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Competition

Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement in Mexico - The ISSSTE Report, 2013

 

The State’s Employees’ Social Security and Social Services Institute (ISSSTE) is the second largest Mexican social service agency in terms of the annual volume of goods and services purchased and the fifth largest federal procurement group.

 

Considering its volume of purchases, it is essential for ISSSTE to actively promote genuine competition when purchasing goods and services. In June 2012, ISSSTE signed an agreement with the OECD in which it committed to continue its fight against bid rigging in public procurement and in which the OECD agreed to provide training to ISSSTE procurement officials and to submit an analytical report to ISSSTE with regard to issues relating to bid rigging and effective competitive procurement. The resulting report:

  • analyses ISSSTE’s practices in public procurement in the context of the existing legal framework
  • addresses the areas of improvement in Mexican federal procurement laws and regulations
  • provides recommendations to ISSSTE on how to enhance its procurement procedures

The OECD report contains 80 recommendations, a number of which are complements or alternatives to other recommendations. The most important recommendation concerns the establishment of a procurement coordination unit to deal with many issues relating to communications, research, documentation and training across ISSSTE’s many purchasing groups. The report also recommends eliminating a number of problematic disclosure requirements and certain preferential treatment in laws and procedures. Other recommendations include:

  • making changes to purchasing practices such as joint bids, split awards and sub-contracting
  • expanding efforts to consolidate purchases
  • upgrading training and education
  • implementing the use of Certificates of Independent Bid Determination in procurement procedures

 

Table of contents

Foreword

List of Acronyms

Executive Summary

Introduction

Structure and Operations

Existing Public Procurement Legal Framework and the Procurement Processes and Practices 

Alignment of Federal Procurement Legislation and Regulation with the OECD Guidelines

Recommendations aimed at Fighting Bid Rigging in Procurement and Improving ISSSTE'S Procurement Practices

Concluding Remarks

Annexes

  • OECD Recommendation for Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement and the Related Guidelines
  • Federal Threshold Values
  • Certificate of Independent Bid Determination (Canada)
  • Certificate of Independent Price Determination (United States, April 1985)
  • List of Areas for Improvement in the Procurement Laws and Regulations
  • List of Areas for Improvement in ISSSTE’s Procurement Practices

 

 

>> Download the report 
      English | Español (pdf)

>> For hard copies, please contact us

 

This report was released on 14 November 2013 at a launch ceremony attended by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.
> transcript of speech in Spanish

‌Cover page for the ISSSTE Report‌‌‌

 

DOCUMENTS AND LINKS

Report on the Government of the State of Mexico

Report on Mexico's social security department (IMSS)

OECD Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement 

Mexico-OECD partnership for fighting bid rigging in government contracts   

Strengthening the competition and regulation framework in Mexico

OECD Mexico Centre website (in Spanish only) 

 

 

 

 

 

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