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On October 15, 2014, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice announcing that for the purpose of U.S. Government procurement that is covered by Title III of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, the effective date of the WTO Protocol Amending the Agreement on Government Procurement, done at Geneva on 30 March 2012 (Protocol), for the Netherlands with respect to Aruba (Aruba) is October 31, 2014.
The Protocol entered into force on April 6, 2014 for the United States and the following Parties: Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Israel, Liechtenstein, Norway, European Union, Iceland, and Singapore. The Protocol entered into force on April 16, 2014 for Japan. The Protocol provides that following its entry into force, the Protocol will enter into force for each additional Party to the 1994 Agreement 30 days following the date on which the Party deposits its instrument of acceptance. On June 4, 2014, Aruba deposited its instrument of acceptance to the Protocol. Effective October 31, 2014 for Aruba, all references in Title III of the Trade Agreement Act of 1979 and in Executive Order 12260 to the Agreement on Government Procurement shall refer to the 1994 Agreement as amended by the Protocol. With respect to those Parties which have not deposited their instruments of acceptance, all references in Title III of the Trade Agreement Act of 1979 and in Executive Order 12260 to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) shall continue to refer to the 1994 Agreement until 30 days following the deposit by such Party of its instrument of acceptance of the Protocol. |
