Government procurement

“ The Parties recognize that such liberalization would ensure more competitive opportunities for all suppliers of the Parties in their respective procurement markets.
2. The Parties will review all features of government procurement practices for the purposes of:
(a) assessing the workings of the procurement system ”

“ The Parties recognise their shared interest in cooperating to promote international liberalisation of government procurement markets with a view to achieving enhanced understanding of their respective government procurement systems and to improving access to their respective markets. ”

“ It is the policy of the United States Government that all department and agency heads and all Federal employees involved in the procurement of any and all goods and services shall assist SDBs, HBCUs, and MIs, as applicable, to develop viable, self-sustaining businesses capable of competing on an equal basis in the mainstream of the American economy. To that end, all Federal personnel shall commit to the letter and spirit of all laws promoting the participation of SDBs, HBCUs, and MIs in Federal procurement. ”

“ In making the identifications required by section 1 of this part, the Trade Representative shall:
(a) consider the requirements of the GPA, NAFTA, or other procurement agreements, government procurement practices, and the effects of such practices on U.S. businesses as a basis for evaluating whether the procurement practices of foreign governments do not provide fair market opportunities for U.S. products or services ”

“ In order to ensure economy and efficiency in government procurement, the head of each Executive agency and Military Department shall ensure that their contracts incorporate, on and after January 1, 1979, a clause which requires compliance by the contractor, and by his subcontractors and suppliers, with the standards set forth in Section 1-102 of this Order. ”

“ In any case in which a small-business concern or group of such concerns has been certified by or under the authority of the Administration to be a competent Government contractor with respect to capacity and credit as to a specific Government procurement contract, the officers of the Government having procurement powers are directed to accept such certification as conclusive, and are authorized to let such Government procurement contract to such concern or group of concerns without requiring it to meet any other requirement with respect to capacity and credit. ”

“ Like private individuals and businesses, the Government enjoys the unrestricted power to produce its own supplies, to determine those with whom it will deal, and to fix the terms and conditions upon which it will make needed purchases. [15] Acting through its agents as it must of necessity, the Government may for the purpose of keeping its own house in order lay down guide posts by which its agents are to proceed in the procurement of supplies, and which create duties to the Government alone. It has done so in the Public Contracts Act. ”

“ Each Party shall provide to the other Parties and to the suppliers of such Parties, on a cost recovery basis, information concerning training and orientation programs regarding its government procurement system, and access on a non-discriminatory basis to such programs as it conducts. ”

“ A procuring entity shall limit any conditions for participation in a covered procurement to those conditions that ensure that a supplier has the legal and financial capacities and the commercial and technical abilities to fulfil the requirements of that procurement. ”

“ The State ensures that foreign-invested enterprises participate in government procurement activities through fair competition in accordance with law. Products produced and services provided by foreign-invested enterprises in the territory of China shall be treated equally in government procurement in accordance with law. ”

“ No procuring entity shall prepare or design a procurement, or otherwise structure or divide a procurement into separate procurements in any stage of the procurement, or use a particular method to estimate the value of a procurement, in order to avoid the obligations of this Chapter. ”

“ The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, through the Office of Federal Procurement Policy as appropriate, shall work jointly with the heads of executive agencies to provide broad policy guidance and overall leadership necessary to achieve procurement reform, encompassing:
(a) Identifying desirable Government-wide procurement system criteria, such as minimum requirements for training and appointing contracting officers ”

“ The federal government should buy from suppliers that are growing the sectors of the future and treating their workers with dignity and respect. The President remains committed to working with partners and allies to modernize international trade rules—including those related to government procurement–to make sure all countries can use their taxpayer dollars to spur investment in their own countries. ”

“ Such sectors include agriculture, commercial services, intellectual property rights, industrial and capital goods, government procurement, information technology products, environmental technology and services, medical equipment and services, civil aircraft, and infrastructure products. In so doing, the President shall take into account all of the principal negotiating objectives set forth in section 2102 (b) . ”

“ Each Party shall also ensure that it has in place policies and procedures to eliminate to the extent possible or manage any potential conflict of interest on the part of those engaged in or having influence over a procurement. ”

“ The procurement of goods and services for any level of government shall be regulated by an Act of Parliament and provincial laws, which shall make provision for the appointment of independent and impartial tender boards to deal with such procurements. ”

“ The Act and the Regulation speak too clearly in terms of the 'lowest over-all cost' to the Government, either through competitive bidding or negotiation with carriers, for us to conclude that the only relief against state fixed rates is an administrative remedy before the state agency either through negotiation or litigation. Congress has not tied the hands of the federal procurement officials so tightly. ”

“ It is one thing to attribute to Congress the desire to confine the Government's remedies for breaches of its ordinary procurement contracts to the rules of law governing ordinary commercial contracts. ”

“ When a service contract for the maintenance of a public building expires and a follow-on contract is awarded for the same service, the successor contractor typically hires the majority of the predecessor's employees. On occasion, however, a follow-on contractor will hire a new work force, and the predecessor's employees are displaced.
As a buyer and participant in the marketplace, the Government is concerned about hardships to individuals that may result from the operation of our procurement system. ”

“ Experience had shown that the formalized ritual of competitive bidding was often unwieldy and uneconomical. For example, competitive bidding was not suited to contracts involving secret projects, nor for contracts involving items for which there was no effective competition between sellers. For these types of procurement, the bill proposed direct negotiation between the Government and available suppliers. ”

“ Principles of Government Public Procurement
1) This Order applies to all procurements of goods, services, and construction services
by the State of Iraq acting through Ministries or other federal agencies (collectively
“agencies”) ; or governmental units including Regions; Governorates; and all other
subdivisions of the State of Iraq (collectively “governmental units”) that may commit
public funds. Procurement is the acquiring by contract with public funds of goods,
services or construction services by and for the use of the government through
purchase or lease. ”

“ Unless a procuring entity determines that it is not in the public interest to award a contract, it shall award the contract to the supplier that the procuring entity has determined to be fully capable of fulfilling the terms of the contract and that, based solely on the evaluation criteria specified in the notice and tender documentation, submits:
(a) the most advantageous tender; or (b) if price is the sole criterion, the lowest price. ”

“ The Contractor shall act as the purchasing agent of the Government in effecting such procurement and the Government shall be directly liable to the vendors for the purchase price. The exercise of this agency is subject to the obtaining of approval in the instances and in the manner required by subparagraph (c) of this article. The Contractor shall negotiate and administer all such purchases and shall advance all payments therefor unless the Officer-in-Charge shall otherwise direct. ”

“ The marketing of farm products by collective farms is based on officially fixed prices and monopoly-buying powers of state procurement agencies and the food-processing industry. Products move into government stocks through contracts between the farms and state agencies for quantities specified by the government; through payments in kind for services rendered by agricultural mechanization stations, flour mills, and other specialized government agencies ”

“ If a procuring entity provides a supplier with an opportunity to correct unintentional errors of form between the opening of tenders and the awarding of the contract, the procuring entity shall provide the same opportunity to all participating suppliers. ”

“ Its purpose is to use the leverage of the Government's immense purchasing power to raise labor standards.
Congress submitted the administration of the Act to the judgment of the Secretary of Labor, not to the judgment of the courts. [10] One of her principal functions is the conclusive determination of questions of fact for the guidance of procurement officers in withholding awards of government contracts to those she finds to be violators for three years from the date of the breach. ”

“ A procuring entity shall promptly reply to any reasonable request for relevant information by an interested or participating supplier, provided that the information does not give that supplier an advantage over other suppliers. ”

“ If a body other than the review authority initially reviews a complaint, the Party shall ensure that the supplier may appeal the initial decision to the review authority that is independent of the procuring entity that is the subject of the complaint. ”

“ Contracts with violators prohibited No Federal agency may enter into any contract with any person who is convicted of any offense under section 7413 (c) of this title for the procurement of goods, materials, and services to perform such contract at any facility at which the violation which gave rise to such conviction occurred if such facility is owned, leased, or supervised by such person. ”

“ The Committee shall review this Chapter and may decide to hold further negotiations with a view to:
(a) improving market access coverage through enlargement of procuring entity lists and reduction of exclusions and exceptions as set out in Annex 15-A; (b) revising the thresholds set out in Annex 15-A; (c) revising the Threshold Adjustment Formula in Section H of Annex 15-A; and (d) reducing and eliminating discriminatory measures. 2. ”

“ A Party, including its procuring entities, that establishes or maintains a multi-use list, shall include on the list, within a reasonable period of time, all suppliers that satisfy the conditions for participation set out in the notice referred to in paragraph 6. ”

“ Funds may be appropriated for the armed forces for use as an emergency fund for research, development, test, and evaluation, or related procurement or production, only if the appropriation of the funds is authorized by law after June 30, 1966. (e) In each budget submitted by the President to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, amounts requested for procurement of equipment for the reserve components of the armed forces (including the National Guard) shall be set forth separately from other amounts requested for procurement for the armed forces. ”

“ The purpose of this order is to strengthen the economy and to improve the efficiency of the Federal procurement system by encouraging business development that expands the industrial base and increases competition. ”

“ That is clearly not enough. Competition must be increased; competition must be had even in negotiated purchasing; and all negotiated purchasing must be further reduced.' Cong.Rec., June 7, 1962, p. 9234.
If there had been a desire to make federal procurement policy bow to state price-fixing in face of the contrary policy expressed in the Regulation, we can only believe that the objectives of the Act would have been differently stated. ”

“ Economy, Efficiency, and Effectiveness in Federal Procurement. Consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and the heads of other executive departments and agencies as appropriate, shall consider issuing proposed rules to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in Federal procurement by enhancing pay equity and transparency for job applicants and employees of Federal contractors and subcontractors. ”

“ In the present case, the challenge is not to a rate 'order' but to a statute which requires the United States to submit its negotiated rates to the California Commission for approval. The United States wants to be rid of the system that subjects its procurement services to that form of state supervision.
We come to the merits. Congress has provided a comprehensive policy governing procurement. ”