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Recourse mechanisms for supplier complaints Introduction and points for discussion. Government of Morocco/OECD Workshop on Enhancing Integrity in Public Procurement Robert D. Anderson WTO Secretariat Rabat, 4 April 2008. Preliminaries.
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Recourse mechanisms for supplier complaintsIntroduction and points for discussion Government of Morocco/OECD Workshop on Enhancing Integrity in Public Procurement Robert D. Anderson WTO Secretariat Rabat, 4 April 2008
Preliminaries • Complementarity of international organizations’ work on government procurement (WTO, OECD, UNCITRAL, etc.) • Common underlying values and concerns with differentiated mandates – but much room for cooperation • Relevance of WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) to countries in this region • Pending GPA accessions of Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia • Revised GPA text: more “development-friendly” • For more info: www.wto.org • Go first to “trade topics”, then “government procurement”
Role of recourse mechanisms • Note: also called “domestic review procedures”, “bid challenges”, etc. • Purpose: to provide fast, effective remedies for irregularities in the tendering process relating to acts of procuring entities • Important venue for addressing legitimate concerns of dis-satisfied bidders (fosters trust) • Ideally, harnesses energies of dis-satisfied bidders to serve public interests and goals (fairness and integrity of procurement system) • Therefore, complement to public audit and related supervisory functions
Issues concerning the structure of recourse mechanisms • Importance of independence, impartiality, procedural fairness • Important to credibility of process • Also helps re: avoiding/shutting down spurious/opportunistic complaints • Can be achieved in different ways (courts, administrative agencies, etc.) • Timeliness is essential • Window to challenge should be not too short, nor too long • Challenges possible at pre-award and post-award phases • Practicality of remedies (may include interim measures, corrective action and compensation)
Summary/Benefits of effective recourse mechanisms • Domestic review & public audit functions are complementary/mutually supportive • Increase transparency and integrity of procurement system. Prevent corruption • Increase private sector’s trust in procurement system, thereby often increasing competition • Reliance on supplier’s interest/initiative can serve public goals in a cost-efficient manner (but requires proper system design) • But note: recourse mechanisms can’t solve all problems (e.g. supplier collusion issues). We still need effective public oversight/audit bodies.
Thank you robert.anderson@wto.org