Latest update January 1st, 2025 1:00 AM
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CARICOM advances protocol to integrate regional public procurement
At the 30th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), member states welcomed the opening for signature of the Agreement on the Protocol for Public Procurement. The meeting was held on February 26 and 27 in St. Kitts & Nevis.
There had been three meetings, before this one, of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), two by the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), one of the Community Council and one of the Legal Affairs Committee (LAC).
The Thirtieth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held at Frigate Bay, St Kitts and Nevis
Ambassador Irwin LaRocque said that the culmination of those activities resulted in the finalisation of an Agreement on Public Procurement that would open the regional market for goods and services procured by public entities.
The representatives of the community’s member states collectively noted that the Protocol can be provisionally applied when seven Member States have signed a Declaration of Intent while recognizing that for entry into force, the Protocol must be signed by all parties to the Revised Treaty. However, the Declaration of Intent to provisionally apply the Protocol on Public Procurement has only been signed by Barbados and St. Kitts and Nevis so far.
The protocol undertakes to delineate conditions necessary for the successful integration of the national procurement market infrastructure across the region. When all contracting parties accede and implement the conditions, the community will observe a single, unified and open area through the design and implementation of a regional best practice for public procurement.
This involves enacting public procurement legislation that opens the regional market for goods and services. The community currently owns a ‘CARICOM Model Procurement Bill 2017’. Also necessary would be the refrain of parties involved from making restrictions to the participation of suppliers across the region, and the development of community standard bidding documents.
The objectives of this protocol are for the creation of necessary competitive and non-discriminatory conditions to facilitate the achievement of best value for money; the provision of opportunities for access to a single market with regional sales; the strengthening of the competitiveness of the regional supplier base, particularly in relation to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; and the encouragement of the rational use of scarce resources.
When implemented, individuals and firms will have the opportunity to bid for public sector contracts in all CSME-participating Member States on the Regional Procurement Notice Board. Additionally, public procurement will be guided by a modern legal and regulatory framework.
Under such a regime, the appeal mechanism would be handled by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), so persons will have a direct body to approach when seeking redress.
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