Procurement is the acquisition of consultancy services, goods, non-consultancy services, or works from an external source. All SPREP procurement activities are conducted in accordance with the SPREP Procurement manual.
SPREP procurement principles help ensure that value for money, quality of goods procured, transparency, impartiality, competency, clarity, and socially and environmentally responsible purchasing decisions are consistently made by the organization.
Application and Accountability
The SPREP Executives – the Director General and Deputy Director General are accountable for all organization procurement decisions. While the Executive may delegate their authority to staff and other delegated entities, they remain ultimately accountable for all organization procurement decisions. The Directors, the Finance and Administration Adviser, and other senior staff are accountable to the SPREP Director General for all procurement responsibilities delegated to them. This includes oversight and ensuring staff reporting to them are aware of SPREP's procurement manual and procedures.
SPREP's Procurement Officer is responsible for the overall management of the procurement process.
Value for money
The guiding principle of the procurement process is that SPREP must obtain 'value for money' in a fair and transparent manner. Each procurement process must evaluate the relative costs and benefits of the available options to ensure that SPREP obtains the maximum benefit from the acquired goods and services within the time frames and resources available. The best value for money option is not always the cheapest option. To achieve value for money, SPREP requires staff involved in a procurement process to canvass potential suppliers, follow endorsed procedures, apply predefined selection criteria, and make sound and impartial judgments. This will help ensure that SPREP procured services deliver the highest quality of outputs within the available budget and time-frames.
Transparency
SPREP staff involved in procurement processes must fully document their procurement processes and conclude with a written contract containing all agreed terms and conditions. This will ensure transparency, ensure all potential suppliers have equal access to all relevant information, and enable SPREP's procurement decisions to stand up to internal and external scrutiny.
Impartiality
Procurement procedures must treat potential suppliers fairly and in a non-discriminatory manner. All candidates must have equal access to identical information, and receive impartial consideration following common rules and deadlines. SPREP staff must answer all enquiries about procurement, in a prompt and polite manner, but also in a way that ensures no potential supplier gains an unfair advantage. Answers to all procurement related enquiries will be made in writing either in email or in letter, and made publicly available to all potentially interested parties at a predetermined time identified in the call for tender documents.
SPREP staff involved in procurement processes must behave ethically, and are required to declare conflicts of interest at all times.
Clarity
To ensure certainty and to avoid confusion, the standards and duties relating to a procurement process must follow those documented in this procurement manual and include:
- Thresholds: the procurement value will pre-determine which procurement procedure to use;
- Criteria: standards for evaluating tenders and awarding contracts will be articulated and documented before tenders are published and the evaluation criteria and any weighting made available to all potential suppliers; and
- Responsibilities: the composition and duties of the associated evaluating committee will be clearly documented.
Social and Environmental Responsibility
SPREP’s Environmental and Social Management Policy sets out SPREP’s commitment to ensuring that the best possible environmental and social impacts of its work are achieved. When planning, approaching the market, and evaluating tenders, SPREP Officers should consider:
- Whether there are any standards (whether legislative, or industry best practice) or certifications that the product or service should meet;
- Whether there are environmentally or socially responsible options within the market that should be encouraged or could be prioritized; and
- Whether, upon procuring the goods or services, there are potential adverse social and/ or environmental impacts that could result from the delivery and/or operation of that goods or services.