In the World Trade Organization regime, government procurement is largely excluded from the multilateral agreements. The ""plurilateral"" WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, with its challenging accession procedures and limited number of signatories, cannot be said to succeed in its efforts to liberalize this area of trade activity - more than 10 per cent of gross domestic product in most countries.
This study investigates the special sensitivities of government procurement that have left major trade barriers intact despite the WTO mandate that has proven so effective in other areas. Professor Arrowsmith examines the following crucial factors in depth:-