Regulations and Tender laws

The reform was required as a result of the conclusions of various committees and work teams, as well as government decisions taken to streamline the government procurement process: from government resolution 2045 of 13.06.04 regarding “improving and streamlining the work of government ministries” which brought about the establishment of a team headed by the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Accountant General, with the participation of Director Generals of the Defense, Justice and Transport Ministries and the Representative of the Attorney General, for formulation of recommendations for improving and streamlining procurement mechanisms and examination of developments in the field (general, technological, art examination, relevant international agreements etc.).

Following this decision, other government resolutions were passed on the matter, including resolution 43 of 18.02.07 regarding amendments to tender laws based on recommendations of the Lifshitz Winchell Report of 28.10.04, the main of which are: Increasing the discretion, flexibility, authority and responsibility of the ministerial tender committees, both in determining tendering procedures and regarding decisions on contracting an exemption, without prejudice to the procedure, while maintaining equal opportunity and integrity.

In addition, resolutions 1413 of 18.03.07 and 1538 of 01.04.07 were passed regarding adoption of the interministerial staff report (Ariav Report) led by the then Director General of the Ministry of Finance, which recommended the expansion of government ministry authority in procurement, changing the foundation of tender approval procedures and decentralization of decision-making bodies (which will be a major and important tool in the diversification of risks and will also justify refining and emphasizing the principles of control, supervision and responsibility). On 15.04.07, resolution 1576 was passed ordering consolidation of Mandatory Tender Regulations amendments.

Key points of 2009 Mandatory Tender Regulations Reform

The goal of the reform was to create a balanced model that would increase the efficiency and ability of the ministries to perform their role through the resources available to them, while maintaining principles of the tender law and its objectives, including transparency and purity of the process, decision making, equality, efficiency, savings and competition.

Key reforms:

• Priority for tenders: the reform enshrined the general norm whereby the preferred course of action is through a public tender that gives everyone an equal opportunity to participate, even where regulations allow for a tender exemption. Accordingly, levels of engagements were outlined in regulation 1B.
• Decentralization of the authority to approved a tender exemption: An increase of Tender Committee powers and creation of the Ministerial Exemption Committee including details of its powers to approve tender exemptions.
• “Tool Box” – anchoring a variety of competitive procedures, such as: tenders with a pre-screening stage, a tender with a two-stage examination, a standard public tender with another competitive procedure, a framework tender and online tenders. All of these have been added to achieve the most advantageous and effective results for the tender editor.
• Increase of control, supervision and transparency in order to maintain integrity and viability of the administrative process.
• Reduction in tender exemption provisions and tightening conditions for their operation.

Protection of employee rights: In order to ensure the rights of suppliers’ employees, amendments have been included in several aspects of the contracting process: setting threshold conditions, selection criteria, bidding rejection and supplier suspension.