the
negotiations, which will involve improving Ecuador's offer, processing
information on offers made by other Parties, and administrative and coordination
activities relating to the definition of national positions in the FTAA
Negotiating Group on Government Procurement (NGGP).
- Project Title
SUPPORT IN THE NEGOTIATIONS ON MARKET ACCESS IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
- Background
Document FTAA.TNC/20/Rev.1 of the FTAA Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC)
stipulated that the presentation of initial offers on market access in
government procurement would be made by 15 February 2003 at the latest. The TNC
also stated that technical assistance would be provided for the countries that
required it for the preparation of their government procurement offers. The
countries that have requested this cooperation and that so wish may present
their offers by the later deadline of 15 July 2003. The Andean Community
countries availed themselves of this option and presented their offer on 24
April 2003.
Ecuador has submitted various requests for cooperation, one individual request
and two requests made jointly with other countries. Through document
FTAA.nggp/inf/59 of 25 July 2002, Ecuador submitted an individual request aimed
at obtaining assistance for the preparation of its offer. A response to this
request has not yet been received. Ecuador also submitted two requests for
technical assistance through the Andean Community which are set forth in the
documents FTAA.nggp/inf/62 and FTAA.nggp/inf/751
. To date, the only response to these requests has been a workshop on the
preparation for presenting offers in government procurement.
The assistance received so far is clearly inadequate, and Ecuador therefore
stresses once again the importance of obtaining technical assistance to support
the activities underway within the framework of the NGGP.
- Rationale
Despite the support received through the aforementioned workshop, during the
internal consultation process and the work carried out on the preparation of
their initial offers, several Andean Community countries, including Ecuador,
encountered serious deficiencies within their countries regarding the collection
of statistical data, the coordination of positions, and the handling and
processing of relevant information for the preparation and presentation of their
offers by the deadline initially agreed upon (15 February 2003). This resulted
in the implementation of the extended deadline set out in document TNC/20.
The fact that Ecuador has presented its initial offer does not mean that it no
longer requires broad support in various areas related to the negotiations on
government procurement. On the contrary, the forthcoming phases imply a new
workload, as the negotiating teams will have to tackle new tasks related to the
improvement of their offers, the processing of other parties' offers, and the
analysis of the exchange of requests arising from those initial offers.
One important factor in the presentation of this request for assistance is
Ecuador's current budget restrictions for supporting the FTAA negotiating
processes. These restrictions are directly affecting the country's negotiating
capacity in this area, as it does not have sufficient personnel to support the
work of its negotiators.
- Project Objectives
- General
Make a general assessment of the Ecuadorian negotiating process in the area of
government procurement and make suggestions and recommendations (task for an
expert consultant).
Provide support for obtaining, processing and evaluating information related to
decision-making in the negotiations on market access in government procurement
(task for a junior consultant).
Provide support for administrative and coordination activities related to the
definition of national positions on government procurement (task for a junior
consultant).
- Specific
General assessment of the process (expert consultant):
- Analysis of Ecuador's offer
- Formulation of suggestions and recommendations for the next stages in the
negotiations
- Formulation of negotiating strategies
With respect to information handling (junior consultant), assistance with:
- Obtaining statistical information on entities, goods and services
-
Processing and evaluating information
- Processing and analyzing the offers of other FTAA countries
-
Processing and analyzing the requests made by other FTAA countries
-
Identifying opportunities for making requests of other FTAA countries
With respect to administrative matters (junior consultant), assistance with:
-
Identifying the relevant national contacts (entities, associations, companies,
etc.)
-
Designing and carrying out internal surveys and consultations
-
Processing and evaluating information
-
Coordinating meetings for making consultations and assessments regarding
Ecuador's position
- Inputs: Resources required for the project
- An expert consultant, for 5 working days, to make a general assessment of
the negotiating process and to provide the corresponding conclusions and
recommendations.
- A junior consultant, for six calendar months, to provide support for
administrative, information, and coordination activities.
The priority is the contracting of the junior consultant.
- Expected Results
Meeting this request for technical assistance would certainly contribute towards
improving Ecuador's information handling, consultation and decision-making
processes with respect to government procurement.
- Other Relevant Information
It should be pointed out that Ecuador has never signed any agreement,
convention, or treaty on government procurement at the bilateral, regional, or
multilateral level. There is, therefore, a lack of experience and information on
the subject in the country. These deficiencies could be partially solved through
the kind of cooperation requested in this document.
Quito, 8 May 2003.
1 Jointly with Central America, the Dominican Republic, and Panama.
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