Thread by @bbaschuk

SCOOP: U.S. Weighs Blocking U.K. From Global Procurement Pact: bloom.bg/2PlonGV

This is an important development that could have serious ramifications for U.K. public procurement providers.
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The U.K. needs the U.S. and others to approve its offer to rejoin the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) -- a $1.7 trillion plurilateral accord that governs public procurement rules among 19 parties.
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The purpose of the GPA is to open up, in a reciprocal manner, government procurement markets to foreign competition, and help make government procurement more transparent. wto.org/english/tratop…
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Though the U.K. currently participates in the GPA via the EU, Britain never independently ratified the agreement and must now rejoin as a member in its own right in order to ensure continuity following its departure from the European trading bloc.
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Britain's ambassador to the @WTO, Julian Braithwaite, will make a final request on Oct. 17 to rejoin the agreement in order to ensure each current GPA member retains preferential access to Britain's £67 billion ($87.45 billion) government procurement marketplace.
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@wto Braithwaite will tell members of the @wto government procurement committee that "it would be in nobody's interest to lose this significant amount of market access," according to a text the U.K. circulated Oct. 2 that was obtained by @economics
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@wto @economics Braithwaite will tell members that the U.K.'s offer "guarantees that parties can continue to benefit from the current level of access to the U.K.'s market, and ensures no party will be worse off," according to the paper.
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@wto @economics Here is a link to the U.K.'s "Final Offer" to rejoin the @wto Government Procurement Agreement: bit.ly/2QCjr0I
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@wto @economics U.S. officials told their British counterparts that the U.K. offer-which essentially replicated the EU’s 2004 GPA commitments-is outdated and must be revised
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@wto @economics Various other GPA participants told Bloomberg that they too are dissatisfied with the U.K.'s "final offer" and are skeptical Britain will obtain provisional approval on Oct. 17.
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@wto @economics If GPA parties decide not to accept the UK's GPA bid on Oct. 17 there will be another opportunity to do so in November, however the timeline to complete the necessary domestic procedures in the EU and U.K. is extremely tight
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@wto @economics If any GPA member withholds approval and UK crashes out of the EU w/o a transitional arrangement, British contracting firms will lose preferential access to public procurement markets in Canada, the EU, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea, and the US among others.
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@wto @economics Most importantly, UK government contractors will no longer have access to America's $837 billion GPA-covered procurement marketplace due to strict 'Buy America' rules that bar foreign participation from all nations that aren't GPA members.
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@wto @economics UK contractors that participate in the US market & the amount of $ received in 2017:
Rolls-Royce - $719.6M
Serco Group - $493.8M
Aegis Defence Services - $293.4M
QinetiQ Group - $138.5M
Cobham - $115.8M
Inmarsat - $98M
BT Group - $43.8M
Source: usaspending.gov
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@wto @economics The situation is a prime example of how a seemingly minor, unintended consequence of Brexit is threatening to create significant disruptions for U.K.-based companies that do business abroad.
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@wto @economics END