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STORY: WTO / PARAGUAY UNITED KINGDOM
TRT: 3:15
SOURCE: WTO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 FEBRUARY 2019, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, delegates arriving for Government Procurement Committee meeting at the WTO
2. Med shot, delegates arriving for Government Procurement Committee meeting
3. Wide shot, Government Procurement Committee meeting under way
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Carlos Vanderloo (Canada), Chair of the Government Procurement Committee:
"Does the Committee agree to grant observer status to Paraguay?"
5. Med shot, delegates during meeting
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Carlos Vanderloo (Canada), Chair of the Government Procurement Committee:
"Thank you very much, it is decided. I will now ask the Paraguay delegation to enter the room."
7. Pan left, usher escorts Amb. Julio César Peralta Rodas, of Paraguay, and his delegation into the meeting room
8. Med shot, Amb. Julio César Peralta Rodas takes his seat at the committee meeting
9. Close up, Paraguay name place in meeting room
10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Vanderloo (Canada), Chair of the Government Procurement Committee:
“In the name of the Government Procurement Commitee, I warmly welcome Paraguay in its new condition of observer.”
11.SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Amb. Julio César Peralta Rodas, of Paraguay:
"First, it is important to note that Paraguay's interest in the work of the Committee is to be seen as a mark of a new vision inside our government from now onwards.”
12. Wide shot, committee meeting under way
13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Amb. Julio César Peralta Rodas, of Paraguay:
“My delegation is ready to start working and it embraces with a strong commitment its new condition of observer ot the WTO's Committee on Government Procurement.”
14. Med shot, Amb. Julio César Peralta Rodas, of Paraguay during GP committee meeting
15. Med shot, deletation of the United Kindom
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Carlos Vanderloo (Canada), Chair of the Government Procurement Committee:
"Thank you, it is so agreed. The decision is adopted. I would now like to congratulate the delegation of the United Kingdom on behalf of the Committee."
17.SOUNDBITE (English) Amb. Julian Braithwaite, United Kingdom's Ambassador to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva:
"On behalf of the United Kingdom, I would like to warmly welcome the Committee's decision approving the terms of our accession to the GPA."
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Amb. Julian Braithwaite, United Kingdom's Ambassador to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva:
"So today's decision by the Government Procurement Agreement Committee is a significant milestone in the UK's transition as we leave the European Union. And that's because the decision taken by the Committee ensures that the UK will continue to participate in what is a 1.7 trillion-dollar market, and we will continue to participate whether or not there is a deal for our depart from the European Union or not."
19. Med shot, delegations during the GP committee meeting
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Bonifacio García-Porras, Head of Unit, DG GROW, European Commission:
"We should all be pleased about what we have achieved in this difficult process."
21.Close-up, names of countries during meeting
22. Wide shot, delegate takes note during meeting
23.SOUNDBITE (English) Bonifacio García-Porras, Head of Unit, DG GROW, European Commission:
"On behalf of the European Union, I would like to thank all parties for their strong and continuous commitment, for the flexibility shown on repeated occasions, and for their willingness to work together to the benefit of all."
24. Various shots, meeting
25. Close-up, documents approved for the UK's accession to the GPA
UK ready to become a party to the Government Procurement Agreement in its own right.
Parties to the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) gave their final approval the United Kingdom´s accession to the pact, in its own right, following the UK's departure from the European Union.
At a meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Government Procurement on 27 February, the parties to the GPA also agreed to grant Paraguay observer status.
The UK, which has been participating in the GPA for over 20 years as an EU member, launched its GPA negotiations in June 2018 by submitting to parties an initial market access offer and replies to a checklist on its national government procurement system.
The United Kingdom's accession to the GPA takes effect 30 days after the UK government submits its instrument of acceptance. Under the terms of the final decision, the United Kingdom is covered by the GPA as a member state of the EU until the date of its withdrawal from the EU or, if the EU and the UK conclude an agreement that provides for a transition period during which EU law would apply to and in the UK, until the date of expiry of that transition period.
Also, at the meeting, Paraguay was granted observers status. The chair said, "this is yet again another very encouraging sign of interest in the GPA and the Committee's work."
