Changes made to govt buying rules

GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT   COMPLIANCE

Singapore - The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has released the changes to its government procurement policies to reduce the risk of procurement fraud.

"Our aim is to preserve fair competition, and to reduce the risk of wrongdoing, but not to pile on rules that will hinder the vast majority of legitimate procurement and reduce public sector efficiency," MOF said on its website.

As such, MOF has tightened the rules on handling single bids, requiring officers to provide additional justification to the approving authority within each agency before awarding the contract.

The opening period for the submission of quotations, for contracts between SG$3,000 and SG$7,000, has also been extended from four to seven working days. This change was made to strike a balance between giving suppliers a full chance to participate and not lowering the contract value.

Larger procurements have a minimum opening period of 14 calendar days.

Additionally, MOF will also be tightening its rules concerning term contracts, assuring agencies that they will be charged by vendors at fair market prices for items.

The Singapore government announced its plans to revise its rules earlier this week, following the three government procurement incidents that have occurred this year, with the latest regarding the purchase of foldable bicycles for the National Parks Board.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Subscribe to ProcurementAsia's biweekly bulletin now!

Or get industry updates and opinions via our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

For exclusive video content, visit Channel P on YouTube.

More quality Lighthouse titles

Managing people? For HR and leadership strategy, Human Resources has it covered.

Get your marketing department up to speed with Marketing, Asia's most read marketing site.