Unit on Humanitarian and Development Procurement
Head of Unit: Dr Annamaria La Chimia
The Humanitarian and Development Procurement Unit (HDPU) undertakes legal and policy research and offers advisory and consultancy services in the field of public procurement law and development. The Unit, led by Dr Annamaria La Chimia, works in all areas of law and development including food security and development aid assistance, tied aid and tied food aid, emergency food aid, development trade policies, capacity building and public procurement reforms in developing countries.
The Unit adopts an innovative approach to development combining the legal expertise of its members with their longstanding experience in the procurement field. The Unit is committed to enhancing research and promoting institutional and policy reforms in development law and procurement. Its work is of interest to academics, politicians and policy makers committed to devising strategies for fostering development and devoted to the fight against poverty.
Current Research
Dr Annamaria La Chimia has done extensive research on tied aid policies in the context of EU law and international trade law. She is currently researching on food aid and food security, rural development, and agricultural trade liberalization within the context of the WTO. She is also interested in regional integration, developing countries’ procurement policies, aid harmonization, and the development of the European Partnership Agreements (EPAS).
Dr Annamaria La Chimia and Professor Sue Arrowsmith are currently completing an article which analyses the compatibility of tied aid with the WTO rules.
Reflecting its role and interest in developing capacity in research and teaching in this field the University (Project leader: Professor Sue Arrowsmith) has recently received a major award of 450 000 Euros from the European Union’s Asia Link programme, as leader of a five member consortium, for three-year project to develop a global academic research and teaching network in the area of public procurement regulation. The project will focus initially on Asia and is operated in partnership with the Central University of Finance and Economics (Beijing), Xinjiang University, and the University of Malaya, as well as Copenhagen Business School in Europe.
However, it is hoped to roll out the project globally including to other parts of the developing world, and a recent award from the British Academy includes provision to support African participation in some of the activities. The award of £29 762 will be used to support a research project on African procurement. The project will be undertaken in collaboration with Dr. Geo Quinot of the University of the Stellenbosch and Professor Phoebe Bolton of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, and will involve the participation of Sope Williams, Dr Annamaria La Chimia and Professor Sue Arrowsmith. The three-year project will examine the current state of procurement regulation in Southern Africa by reference to key themes in which regulation can play an important role. It will also lay the foundations for future joint research between the partner institutions and create the capacity for African scholars to develop research and teaching capacity in the field, including by providing for their participation in the Asia Link project referred to above.
Professor Sue Arrowsmith has also been involved for any years in the current programme to reform the UNCITRAL Model Law on procurement that services as a model for the procurement systems of developing countries both as a consultant and member of the UNCITRAL Experts committee, and is currently co-authoring a book on this subject with Caroline Nicholas of the UNCITRAL secretariat.
Recent activities
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Annamaria La Chimia presented a paper on development aid policies and climate change issues in Onati (Spain) at the international conference on Legal and Criminological Consequences of Climate Change 29 – 30 April 2010
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Annamaria La Chimia participated in the UACES annual conference Exchanging Ideas on Europe 2008: rethinking the European Union, presenting "Developing Coherence before Aid: EC Treaty Rules and Development Aid at Community and Bilateral Level", on September 1-3.
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Annamaria La Chimia took part in the 3rd Biennial Conference of the European Society of International Law, "International law in a Heterogeneous World", held in Heidelberg on September 4 - 6, 2008, where she presented “Achieving the MDGs: Enhancing aid effectiveness through the legal framework for international trade.”
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Annamaria La Chimia presented the paper “EU foreign aid resources and public procurement” at the conference After the First 50 Years: the Future of European Law and Policy , Birmingham, 3-4 July 2008
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Annamaria La Chimia gave a lecture on "Tied and untied assistance and tied and untied food aid" for the Master in Human Development and Food Security, Module of Food Security, Thursday, 5th June, University of Roma Tre, Rome, Italy.
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Ping Wang gave a presentation entitled "Emerging Market of China" at the Achilles Global User Conference 2008, held in London on the 9th and 10th April 2008.
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Dr. Ping Wang spoke on scope and coverage of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) and challenges in China's GPA accession during EU-China Dialogue on Government Procurement, a several day long event which was held in Beijing and Shanghai on 24-28 April.
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Sue Arrowsmith gave the key-note speech at the Inaugural Conference of the Caribbean Procurement Institute in Trinidad, covering various topics relating to the development of successful regulation and policy in public procurement. This highly successful conference took place on March 19th-20th at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad.
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On 18 October 2007, as part of the PPRG seminar Series, Mr Azahari Abdul Aziz, Senior Law Lecturer, MARA University of Technology, gave a seminar on “Procurement Regulation in Malaysia” at the Law School University of Nottingham.
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On 22 November 2007, as part of the PPRG seminar Series, Peter Trepte, Barrister, Littleton Chambers, London, gave a seminar on “Public Procurement Reform in Developing Countries: a Practical Perspective."
Recent publications
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Annamaria La Chimia and Sue Arrowsmith "Addressing Tied Aid: Towards a More Development-Oriented Wto?" (2009) 12(3) Journal of International Economic Law 707-747.
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Annamaria La Chimia, “Effectiveness and Legality Issues in Development Aid Procurement for EU Member States”, (2008) European Current Law: Monthly Digest, xi-xv.
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Annamaria La Chimia, "Conquering the last frontier of protectionism: the legality of tied aid under the EC Treaty internal market rules" 2007(32) European Law Review 513
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Ping Wang, "Coverage of the WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement: Challenges of Integrating China and other Countries with a Large State Sector into the Global Trading System", Journal of International Economic Law 2007, doi: 10.1093/jiel/jgm034.
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Sope Williams and Geo Quinot "Public Procurement and Corruption: The South African Response" (2007) 124 (2) South African Law Journal, 339-363.
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Sope Williams, "The use of exclusions for corruption in developing country procurement: The case of South Africa" (2007) 51(1) Journal of African Law , 4-42.
For further information contact Annamaria La Chimia