World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1996

The World Trade Organization's Ministerial Conference of 1996 was held in Singapore on December 9 - December 13, 1996. The inaugural meeting for the organisation since its formation. The event was hosted by the government of Singapore at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Suntec City.

The conference established four permanent working groups, covering transparency in government procurement, trade facilitation (customs issues), trade and investment, and trade and competition, and an international agreement on trade in information technology products was signed.^[1] The purpose of the first of these groups was to conduct "a study on transparency in government procurement practices, taking into account national policies and, based on this study, to develop elements for inclusion in an appropriate agreement".^[2] The topics covered by these groups collectively are called the Singapore issues.^[3]

References

^ World Trade Organization, Information Technology Agreement, accessed 11 January 2024
^ WTO Report (2000) of the Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement to the General Council, (31 October 2000), cited in Kinsey, M. A., TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT: AN INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS?, Public Contract Law Journal , Fall 2004, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Fall 2004), pp. 155-173, accessed 9 August 2022
^ Fergusson, Ian F. (2008-01-18). "World Trade Organization Negotiations: The Doha Development Agenda" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-07-26.