PART I | Citation and commencement |
| 1. These Regulations may be cited as the Government Procurement Regulations 2014 and shall come into operation on 6th April 2014. |
2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —“applicable supplier” means —| (a) | a relevant supplier; | | (b) | a relevant Protocol supplier; or | | (c) | a supplier, or a supplier belonging to a class of suppliers, set out in an order published in the Gazette under section 7(2)(b) of the Act; |
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“applicable supplier established in Singapore” means an applicable supplier —| (a) | who is registered under the Business Registration Act (Cap. 32) and is habitually resident in Singapore; or | | (b) | which is a company or association or body of persons, corporate or unincorporate, which is formed under the laws of Singapore and has its principal place of business in Singapore; |
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| “approved medium” means the Gazette or the Government Electronic Business (GeBIZ); |
| “commercial goods or services” means goods or services of a type generally sold or offered for sale in the commercial marketplace to, and customarily purchased by, non‑governmental buyers for non‑governmental purposes; |
| “electronic auction” means an iterative process that involves the use of electronic means for the presentation by suppliers of either new prices, or new values for quantifiable non‑price elements of a tender related to an evaluation criteria, or both, resulting in the ranking or re‑ranking of tenders; |
| “in writing” or “written” means any worded or numbered expression that can be read, reproduced and later communicated and includes electronically transmitted and stored information; |
| “limited tendering” means a procurement method whereby the contracting authority contacts a supplier or suppliers of its choice to submit a tender; |
| “multi-use list” means a list of suppliers that a contracting authority has determined satisfy the conditions for participation in that list, and that the contracting authority intends to use more than once; |
| “notice of intended procurement” means a notice published by a contracting authority inviting interested suppliers to submit a request for participation, a tender, or both; |
| “notice of planned procurement”, in relation to a contracting authority, means a notice regarding the contracting authority’s future procurement plan; |
| “open tendering” means a procurement method whereby all interested suppliers may submit a tender; |
| “Order” means the Government Procurement (Application) Order (O 1); |
| “qualification procedure” means the procedure which a supplier has to undertake to be eligible to become a qualified supplier; |
| “qualified supplier” means a supplier who has been shortlisted, pursuant to a qualification of suppliers, for a procurement; |
| “recurring contract” means one of 2 or more contracts resulting from a single requirement for a procurement; |
| “selective tendering” means a procurement method whereby only qualified suppliers are invited by a contracting authority to submit a tender; |
| “standard” means a document approved by a recognised body that provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for goods or services, or related processes and production methods, with which compliance is not mandatory; |
“technical specification” means a tendering requirement that —| (a) | lays down the characteristics of goods or services to be procured, including quality, performance, safety and dimensions, or the processes and methods for their production or provision; or | | (b) | addresses terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labelling requirements, as they apply to goods or services; |
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| “tender documentation” means a document which sets out the invitation to tender for or to negotiate a procurement contract, the terms and conditions of the contract, the specifications or descriptions of the goods or services, or goods and services, to be procured under the contract, or a document supplementary to any of these documents. |
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| Application of Regulations |
3.—(1) These Regulations apply to a procurement subject to the Act by a contracting authority in relation to a relevant State or a relevant Protocol State specified in the Order.(2) These Regulations do not apply to —| (a) | any procurement which is excluded under paragraph 5 of the Order; | | (b) | any acquisition or rental of land, existing buildings or other immovable property or the rights thereon; | | (c) | any non‑contractual agreement or any form of assistance that a contracting authority provides, including any co‑operative agreement, grant, loan, equity infusion, guarantee or fiscal incentive; | | (d) | any procurement or acquisition of a fiscal agency or depository service, a liquidation and management service for a regulated financial institution or a service related to the sale, redemption and distribution of public debt, including loans, government bonds, notes and other securities; | | (e) | any contract of employment with a contracting authority; | | (f) | any procurement conducted —| (i) | for the specific purpose of providing international assistance, including development aid; | | (ii) | under the particular procedure or condition of an international agreement relating to the stationing of troops or relating to the joint implementation by the signatory countries of a project; or | | (iii) | under the particular procedure or condition of an international organisation, or funded by international grants, loans or other assistance where the applicable procedure or condition would be inconsistent with these Regulations; or |
| | (g) | any goods or service procured —| (i) | with a view to commercial sale or resale; or | | (ii) | for use in the production or supply of goods or services for commercial sale or resale. |
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| (3) Subject to paragraphs (1) and (2), these Regulations apply to any procurement by a contracting authority, whether or not the procurement is conducted exclusively or partially by electronic means. |
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| Principles of national treatment and non-discrimination |
4.—(1) A reference in these Regulations to the principles of national treatment and non‑discrimination is a reference to the following principles:| (a) | that the goods and services of a relevant State or a relevant Protocol State are not to be treated less favourably than Singapore goods and services or the goods and services of any other relevant State or relevant Protocol State; | | (b) | that an applicable supplier is not to be treated less favourably than any other applicable supplier; | | (c) | that an applicable supplier established in Singapore is not to be treated less favourably than any other applicable supplier established in Singapore on the basis of the degree of foreign affiliation or ownership; and | | (d) | that an applicable supplier established in Singapore is not to be discriminated against on the basis of the country of production of the goods or services offered by that particular supplier, if the country of production is a relevant State or a relevant Protocol State. |
(2) Notwithstanding anything in these Regulations, the principles of national treatment and non‑discrimination shall not apply to any of the following:| (a) | the imposition of customs duty, or any charge on or in connection with the import of goods; | | (b) | the method of levying such duty or charge; | | (c) | any act the performance of which is required by any written law relating to import of goods, and any act incidental to or consequential upon such requirement. |
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| Undertaking of procurement by agent |
| 5. Where a contracting authority, undertakes a procurement through an agent who is not a contracting authority, the principles of national treatment and non‑discrimination shall apply to the requirements of that procurement. |
| Procurement by electronic means |
6. Where a contracting authority conducts a procurement by electronic means, the contracting authority shall —| (a) | ensure that the procurement is conducted using information technology systems and software, including those related to authentication and encryption of information, that are generally available and interoperable with other generally available information technology systems and software; and | | (b) | maintain mechanisms that ensure the integrity of requests for participation and tenders, including establishment of the time of receipt of and the prevention of inappropriate access to requests for participation and tenders. |
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7. A contracting authority shall conduct procurement in a transparent and impartial manner that —| (a) | is consistent with these Regulations; | | (b) | avoids conflicts of interest; and | | (c) | prevents corrupt practices. |
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| 8. A contracting authority shall not apply rules of origin to goods or services imported from or supplied by a relevant State or a relevant Protocol State that are different from rules of origin the contracting authority applies at the same time in the normal course of trade to imports or supplies of the same goods or services from the same relevant State or relevant Protocol State, as the case may be. |
9.—(1) A contracting authority shall not seek, take account of, impose or enforce any offset.(2) In this regulation, “offset” means any condition or undertaking that encourages local development, or improves the Government’s balance‑of‑payments accounts, by means of —| (a) | domestic content; | | (b) | licensing of technology; | | (c) | investment; | | (d) | counter-trade; or | | (e) | other similar action or requirement. |
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