Bilateral Procurement Agreements

Bilateral Procurement Agreements govern access to public contracts between two specific trading partners and exist alongside, rather than within, the multilateral WTO Government Procurement Agreement framework. They are negotiated as standalone agreements or, more commonly, as dedicated procurement chapters embedded in comprehensive free trade agreements (FTAs). For European suppliers, bilateral agreements concluded by the EU or by the UK are the primary legal basis for accessing procurement markets in countries that are not GPA parties.

What are Bilateral Procurement Agreements?

A bilateral procurement agreement works similarly to the GPA in structural terms: it identifies which contracting entities are covered, specifies the goods and services included, sets threshold values, and establishes procedural disciplines on transparency, qualification, evaluation, and remedies. The key difference from the GPA is that the obligations run only between the two parties to the agreement, not among a wider group of members.

The depth and scope of bilateral procurement commitments vary significantly:

GPA-equivalent chapters. Some bilateral agreements, particularly those negotiated by the EU and the UK with major trading partners, include procurement chapters that are substantively equivalent to GPA disciplines and may even explicitly reference the GPA as the benchmark. EU-Singapore FTA and EU-South Korea FTA procurement chapters are examples of this approach.

Lighter-touch chapters. Other agreements include procurement provisions that are less comprehensive, covering only certain categories of entities or setting higher thresholds than the GPA. These still create market access rights but with a narrower scope.

Mutual recognition arrangements. Some bilateral instruments go further than access rights and include mutual recognition of qualification standards or certification bodies, reducing the practical burden on suppliers of demonstrating compliance in a foreign market.

For the EU, procurement chapters in FTAs are negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of all member states and, once in force, create directly applicable access rights for suppliers from the partner country in EU member state markets and vice versa. For the UK post-Brexit, the UK's trade agreements (including the UK-Australia FTA, UK-New Zealand FTA, and the UK's participation in CPTPP) include independent procurement chapters.

Why it matters for bidders

For a European supplier assessing opportunities in a market that is not a GPA party (such as certain South-East Asian, Middle Eastern, or African markets), the relevant bilateral agreement is the primary legal instrument to examine. If no bilateral agreement exists or if the bilateral chapter does not cover the relevant contracting entity or goods and services category, access rights may be absent entirely and the supplier must rely on the host country's domestic rules.

Equally, for suppliers from countries that have FTAs with the EU or UK, bilateral procurement chapters create reciprocal rights to compete in European markets in ways that go beyond any GPA commitments. A supplier from a country with a strong bilateral procurement chapter but no GPA membership may in practice have access to more EU contracts than might be assumed from looking only at the GPA.

Understanding the relationship between a bilateral agreement and the GPA's non-discrimination principle is also important: an EU contracting authority cannot extend preferential treatment to one bilateral partner in ways that discriminate against other GPA parties without an explicit carve-out.

Example

A Portuguese engineering firm is evaluating a bid opportunity from a Moroccan state-owned infrastructure entity. Morocco is not a GPA party. The EU-Morocco Association Agreement and subsequent trade facilitation work provide a framework for economic relations, but the specific procurement chapter (if any) and its coverage determine whether the Portuguese firm has any enforceable access right or whether it must rely on Moroccan domestic rules. Checking the scope of any EU-Morocco procurement provisions is therefore the first step before investing in bid preparation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do bilateral procurement agreements create the same rights as the GPA?

Not automatically. Bilateral agreements vary in scope, depth, and enforcement mechanisms. Some are explicitly modelled on the GPA and provide comparable rights; others are lighter and more aspirational. The practical value of a bilateral procurement commitment depends on whether it covers the specific entity, goods or services category, and value threshold of the contract in question, and whether there is an effective remedy if the commitment is breached.

How do I find out which bilateral agreements the EU or UK has that cover procurement?

The European Commission's DG Trade publishes summaries and full texts of all EU FTAs, including their procurement chapters, through the EU's trade agreements portal on the Commission website. The UK's Department for Business and Trade publishes comparable information for UK FTAs. Both also maintain searchable databases of trade agreement coverage.

Can bilateral agreements coexist with the GPA?

Yes, and this is common. When both parties to a bilateral agreement are also GPA members, the bilateral agreement may extend coverage beyond the GPA (covering additional entities or lower thresholds) or simply confirm GPA-equivalent treatment. In those cases, suppliers benefit from both sets of rights, with the more generous provision applying in case of conflict.