Requesting Entity: Municipality of Tigaon
Issues Concern: ISO Certification
Details
Whether an ISO Certification can be included as a requirement for bidding of an ARCP II project that is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
At the outset, we would like to clarify two things. First, procurement for goods, infrastructure projects and consulting services funded from Foreign Grants covered by Republic Act No. (RA) 8182, as amended by RA 8555, are not covered by RA 9184 and its associated Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), unless the Government of the Philippines and the foreign grantor/foreign or international financing institution agree otherwise. On the other hand, Section 4 of RA 9184 and its IRR recognizes observance of Treaty, International or Executive Agreement provisions, specifically when the procurement processes and procedures are specified in the executive agreement (Loan and Grant Agreement).
ISO Certification as Additional Eligibility Requirement
[F]or purposes of determining the eligibility of bidders, only the documents mentioned in Section 23.1 (for Goods and Infrastructure projects) and Section 24.1 (for Consulting Services) of the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. (RA) 9184 are required. A Procuring Entity (PE) cannot add another requirement to, nor delete any requirement from, the identified list of eligibility requirements.
ISO Certification as Part of Technical Specifications
In the specification of standards for equipment, materials, and workmanship, recognized Philippine and international standards should be used as much as possible . Since ISO Certification is one of the recognized international standards, it can be included in the technical specifications for a procurement project.
In sum, it is our considered view that under RA 9184 and its IRR, an ISO Certification cannot be included as part of the Eligibility Requirements, but may be required as part of the technical specifications, provided that it will not be too limiting to be restrictive of competition.