By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis introduced the Public Procurement Bill 2022 in the House of Assembly yesterday, which once enacted will repeal the current law and bring new changes in relation to the country’s bidding process.

According to Mr Davis, the main purposes of the bill is to increase transparency, create greater administrative efficiency, discourage and detect procurement process abuse while at the same time, encourage the development of local businesses, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), women or youth owned establishments among others.

Plans to rewrite the Public Procurement Act 2021, which was initiated under the Minnis administration, were announced in August by the Davis administration, which called the law in its current format not workable.

This was also suggested as the reason for their non-compliance with the reporting conditions of the law.

“This bill would, when enacted, repeal and replace the Public Procurement Act 2021,” the prime minister told parliamentarians yesterday.

“This act was rushed through the consultation and legislation process and came into force two weeks before the end of the administration. The bill is the first of several bills which will be brought to the House to either amend or repeal legislation which was rushed through with little thought about the practical consequences on the governance process.”

 Under the proposed legislation, persons who are interested in participating in the procurement of goods, works or services shall directly register or be registered by the public procurement department via the electronic system.

 “The original act largely excluded public bodies from its application,” Mr Davis continued.

 “However, the minister may now apply all or parts of this act to public bodies by order. In the interim, public bodies are expected to publish their procurement guidelines and ensure that they comply with new principles for procurement outlined in part two of the second schedule of the act and any guidance issued by a domestic regulatory authority.”

 Additionally, the bill allows for a procuring entity, meaning a government ministry or department, etc, to enter a framework agreement, which Mr Davis described as an agreement by a supplier to provide goods or services under a predetermined pricing structure and on specified terms and conditions within the period specified therein.

 “This will allow a procuring entity to enter into an agreement comprising a long-term relationship with a provider or range of providers to place orders without going to tender each time,” he also said.

 “The benefits of such agreements include potentially reduced transaction costs and better value to the procuring entity and best suits large volume buying. In addition, it removes the need to undertake an entire procurement process as the process undergoes complete procurement to establish the framework and for suppliers to join it. The regulations are expected to fully address the process for entering into and accessing framework agreements.”

 The bill maintains the establishment of a public procurement board; however, it will now consist of seven members instead of nine “to ensure administrative efficiency.”

 Additionally, each procuring entity shall establish a tender committee that will be responsible for reviewing bids and recommending the award of contracts valued over $25,000, according to the bill.

 “Where the estimated value of a proposed procurement contract is more than $24,000 but does not exceed $400,000, the tender committee shall evaluate and recommend that the procuring entity award the procurement contract subject to the approval of the minister responsible for the procuring entity,” the bill reads.

 Where the contract value is worth more $400,000 but under $2.5m, the tender committee shall forward it to the board along with their recommendations.

 Meanwhile, contracts over $2.5m are to be forwarded by the tender committee to the board for their recommendation, which thereafter will be sent to Cabinet for approval.

 With respect to the type and bidding methods, Prime Minister Davis said the bill allows for the reorganisation of procedures to make it clear that the competitive process should always be followed, “with the only exception being the non-competitive direct award process (formerly named limited bidding.”

 “Notable changes include the requirement that contracts below a certain threshold amount should be conducted by national bidding unless approval is sought from the chief procurement officer to open such a process to national and international bidding,” Mr Davis added.

 “Section 31, which formerly addressed limited bidding, has been renamed direct award as this is what the provision always allowed, and the renaming ensures that laymen reading the act understand its implications.

 “Although the availability of direct awards has been increased to allow for direct awards in several different circumstances, the process has changed such that a procuring entity can no longer make a direct award and provide justifications after already making the award. The new method, which aids in transparency, is that approval must be sought by any procuring entity seeking to make a direct award before making such an award.“

 He also revealed that the financial threshold for quotation requests has been increased to $25,000 to ensure that procuring entities take advantage of the efficiencies in this process for a more significant number of contracts.

 “The original act limited the ability to use requests for quotation if the contract exceeded $5,000 for goods and $10,000 for works or services,” he said.

 Mr Davis also noted that in anticipation of the bill’s enactment, the government has already launched its GoBoneFire eProcurement platform which he said will allow for the smooth administration of the legislation.