Main headlines from this issue

Prepare for ‘Hollandisation’. Poland creates new offset model, Holland follows – EC not amused

As if bewilderment over Poland’s offset policy is not enough, the Netherlands seems eager to impersonate it.....

Poland: The MoD is about to take charge – “Polonisation is psychological warfare”

The battle is over, the Ministry of Economy has lost, and Poland’s offset policy is in chaos. Poland intends to transfer responsibility for offset programmes from the Ministry of Economy to the MoD by January 1st, 2014. But nothing that Poland announces is official, even when it is confirmed, and nothing is ever certain, even when it happens.....

Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) defines offset for the first time

The provisions of the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) have been updated to take into account developments in current government procurement practice. Offset is defined for the very first time.

ECCO and the World Bank establish a ‘Community of Practice’ on offsets

The European Club for Countertrade and Offset (ECCO) and the World Bank have established a “Community of Practice” to initiate discussions for a common global approach to offsets. ECCO has been tasked to manage the initiative.

Lack of evidence makes offset analysis a lost cause

Mark Pyman, Transparency International’s programme director for Defence and Security, said that an almost complete lack of evidence makes analyzing offset’s performance or its value for money impossible. “I am appalled at the almost total lack of evidence as to whether offsets are economically good or bad.”