Government Procurement Policy Board Official Website

NPM No.

NPM 028-2005

Date

5/31/2005

Requesting Entity

Bureau of Animal Industry

Subject

Creation of the Supplier’s Accreditation Committee (SAC) and Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC)

Issues/Concern

Clarification on the legality of the creation of the Supplier’s Accreditation Committee (SAC) and the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) within your agency

Generally, the enactment of R.A. 9184 brought about major reforms in the procurement system, the most significant of which is the use of competitive bidding in all government procurement as a matter of policy. In this light, the creation of a Supplier’s Accreditation Committee (SAC) within the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) which is tasked to develop a Supplier’s Accreditation System is not in accordance with the mandate of the new procurement law, as it in fact contravenes the very basic principles of competitive bidding. Specifically, the establishment of an accreditation system within the agency would tend to limit the participation of bidders only to those accredited suppliers, to the exclusion of the other bidders in the market.

x x x x

Nevertheless, the procuring entity may establish a supplier’s registry for purposes of maintaining a list of eligible suppliers to facilitate faster eligibility checking during the bidding process. It must be clarified, however, that even non-registered suppliers may still participate in the agency’s bidding opportunities as long as said bidders/suppliers submit the required eligibility documents. Accordingly, the task of maintaining said registry of suppliers will be the responsibility of the BAC Secretariat, as part of its administrative support function.

Moreover, the creation of a Supplier’s Accreditation Committee nor the development of a Supplier’s Accreditation System is unnecessary, as the process of screening and determining the suppliers who are eligible to participate in the bidding will be addressed by the conduct of an “Eligibility check”; the first stage in the bid evaluation process which employs the use of the non-discretionary “pass or fail” criteria.