Introduction

Under the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), Parties are required to establish a system of challenge procedures. Of all the Parties to the GPA, Hong Kong, China (henceforth ‘Hong Kong’) presents an interesting case study as it combines the features of a clean and effective government and a highly internationalized procurement market. In this chapter, the author examines the efforts made by the Hong Kong government to implement its obligation under the GPA to provide challenge procedures. The chapter starts by reviewing the general background to the Review Body on Bid Challenges of Hong Kong. It then discusses in detail the bid challenge procedures and how such procedural rules have been applied and elaborated through the cases that came before the Review Body. The chapter concludes by noting that the bid challenge system in Hong Kong generally conforms to its GPA obligations.

The establishment of the Review Body on Bid Challenges

Introduction

As explained in chapter 17, Article XX of the GPA requires the Parties to provide appropriate procedures to enable suppliers to challenge alleged breaches of the GPA. In terms of the institutional arrangement for conducting the challenge procedures, the GPA allows the Parties to choose to have the challenges heard by either a court or some other kind of impartial and independent review body.