Administrative Measures for Tenders and Invitations to Bid in Government Procurement of Goods and Services
Administrative Measures for Tenders and Invitations to Bid in Government Procurement of Goods and Services
Administrative Measures for Tenders and Invitations to Bid in Government Procurement of Goods and Services
Order of the Ministry of Finance [2004] No.18
August 11, 2004
Contents:
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Invitations to Bid
Chapter III Tenders for Bid
Chapter IV Opening of Bid, Bid Evaluation and Determination of Bid
Chapter V Legal Responsibilities
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 In order to regulate the procurement activities of the parties involved in government procurement, strengthen the supervision and administration of tenders and invitations to bid in government procurement of goods and services, maintain public interests as well as the lawful rights and interests of the parties involved in tenders and invitations to bid in government procurement, the present Measures are hereby enacted in accordance with the Government Procurement Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Government Procurement Law) and other relevant laws
Article 2 These Measures shall apply to tenders and invitations to bid in government procurement of goods or services (hereinafter referred to as "goods or services") carried out by a purchaser or procurement agency (hereinafter uniformly referred to as the "bid-invitation procurement entity").
The procurement agency mentioned in the preceding paragraph means an institution in charge of centralized procurement or any other lawfully accredited procurement agency.
Article 3 Invitations to bid concerning goods or services may be classified into public invitations to bid and invitation-based tenders for bid.
A public invitation for bid means that a bid-invitation procurement entity lawfully invites uncertain suppliers to bid by announcement.
An invitation-based tender for bid means that a bid-invitation procurement entity lawfully and randomly selects three or more suppliers from the qualified ones, whom are invited by an invitation letter to bid.
Article 4 Goods or services must be procured through public invitation for bid if the amount of a procurement item reaches the standard for public invitation for bid. If, due to a particular circumstance, a method other than public invitation for bid needs to be adopted, the party concerned shall, prior to the beginning of procurement, acquire approval from the finance department of the people's government at the level of a city or an autonomous prefecture with subordinate districts or above.
Article 5 A bid-invitation procurement entity may not break up the whole into parts in respect of the goods or services that are supposed to be procured by public invitation for bid or by any other means to avoid procurement under public invitation to bid.
Article 6 No entity or individual may impede or restrict suppliers from free participation in bidding activities concerning goods and services, it/he may not designate the brand of goods, the supplier of services or the procurement agency, or illegally interfere with tenders and invitations to bid concerning goods and services by any other means.
Article 7 If, in a tender or invitation for bid concerning goods and services, any staff member of the procurement entity that invites bids, any member of the bid evaluation committee or any other relevant person has an interest relation with any supplier, he must withdraw. If a supplier alleges that any of the aforementioned persons has an interest relation with any other supplier, it may apply for his withdrawal.
Article 8 The suppliers participating in the bids for supply of goods or services under government procurement (hereinafter referred to as "bidders") shall be domestic suppliers who supply domestic goods or services, with the exception where laws and administrative regulations prescribe that foreign suppliers may participate in tenders and invitations to bid concerning goods and services, foreign suppliers may participate.
If a foreign supplier lawfully participates in a bid for supply of goods and services, it shall abide by the provisions of these Measures.
Article 9 The tenders and invitations to bid concerning goods and services shall be beneficial to achieving the goals of economic and social development policies of the state, including protecting the environment, supporting underdeveloped regions and minorities regions, and promoting the development of small-and medium-sized enterprises, and so on.
Article 10 The finance department of each people's government at the county level or above shall lawfully perform its supervision and administration duties over the tenders and invitations to bid concerning goods and services.
Chapter II Invitations to Bid
Article 11 A bid-invitation procurement entity shall organize and arrange the activities of tenders and invitations to bid concerning goods and services in accordance with these Measures.
A purchaser may entrust a procurement agency to handle an invitation for bid concerning goods or services according to law, or may organize and arrange the invitation for bid concerning goods or services by itself, provided that it must fulfill the conditions prescribed in Article 12 of these Measures.
An institution of centralized procurement shall independently arrange an invitation for bid for the supply of goods or services in accordance with the law. Other procurement agencies shall handle the matters of the invitation for bid concerning goods or services upon entrustment of the purchaser.
Article 12 Where a purchaser meets the following conditions, it may organize an invitation for bid at its own discretion:
1. Having independent capacity to bear civil liabilities;
2. Having the capacities of compiling bid-invitation documents and organizing the offer, and having procurement and management staff members in the fields of technology, economy, etc. who are competent for the scale and complexity of the procurement in the invitation for bid;
3. The purchaser has participated in the government procurement training held by the finance department of the people's government at the provincial level or above.
Where a purchaser fails to fulfill the conditions prescribed in the preceding paragraph, it must entrust a procurement agency to invite bids on its behalf.
Article 13 Where a purchaser entrusts a procurement agency to invite bids on its behalf, it shall conclude an entrustment agreement with the procurement agency in which the entrusted affairs are specified and the rights and obligations of both parties are stipulated.
Article 14 Where the procurement of goods and services is carried out in the form of public invitation for bid, the bid-invitation procurement entity must promulgate a bid-invitation announcement through the media for releasing government procurement information designated by the public finance department.
Article 15 Where the procurement of goods and services is carried out in the form of invitation-based tender for bid, the bid-invitation procurement entity shall promulgate an preliminary qualification examination announcement through the media for releasing government procurement information designated by the finance department of the people's government at the provincial level or above, and promulgate the qualification requirements of the bidders. The period of the announcement shall not be less than 7 workdays.
The bidders shall, 3 workdays prior to the expiration of the preliminary qualification examination announcement, submit the qualification certificates as required by the announcement. The bid-invitation procurement entity shall randomly select at least three bidders from those who are qualified upon examination, and send them bid invitations.
Article 16 Where the procurement of goods and services is carried out in the form of invitation for bid, the time period from the issuance of bid-invitation documents to the bid submission deadline shall not be less than 20 days.
Article 17 An announcement on public invitation for bid shall mainly include the following:
1. name, address and contact information of the bid-invitation procurement entity;
2. names and number of the bid projects, or the nature of the bid projects;
3. qualification requirements for the bidders;
4. time, place and method of obtaining bid-invitation documents, as well as the price of the bid-invitation documents; and
5. deadline for bidding, time and place for opening of bid.
Article 18 A bid-invitation procurement entity shall compile the bid-invitation documents in light of the characteristics and requirements of the bid projects. The bid-invitation documents shall include the following contents:
1. An invitation for bid;
2. Instructions to bidders (including sealing, signing and stamping requirements, etc.);
3. Certificates of qualification and creditworthiness that ought to be submitted by the bidders;
4. Requirements on quoting bidding prices and compiling bidding documents, and method of paying bid bond;
5. Technical specifications, requirements and number of bid projects, including annexes and drawings, etc.;
6. Main contract clauses and method of concluding contracts;
7. Time of delivery of goods or provision of services;
8. Bid evaluation method, bid evaluation standards and clauses of invalidating bids;
9. Deadline for bidding, time and place for opening of bid; and
10. Other particulars prescribed by the finance department at the provincial level or above.
The tenderee shall prescribe and indicate the substantive requirements and conditions in the bid-invitation documents.
Article 19 The bid-invitation procurement entity shall produce paper bid-invitation documents, and may also, through the network medium designated by the finance department, promulgate electronic bid-invitation documents which shall be consistent with the former. The electronic bid-invitation documents shall have the same legal binding force as the paper ones.
Article 20 The bid-invitation procurement entity may require the bidders to submit alternative bid proposals meeting the requirements in the bid-invitation documents, provided that it shall state the fact in the bid-invitation documents, and specify the corresponding evaluation standards and treatment measures.
Article 21 All technical standards stated in the bid-invitation documents shall meet the compulsory standards of the state.
The bid-invitation documents may not require or indicate any specific bidders or products, or contain any tendentious contents or other contents excluding potential bidders.
Article 22 A bid-invitation procurement entity may, as circumstances demand, consult relevant experts or suppliers about the bid-invitation documents.
Article 23 The price of the bid-invitation documents shall, rather than seeking profits, be determined pursuant to the principles of covering the costs of printing such documents, and the sum of money for procurement shall not be regarded as the basis for determining the price of the bid-invitation documents.
Article 24 A bid-invitation procurement entity may not terminate its invitation for bid without authorization after having promulgated the announcement on the invitation for bid and sent the invitation letter or the bid-invitation documents to bidders.
Article 25 A bid-invitation procurement entity may, in light of the specific circumstance of the procurement project in the invitation for bid, organize potential bidders to make on-site inspections, or convene a meeting to answer questions prior to the opening of bid, but may not solely or separately organize any on-site inspection which is participated in by only one bidder.
Article 26 Before the opening of bid, neither the bid-invitation procurement entity nor the relevant staff members may disclose to others the names or number of the potential bidders who have obtained the bid-invitation documents, or other relevant information on tenders and invitations to bid which might affect fair competition.
Article 27 Where a bid-invitation procurement entity makes necessary clarification or modification to the bid-invitation documents already sent, it shall, at least 15 days prior to the submission deadline of bidding documents as required by the bid-invitation documents, promulgate a modification announcement through the media to release government procurement information designated by the finance department, and notify in writing all recipients of the bid-invitation documents.
......