Electronic procurement methods

(ii) The electronic publication of procurement related information

Table 4 Benefits and beneficiaries of electronic government procurement

The electronic opening of tenders may require security related controls additional to those for other electronic procurement.

Proposed draft text for the revised Model Procurement Law to accommodate the use of electronic communications during the procurement process

The legal recognition of electronic communications arises in connection with the acceptance of tender and entry into force of procurement contract (article 36), and also raises issues of procurement contracts and electronic signatures.

UNICEF agrees with the issue of electronic procurement and notes that the best benchmark for measuring progress would be other public procurement organizations that have been successfully implementing e procurement.

Some States may have requirements for digital or other authenticated forms of electronic signatures in electronic commerce, which may be applied to procurement provided that they do not operate so as to restrict access to the procurement.

Comparative study of practical experience with the use of electronic (reverse) auctions in public procurement

Electronic publication of procurement related information (A CN.9 WG.I WP.39 and Add.1)

Possible revisions to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services drafting materials addressing the use of electronic communications in public procurement

Possible revisions to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services issues arising from the use of electronic communications in public procurement

Electronic publication of procurement related information study of national, regional and international practices with the publication of procurement related information not covered by the Model Law

Possible revisions to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services drafting materials for the use of electronic reverse auctions in public procurement

(a) The enabling provisions should be based on the use of electronic reverse auctions as a procurement method rather than a phase in other procurement methods

Accordingly, the Working Group decided that neither construction nor services procurement in their entirety should be excluded from the provisions governing electronic reverse auctions, pending further deliberations as to which type of procurement would be suitable for electronic reverse auction.

Publication of some additional information may be necessitated by new electronic procurement techniques and features, such as e catalogues, dynamic purchasing systems or electronic reverse auctions (ERAs).

The members of the CEB concur and additionally note that several members are already pursuing electronic procurement.

In this context, increasing emphasis should be placed on training in electronic procurement (e procurement) methods and on technical assistance in support of capacity building for public procurement agencies in the developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

(f) Recent developments in the area of public procurement issues arising from the increased use of electronic communications in public procurement note by the Secretariat (A CN.9 WG.I WP.31)

It focuses on strategic issues most likely to contribute to enhancing the cost effectiveness of the procurement process within and among the organizations, namely cooperation and coordination, electronic procurement and capacity building.

IAPSO, currently the most advanced entity in e procurement, reports that all its procurement functions are carried out using electronic methods and all purchase orders are issued in its UNWebBuy e commerce application.

In practice, the greater the value and complexity of the procurement, the longer the normal duration of the electronic reverse auction.

Another concern expressed was that additional amendments might be required to address the fact that the principle of functional equivalence made electronic procurement of all kinds possible and not only electronic reverse auctions.

See Arrowsmith S., Electronic reverse auctions under the EC public procurement rules current possibilities and future prospects, 11 Public Procurement Law Review, No. 6, 2002, pp. 299 330 (originally prepared for Achilles Information Ltd.).

(a) A note concerning the use of electronic communications in the procurement process, including drafting materials (A CN.9 WG.I WP.38)

The paper cites the example of the Republic of Korea's Government Electronic Procurement System which cost US 26 million to develop but saves US 2.7 billion of all government procurement valued at US 17.1 billion.

With respect to electronic publication of procurement related information, the Working Group expressed the view that the Model Law should encourage the electronic publication of information that the Model Law currently required States to publish.

(b) A note concerning electronic publication of procurement related information, including a comparative study and drafting materials (A CN.9 WG.I WP.39)

(v) Sao Paulo, Brazil (14 16 September 2004), seminar in cooperation with Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management on procurement and electronic commerce in the context of the Fourth International Seminar on Government Procurement (700 participants)

Consequently, as tendering is the general procurement method for goods and construction, the provisions enable an electronic reverse auction procedure that follows the pattern of the standard tendering method, adapted to provide for an electronic reverse auction.

The above trend has been reversed in those jurisdictions where electronic means of communication are widely used for the publication of procurement related information.

(2) In any procurement by means of an electronic reverse auction, the procuring entity shall may engage in prequalification proceedings in accordance with article 7 .

(b) A note concerning the use of electronic communications in the procurement process, including drafting materials (A CN.9 WG.I WP.38 and Add.1)

Although most aspects of ERAs are to be addressed in procurement laws and regulations, the introduction of this electronic purchasing method in public procurement may necessitate adjustments in other relevant branches of law, such as competition and general public administration law.

Other delegations noted that the decision had been taken on the basis that allowing electronic reverse auctions as a phase in other procurement methods would undermine the principle of tendering that was the preferred procurement method under the Model Law.

(h) Possible revisions to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services issues arising from the use of electronic communications in public procurement note by the Secretariat (A CN.9 WG.I WP.34 and Add.1 and 2)

(c) A note concerning electronic publication of procurement related information, including a comparative study and drafting materials (A CN.9 WG.I WP.39 and Add.1) and

The Working Group noted that regulations did not often adequately deal with those and other issues arising from the publication of procurement related information by electronic means.

(j) Possible revisions to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services issues arising from the use of electronic communications in public procurement Comparative study of abnormally low tenders note by the Secretariat (A CN.9 WG.I WP.36).

(b) The enabling provisions should address the general conditions for use of electronic reverse auctions, and should not exclude any category of procurement (goods, construction or services) per se

See Kennedy Loest C. and Kelly R., EC competition law rules and electronic reverse auctions a case for concern? , 2003, 12 Public Procurement Law Review, No. 1, p. 29.

General introductory remarks in the Guide to Enactment on the use of electronic communications in procurement (A CN.9 WG.I WP.38, Chapter II, section B, subsection 2 (b))

Indeed, the benefits identified by the organizations are quite similar to those observed in a World Bank paper entitled Electronic Government Procurement (e GP) and reproduced in Table 4.

The Working Group is to consider at its eighth session whether or not to include a definition of the term electronic in the context of the use of electronic communications in the procurement process (see, section III.D of A CN.9 WG.I WP.38 Add.1).