Geneva: Britain asks to join WTO procurement deal in latest Brexit step

03 June 2018: Britain has officially applied to join the World Trade Organization’s government procurement agreement, a legal step it needs to take to maintain trading relationships after it leaves the European Union on March 29, 2019. Staying in the WTO is potentially important so that British companies can still bid for government work in the United States, European Union and Japan. Britain is a member of the agreement now only by virtue of its EU membership.