ANNEX 7:

ANNEX 7 to SECTION H: A Guide to the EU Supplies Directive & WTO GPA

Annex 7.A Useful Information Available on SIMAP

Annex 7.B Flowchart for the Negotiated Procedure without Prior Information Notice

Annex 7.C Flowchart for the Open Procedure

Annex 7.D Flowchart for the Restricted Procedure

Annex 7.E Flowchart for the Negotiated Procedure with Prior Contract Notice

Annex 7.F Milestones for a Contract Under the Restricted Procedure

Annex 7.G Technical Specifications - Definitions of Terms and Derogations

Annex 7.H Supplier Appraisal - Grounds for References and/or Exclusion

Annex 7.A USEFUL INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON SIMAP

7.A.1 Contents

Introduction to SIMAP
Guidance for Users Navigating SIMAP
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) Codes
Languages
NUTS Codes
Service Categories
Units

7.A.2 Introduction to SIMAP

Completion of the new Standard Forms requires some additional information. This can be obtained from SIMAP (Système D’Information pour les Marchés Publics). SIMAP as a project has the objective of  developing an information systems infrastructure to support the delivery of an effective public procurement policy in Europe.   SIMAP provides contracting entities and suppliers with the information needed to manage the procurement process effectively.

Click here to access SIMAP’s website (external link updated May 2004).

7.A.3 Guidance for Users Navigating SIMAP

Once the SIMAP home page is accessed click on the word <Welcome> to navigate to the English portion of the site. Unfortunately the SIMAP website does not allow links to individual pages on its site so it is always necessary to enter the site via the Home page (bookmarking a specific page  to your Favourites will not work and you will be redirected to the SIMAP Home/Welcome page).

The SIMAP site contains a range of information on undertaking a procurement exercise under the EU Directives. The information available on the SIMAP website is extensive. It is, however, recommended that this site be used as a database and consulted as and when specific information is needed.

It is NOT RECOMMENDED that information from the SIMAP website be copied and saved into a Word document.

Attempts to copy the SIMAP website have resulted in corrupted Word documents and severe problems with the Word software installed on PCs.  Further,  a SIMAP version saved to PC will be out of date when the SIMAP site information is updated.

The most useful information on the SIMAP website for any officer working on a procurement exercise under the EU Directives includes the following:

• Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) Codes
• Languages
• NUTS Codes
• Service Categories
• Units

7.A.4 Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) Codes

CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) codes need to be included in all Standard Forms. A link to the page with a current list of these can be found on the SIMAP website.  From the homepage, navigate to the English version of the site by clicking on the word "Welcome" and select the page titled “CPV, Standards and Best Practices”.

7.A.5 Languages

Should it be necessary that an OJEU Notice specify the return of tenders or expressions of interest in a language other than English (EN) then a list of the officially recognised language abbreviations can be found on the Languages page accessed via the age entitled “CPV, Standards and Best Practices” on the English version SIMAP website.

7.A.6 Nomenclature des Unités Territoriales Statistiques (NUTS) Codes

All OJEU Notices must contain the relevant Nomenclature des Unités Territoriales Statistiques (NUTS) codes which identify the part of the country that will provide the service being purchased. These codes have been agreed within the EU and may not necessarily be completely up-to-date. A link to the page with the NUTS codes can be found on the English-version SIMAP website on the page entitled “CPV, Standards and Best Practices”.

7.A.7 Service Categories

A link to the Service Categories page can be found at the English-version SIMAP website on the page entitled “CPV, Standards and Best Practices”.

7.A.8 Units

Should it be necessary to refer to specific units of measurement in any OJEU notice a list of these can be found following a link to the Units page on the English-version SIMAP website on the page entitled “CPV, Standards and Best Practices”.

Annex 7.B FLOWCHART FOR THE NEGOTIATED PROCEDURE WITHOUT PRIOR INFORMATION NOTICE

Annex 7.C FLOWCHART FOR THE OPEN PROCEDURE

Notes: All days are calendar days and "with PIN" relates to requirements which have been the subject of a Prior Information Notice. 

Annex 7.D FLOWCHART FOR THE RESTRICTED PROCEDURE

                             Accelerated Procedure                                                  Normal Procedure

Notes: All days are calendar days and "with PIN" relates to requirements which have been the subject of a Prior Information Notice.

Annex 7.E FLOWCHART FOR THE NEGOTIATED PROCEDURE WITH PRIOR CONTRACT NOTICE

                         Accelerated Procedure                              Normal Procedure

Notes: All days are calendar days.

Annex 7.F MILESTONES FOR A CONTRACT UNDER THE RESTRICTED PROCEDURE

Notes: The timings above do not include time taken to devise and agree on the contract requirement (Produce specification, prepare criteria for tender evaluation and candidate appraisal, etc.) but set out an assumption of the amount of time to actually appraise candidates and prepare (tender) short list and evaluate the tenders.

It is important to bear the above bullet point in mind when considering that the chart shows the elapsed time to award of contract as 96 calendar days (approximately 3 months), based on estimated and EU required timings. In reality it will, in actual time, be longer.  

In addition major contracts, which might involve further action, may need activities such as a bidders conference, bid clarification, the establishment and running of a Tender Steering Board and post tender negotiation (actions 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11). The time needed in these circumstances is likely to be considerably greater than that indicated in the chart above.

Annex 7.G TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS - DEFINITION OF TERMS AND DEROGATIONS

UK Statutory Instrument (SI) Interpretation

7.G.1 Definition of Terms

Technical Specification
The technical requirements defining the characteristics required of the goods (such as quality, performance, safety or dimensions and requirements in respect of terminology, symbols, tests and testing methods, packaging, marking and labelling) so that they are described objectively in a manner which ensures they fulfil the use for which they are intended by the contracting authority.

Common Technical Specification
A technical specification drawn up in accordance with a procedure recognised by the Member States with a view to uniform application in all Member States and which has been published in the Official Journal.

European Specification (only defined in UK SI)
A common technical specification or a British Standard implementing a European standard.

Standard
A technical specification approved by a recognized standardising body for repeated and continuous application.  Compliance with which in principle is not compulsory.

European Standard
A standard approved by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) or by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) as a 'European Standard (EN)' or 'Harmonisation Document (HD)' according to the common rules of these organisations.

European Technical Approval (only defined in EU Directive)
A favourable technical assessment of the fitness for use of a product, based on fulfilment of the essential requirements for building works, by means of the inherent characteristics of the product and the defined conditions of applications and use. European approval shall be issued by an approval body designated for this purpose by the Member State.

7.G.2 Derogations

The technical specifications in the documents relating to a public supply contract shall be defined by reference to any European specifications which are relevant unless:

• the contracting authority is under an obligation to define the technical specifications by reference to technical requirements that are mandatory in the United Kingdom for the goods to be purchased or hired under contract (but only to the extent that such an obligation is compatible with EU obligations);
• the relevant European specifications do not include provisions for establishing conformity to, or it is technically impossible to establish satisfactorily that the goods to be purchased or hired under the contract do conform to, the relevant European specifications;
• definition by reference to the relevant European specifications would conflict with the application of Council Directive 86/361/EEC on the initial stage of mutual recognition of type approval for telecommunication terminal equipment or Council Decision 87/95/EEC on standardisation in the field of information technology and telecommunications or other Community obligations in specific service or goods areas;
• application of the relevant European specifications would oblige the contracting authority to acquire goods incompatible with equipment already in use or would entail disproportionate costs or disproportionate technical difficulties - but a contracting authority may only define the technical specifications other than by reference to the relevant European specifications on such grounds where the contracting authority has a clearly defined and recorded strategy for changing over, within a set period, to European specifications; or,
• the project, for which the goods to be purchased or hired under the contract are required, is of a genuinely innovative nature for which use of existing relevant European specifications would be inappropriate.

A contracting authority shall, unless impossible, state in the notice relating to the contract which of the above specified circumstances was the grounds for defining the technical specifications and shall in any event keep a record of this information which, if requested by the Commission or any Member State, shall be sent to the Treasury for onward relay to the requesting Commission or Member State .

In the absence of European specifications relevant to the goods to be purchased/hired under a public contract, the technical specifications in the contract documents may be defined by reference to the following standards (and, if they are so defined, preference shall be given to the standards in the order in which they are listed below):

a.    British Standards implementing international standards;
b.    other British Standards; or,
c.    any other standard.

7.G.2.3 Reference to Goods of a Specific Make/Source or Specific Process and Use of "Or equivalent"

The contract documents relating to a public supply contract shall not include technical specifications which refer to goods of a specific make or source or to a particular process and which have the effect of favouring or eliminating particular goods or supplier. Also, references to trademarks, patents, types, origin or means of production shall not be incorporated into technical specifications in contract documents. However, a contracting authority may incorporate such references into the technical specifications in the contract documents if:

• such references are justified by the subject of the contract; or,
• the goods to be purchased or hired under the contract cannot otherwise be described by reference to technical specifications which are sufficiently precise and intelligible to all suppliers, provided that the references are accompanied by the words "or equivalent".

Annex 7.H SUPPLIER APPRAISAL - GROUNDS FOR REFERENCES AND/OR EXCLUSION

7.H.1 Criteria for Rejection of Suppliers (EC Directive Article 20 and UK SI Regulation 14(1))

This sets out the usual reasons for excluding companies including those of bankruptcy, judgement of professional misconduct, failure to meet tax or social security obligations and serious misrepresentation. Certain exemptions apply to non EU/EEA companies, see Section H.16 - Qualification and Selection of Suppliers for further information.

7.H.2 Criteria for Rejection of Suppliers (EC Directive Article 21 and UK SI Regulation 14(5))

Contracting authorities may request proof of enrolment on professional and trade registers for example, in the UK, with Companies House or the Registrar of Friendly Societies.

7.H.3 Information as to Economic and Financial Standing (EC Directive Article 22 and UK SI Regulation 15)

Contracting Authorities are entitled to be supplied with any or all of the following references or satisfactory equivalents, relating to a candidate's or tenderer's financial and economic standing (UK SI Interpretation):

•       appropriate statements from the suppliers bankers;

•       statements of accounts or extracts there from relating to the business of the supplier; and,

•         a statement of overall turnover for the business of the supplier and the turnover in respect of goods of similar type to the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract in the 3 previous financial years of the supplier.

A contracting authority which requires the above information shall specify in the contract notice or in the invitation to tender the specific information that must be provided.

7.H.4 Information as to Technical Capacity (EC Directive Article 23 and UK SI Regulation 16)

Technical capability may be furnished by (UK SI Interpretation):

• a list of deliveries by the supplier of goods of a similar type to the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract in the past 3 years, specifying in each case the date of delivery, the consideration received and the identity of the purchaser accompanied by a certificate issued or countersigned by the purchaser confirming the details of the sale or, but only where the purchaser was not a contracting authority, a declaration by the supplier attesting the details of purchase;
• a description of the supplier's technical facilities, measures for ensuring quality and study and research facilities in relation to the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract;
• an indication of the technicians or technical bodies who would be involved with the production of the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract, particularly those responsible for quality control, whether or not they are independent of the supplier;
• samples, description and photographs of the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract and certification of the authenticity of such samples, descriptions or photographs;
• certification by official quality control institutes or agencies of recognised competence attesting that the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract conform to standards and technical specifications (as defined in Annex 6 to Section G: A Guide to the EU Services Directive) identified by the contracting authority; and,
• where the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract are complex or are required for a special purpose, a check carried out by the contracting authority or on its behalf by a competent official body of the country in which the supplier is established, on the production capacity of the supplier in respect of the goods to be purchased or hired under the public supply contract and, if relevant, on the supplier's study and research facilities and quality control measures.

The contracting authority shall specify, in the contract notice or in the invitation to tender, which of the above information it requires to be provided.

7.H.5 Confidentiality of Information (EC Directive Article 23(3) and UK SI Regulation 18)

A contracting authority shall comply with the confidentiality requirements towards information provided to it by a supplier as reasonably request by the supplier.

7.H.6 Supplementary Information (EC Directive Article 24 and UK SI Regulation 17)

The contracting authority may require a supplier to provide supplemental information for clarification purposes  provided that the information relates to Articles 20 to 23 (Regulations 14, 15 and 16).

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