OECD Recommendation
Facilitate access to procurement opportunities for potential competitors of all sizes.
- Have in place coherent and stable institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks, which are essential to increase participation in doing business with the public sector and key starting points to assure sustainable and efficient public procurement systems.
- Deliver clear and integrated tender documentation, standardised where possible and proportionate to the need.
- Use competitive tendering and limit the use of exceptions and single-source procurement.
Related Principles
Risks to public procurement related to access include:
- A use of exceptions to competitive tendering (direct awards, accelerated procedures, etc.), which restrains competition and undermines the administrative efficiency of procurement;
- Complex public procurement rules and the use of non-standardised bidding documents impede broad participation from potential competitors, including new entrants and SMEs; and
- Obstacles (regulatory burden, financial constraints, lack of technical expertise, request for bribes) faced by SMEs for participating in public procurement processes.
Related Tools
Pre-tendering
- Checklist to design tender methods to reduce bid rigging
- Criteria for selecting appropriate tender methods
- Guidelines for accelerated public procurement procedures
- Template and checklist for enhancing integrity in non-competitive tender method
- Template to solicit supplier information
Tendering
Post-award
Country Cases
Coherent and stable institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks
- Encouraging SMEs’ participation in public procurement in China
- Korea’s Bid rigging Indicator Analysis System, BRIAS
- Preventing bid-rigging in Japan
- Reducing red tape in the EU
- Reducing transaction costs for suppliers in Korea
- Simplification of Public Procurement Procedure in Spain: Self Declaration
- Small business subcontracting in the United States
Clear and integrated tender documentation, standardised where possible and proportionate to the need
- Engagement with SMEs to reduce Red Tape in Ireland
- Government Model Contracts in New Zealand
- Inherently governmental and critical functions in the United States
- Preventing bid-rigging in Japan
- Suppliers Training Desks (STDs) in Italy
- Web-based interactive guide for cooperation in procurements in Sweden
Competitive tendering and limit the use of exceptions and single-source procurement
Reviews
- Ensuring clarity and reducing procurement risks in IMSS through strong tender documents and model contracts (extract of Public Procurement Review – IMSS, Mexico)
- Achieving better procurement results through sound sourcing methods (extract of Public Procurement Review – ISSSTE, Mexico)
- The way to competition: Measuring direct awards (extract of Public Procurement Review – ISSSTE 2, Mexico)