The National Directorate of Public Procurement of Paraguay (“DNCP”) is issuing several regulations that are modernizing the public procurement system, adjusting its procedures and offering tools to contracting entities and bidders in order to facilitate and streamline processes in the midst of the pandemic situation (COVID -19), through:
- The use of Electronic Spreadsheets and their gradual application in the acquisition of goods, services and works.
- Implementation of the act of electronic openings for contracting procedures under Public Procurement Law N° 2051/2003, a procedure into force since April 5, 2021 and applied to any procedure notified to DNCP as of that date.
- The use of the Virtual Store for the participation of companies interested in offering their services and/or products in the available items established by the DNCP, upon request for their entering into the aforementioned platform [1]. This prevents bidders from carrying out independent bidding procedures for the purchase of the same goods and allows companies to offer their products in a simplified and simultaneous way to the different conveners.
- The Statistical Information System (SIE) for the visualization of statistical data that demonstrate the participation of bidders in State tenders. This tool allows public access to information regarding competitiveness in public procurement procedures.
- Tender timeline. The button called “Draw a Timeline” that appears on the screen of each call for bids, is a visual tool to order and chronologically explain the steps or events that have occurred throughout the process prior to the publication of the tender and other bid documents.
On the other hand, a comprehensive amendment project to the Public Procurement Law has been sent to Congress, which will include certain amendments in matters related to (i) definition of figures involving behaviors that indicate fraud or corruption, (ii) inclusion of new principles applicable to public contracting, (iii) purchasing criteria that respond to sustainable criteria, (iv) changes in conventional contracting modalities in relation to the amount and incorporation of special procedures, (v) obligation to communicate the amount estimate of the tender prior to a market study, (vi) changes in the percentage of the amount of the advance (up to 30%), (vii) appointment of a Contract administrator in the tender, (viii) modifications in the limitations and prohibitions to contract with the State, for example in case of bidders in Consortium, it is established that if formed by foreign companies they will not be able to participate in national tenders.
Also, it includes a regulation of the procedures carried out by way of the exception, submission of offers by remote means of electronic communication, regulation of the deadlines for filing protests in the different stages of the bidding, indirect responsibilities that will fall on the designer or the inspector whenever contractual breaches or deficiencies in the planning of the specifications are verified, creation of the State Suppliers Registry (REPROE) in which all natural persons, legal entities and consortium will be registered, to participate in contracting processes, among other legal provisions that are included and/or modified.
Our specialists from the BKM|Berkemeyer Public Procurement area are making significant contributions on regulatory issues related to the modification of the Public Procurement Law and Regulatory Decree No. 2992/19, actively participating in the hearings that were called by the DNCP and submitting proposals for improvements.
These contributions were made after analyzing the existing regulations in order to contribute to reform policies, which are focused on efficiently promoting the General Principles that govern the field of Public Procurement, promoting transparency and publicity, economy and efficiency, greater participation of bidders under equal conditions and adjust public procurement procedures in the current conditions due to the Pandemic towards administrative simplification and modernization.
For more information, please contact Dahiana Acosta: dahiana.acosta@berke.com.py and/or Martín Carlevaro: martin.carlevaro@berke.com.py
[1] The DNCP provided a virtual store tab on its website where a catalog is loaded featuring goods that are available, for instance for the purchase of hand sanitizers, office supplies, reams of paper, with the intention of simplifying the purchasing system by shortening the ordinary terms of a tender.
