Procurement Regulations Passed in Senate

The Public Procurement Regulations 2018 and the Public Procurement (Reconsideration and Review) Regulations were approved by members of the Senate on July 13.

Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, said a third, the Public Procurement (Registration and Classification of Suppliers) Regulations, 2018, is expected to be tabled at a later date.

The regulations are linked to the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act, which was passed by both Houses of Parliament earlier this year. The Act seeks to regulate the procurement of goods, works and services by entities of government.

“The third requires the establishment of the new Commission, and that will only happen after these regulations are passed and the Act comes into force,” she said.

Senator Johnson Smith said both regulations are formulated pursuant to section 60 of the Act and intend to prescribe provisions, procedures, standards and criteria for the various methods and subject matter of procurement; the establishment, management and operation of an electronic procurement system; overall bidding proceedings; and an appeal mechanism.

“The ones not yet before us are those that will consider issues which are often of concern to suppliers, so those are the concerns related to the forms, the fees and procedures for the registration or classification of suppliers, the evaluation criteria for qualifications required for the registration and classification of suppliers, and the circumstances under which registration under the Act may be modified, suspended, cancelled, approved or withdrawn by the new Public Procurement Commission,” she explained.

Senator Johnson Smith said in addition to codifying the rules, the regulations seek to build institutional capacity to ensure continuity in the levels of practice of modern procurement.

She added that the regulations also outline the procedures for refusals and reviews of procurement applications.