13/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - Green light to Ukraine's accession to WTO government procurement agreement. On Wednesday 11 November, the WTO's committee on government procurement agreed to invite Ukraine to join the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). Ukraine, which submitted its request to join the GPA in February 2011 (three years after it joined the WTO) will formally join the GPA 30 days after it has deposited its instrument of ratification with the WTO. “The GPA will help Ukraine strengthen good governance in the area of public procurement, assist in its fight against corruption, and increase the transparency of government procurement practices”, said Ukraine's Deputy Minister of the Economy and Trade Maxim Nefyodov. The GPA, which was reviewed in 2012 to extend its scope of application (see EUROPE 11054), currently involves 45 WTO member countries. Eight other countries have started their GPA accession process - Albania, Australia, China, Georgia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman and Tajikistan. (EH)