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Procurement
Methods
Click
below to jump to a brief description of the different procurement
procedures used by UNFPA:
Procurement for UNFPA funded projects
may be undertaken by UNFPA’s country office personnel (local
country office procurement) or by headquarters (headquarters
procurement). About 85% of the total procurement volume is
carried out by headquarters. Procurement on behalf of external
entities such as other UN Agencies, Governments and NGOs, is
the sole responsibility of headquarters Procurement Unit. Those
responsible for UNFPA procurements are to be guided by the
following principles:
- Maximize economy and efficiency
- Encourage as wide a solicitation of proposals
as possible to promote competition
- Encourage and/or include sources of supply indigenous
either to the country being assisted and from other developing
countries;
- Encourage and/or include sources of supply from underutilized
major donor countries; and
- Promote integrity and fairness and maintain the transparency
of the procurement process.
Shopping is a procurement method based on comparing
price quotations obtained from several suppliers, usually a minimum
of three. Shopping will be used for procurement of items costing
below USD $ 2,500 per order. Quotations will be sought from registered
vendors. Award of business will be made to the supplier offering
the lowest price. Shopping is a common procurement method used
by UNFPA’s field offices who mostly purchase low value administrative
goods and services.
Requests for quotations are informal solicitation
documents that are normally used for contract values between
USD 2,500 – USD 30,000. These documents request prices and commercial
terms for goods, works, or services that meet standard specifications.
Such informal quotations are typically requested from local
suppliers. UNFPA’s field offices as well as Procurement
request quotations from registered suppliers for low value
commodities on a regular basis.
Requests for proposals are generally issued
for high-value service contracts that require services to be customized
to fit unique circumstances. Specifications are often complex
and the evaluations of proposals thus take significantly longer
than evaluations of normal bids. Criteria such as delivery time,
availability and quality of on-site support services, clarity
of technical manuals, ability to understand local languages and
culture, and ability to dispatch skilled personnel to a field
missions etc. are likely to be determining factors - other than
price – for the award of contract. Contracts are typically awarded
to the offer that presents the best value in accordance with the
evaluation criteria. UNFPA only uses Request for Proposals in
very limited number of cases.
Limited international competitive bidding is
typically only open to pre-qualified suppliers. This method of
bidding is mostly used in emergency or urgent situations where
lead times need to be kept at a minimum and for certain categories
of commodities, e.g. products with short shelf lives and/or with
specific quality requirements. Submission of the registration
form will serve as a request for prequalification for potential
supplier of items in the above categories. Basically, the pre-qualification
process requires the supplier to prove that the/she can meet specific
requirements detailed by UNFPA. Please refer to criteria
for pre-qualification for a more detailed description of the
process. Pre qualified suppliers will be invited to submit bids
for the requirements that UNFPA may have during the year.
Invitations to bid are issued for high-value
contracts that require formal competitive bidding procedures.
Invitations to bid are open and typically advertised
on UNFPA’s webpage. Potential suppliers submit bids based
on the requirements outlined in the Bidding Document and the award
is made to the lowest priced, technically acceptable bidder or
best value bidder.
In accordance with the UNFPA Financial Regulations
and Rules, the UNFPA Contracts Review Committee (CRC) at headquarters
is established to formulate recommendations to the Executive Director
on any contract that UNFPA proposes to enter into for a purpose
totaling US$ 100,000 or more. The Executive Director approves
the final decision on award of contract. |
