Requesting Entity: Philippine Coast Guard

Issues Concern: Nationality Preference as part of specification

Details

Whether requiring a country of origin in the specification is in line with the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9184 and its revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).

[P]lease note that as provided under Section 43.1.1 of the IRR of RA 9184, consistent with the obligation of the Philippines under international treaties or agreement, goods may be obtained from domestic or foreign sources and the procurement shall be open [sic] to all eligible suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors. As such, although procuring entities are given leeway in formulating the specifications in the terms of reference, they cannot limit the origin of goods to their preferred countries of origin to the exclusion of other countries.

Thus, considering the foregoing, we wish to reiterate that under the revised IRR, procuring entities are precluded from requiring specific country of origin as part of the technical specification for the project. Rather, the specifications shall be based on the performance requirements and recognized industry standards and not on the basis of country of origin.