OpenLegislation

Division 3.2 SME Survey

United Kingdom

Original text. Later amendments are not shown.

  1. (a)

    The Committee shall survey the Parties, through the use of a questionnaire seeking information regarding the measures and polices used to assist, promote, encourage, or facilitate participation by SMEs in government procurement. The questionnaire should seek information from each Party regarding:

    1. (i)

      a description of the measures and policies used by the Party, including the economic, social, and other goals of the measures and policies and how they are administered;

    2. (ii)

      how the Party defines SMEs;

    3. (iii)

      the extent to which the Party has specialised agencies or institutions to assist SMEs with respect to government procurement;

    4. (iv)

      the level of participation in government procurement in terms of both value and number of contracts awarded to SMEs;

    5. (v)

      a description of SME subcontracting measures and policies, including subcontracting goals, guarantees, and incentives;

    6. (vi)

      facilitation of SMEs participation in joint bidding (with other large or small suppliers);

    7. (vii)

      measures and policies focused on providing opportunities for SMEs to participate in government procurement (such as enhanced transparency and availability of government procurement information to SMEs; simplifying qualifications for participation in tendering; reducing contract sizes; and ensuring timely payments for deliveries of goods and services); and

    8. (viii)

      the use of government procurement measures and policies to stimulate SME innovation.

  2. (b)

    Compilation of SME Survey by the WTO Secretariat

    The WTO Secretariat shall fix a deadline for the transmission of the responses to the questionnaire by all Parties to the WTO Secretariat. Upon receipt of the responses, the Secretariat shall prepare a compilation of the responses and circulate the responses and the compilation to the Parties. The Secretariat shall include a list of Parties with outstanding responses.

  3. (c)

    Exchanges among Parties of Responses to SME Questionnaires

    On the basis of the document prepared by the WTO Secretariat, the Committee shall establish a period for the exchange of questions, requests for additional information, and comments on the responses of the other Parties.