In an attempt to reduce barriers to international trade, public procurement agreements have evolved during the past three decades at both global and regional levels. These agreements give rise to a number of complex, topical issues. Yet apart from studies on European Union procurement rules, there are few books on public procurement, particularly covering regional procurement agreements.

This important new study fills this informational void by providing a detailed assessment of these agreements, focusing on the problem of protectionism in government procurement, long recognized as a major barrier to international trade. Its coverage includes:

A thorough analysis of all of the important international procurement agreements--EFTA, the EC's first and second attempts, the GATT Code of the Tokyo Round, the Israel-US and Canada-US Free Trade Agreements, NAFTA, and the Uruguay Round WTO Procurement Code--with special attention to the bid challenge mechanisms of the various regimes.

A discussion and evaluation of judicial decisions of the various tribunals

An examination of the reasons why many of these agreements have achieved only limited success,

Proposed solutions to the various problems encountered

An analysis of approaches taken in the regulation of public procurement, comparing their relative advantages and disadvantages

Suggestions for ways to overcome current problems in order to both widen and deepen the application of international procurement standards.

1. The Problem of Protectionist Procurement Policies
2. Normative Analysis of Domestic Preference Policies in Government Procurement
3. Early Attempts to Eliminate Domestic Preference Policies: The European Free Trade Association
4. The European Community: The First Try
5. On the Multilateral Level: The GATT Code on Government Procurement
6. A Bilateral Approach: Government Procurement Under the Israel-United States Free Trade Agreement
7. Government Procurement Under the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement
8. Opening Up Procurement Markets in the European Community: A Second Try
9. Public Procurement Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (`NAFTA')
10. Back to the Multilateral Level: The Uruguay Round and the GATT Procurement Code
11. Summary and Conclusions: What's Next?