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Government Procurement in the WTO. By Sue Arrowsmith (New York: Kluwer Law International, 2003, ISBN Number: 90-411-9884-9, hardbound, 481 pages, US$170.1
Beneath its somewhat ordinary title is a work of extraordinary depth and quality. Although written by a law professor, this book is far more than a traditional legal textbook. In exceptionally lucid writing, the author sets forth a comprehensive study of the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations ("Articles") on public procurement and their implications. Fortunately, the book is not simply an overview of the rules, but, as the author states, an "explanation and assessment," which offers important criticism of various facets of the WTO's public procurement regime.
In the Preface and Chapter 1, the author makes clear her fundamental concerns, which most practitioners will share. She argues with refreshing candor that WTO rules may adversely affect member nations' need to develop their own methods of obtaining "value for money and an efficient procurement process" (p. xxii). Regulatory restrictions are typically the bane of the practitioner's existence, and Professor Arrowsmith displays a keen awareness of this perspective, arguing that "stringent and detailed award procedures are of limited value and that their commercial costs and other disadvantages have not been fully appreciated" (p. 2). She conveys a concern for "the limitations of law as a means for achieving both national and international objectives" (p. 7). Practitioners will find this book offers a wealth of practical insight into the WTO's world, replete with a wide variety of illustrations and examples of specific procurement actions. The author frequently cites the absence of definitions of key terms in WTO procedures that hamper the ability to follow their mandates. What the WTO's rules lack in terms of useful guidance and comprehensive understanding of working-level application of those rules, she supplies in common-sense interpretations of the regulations that procurement officials may use to adhere to the WTO's basic tenets.
The book's scope is impressive, ranging from the theoretical aspects of the WTO approach to government procurement as a barrier to free trade (Chapter 1) to the more operational elements of procurement such as late offers and opening bids (Chapter 10). The book reviews the basic economic principles of free trade in non-technical terms, but should have discussed the work of Jagdish...