Post-Brexit, the UK will remain a member of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement, allowing bids to be continued to be made for overseas public contracts. Anna Tobin reports
The UK is currently a member of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Government Procurement through its membership of the EU. It has now been announced that the WTO will allow the UK to continue participating in the agreement post-Brexit as an independent member.
This means that UK firms will still be able to bid for multi-million-pound public sector contracts in this international market for public tenders. The Department for International Trade, however, has pointed out that: “In a no-deal Brexit, there will be a short gap between the UK leaving the EU and its accession to the GPA becoming effective. This is to allow for the completion of the necessary processes that allow for a new GPA accession to become legally effective. The gap is expected to be very short and, as a result, the Government is expecting the impact on UK businesses to be minimal.
“In many overseas markets covered by the GPA, UK businesses will be able to continue to access Government procurements. However, for the brief period of the gap, they will lose legal rights provided by the GPA, although, in many cases, UK suppliers will have similar rights under the domestic laws of the relevant jurisdiction.”
How to deal with customs and tariffs issues post Brexit
Download the Brexlist – your Brexit checklist for preparing your business for Brexit
There is information on how to set up a business in the EU in the Ready for Brexit Directory
Sign up now for all these Brexit business tools
NO DEAL BREXIT
ACTION PLAN
The No Deal Brexit Action Plan maps out the time available and the time required to undertake the processes to prepare your business for a No Deal Brexit.
Your business will need to modify or completely change procedures to prepare for Brexit. Brexlists help you take a rigorous and structured approach to your preparations:
- The Executive Summary Brexlist Brexit checklist, as its name implies, highlights the key issues
- The Business Functions Brexlist Brexit checklist maps onto the key business functions in a company
- The Directory Brexlist Brexit checklist maps onto the topic headings in our Brexit Directory
highlight what needs to be done, and by when, to ensure that all parts of your supply chain are prepared for Brexit:
- Identify the key questions for your business
- Share key learnings with your business partners
- Identify the key challenges and opportunities
- Highlight key internal and external priorities
BREXIT
DIRECTORY
The Brexit Directory is an extensive database of information and links organised by business function to help you find the information your business needs to know.