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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).
  1. Project Title

    SUPPORT IN THE NEGOTIATIONS ON MARKET ACCESS IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT

  2. 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.

  3. 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.
     

  4. Project Objectives

    1. 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). 

    2. 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
         
  5. 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.
     
  6. 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. 
     
  7. 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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