| TERM
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DEFINITION
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| Award
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The formal acceptance of a supplier's bid or proposal by a government agency. Following such
acceptance, the agency usually issues a purchase order to the vendor reflecting the award.
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| Bid
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An offer or proposal for goods and/or services submitted in response to a government agency’s invitation.
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Bidding documents
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The set of documents issued by a government agency that establish the object of the bidding (the
technical specifications), specify proposed contract conditions and establish the bidding procedure to be followed. In a broader sense, this is the
group of documents that determines the contractual conditions to be established between the supplier or contractor and the agency.
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| Contractual/Procurement methods
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Government procurement takes place through different types of methods or tendering. There are
three main types of tendering: open (or unlimited) procurement, selective procurement (restricted to pre-selected categories of suppliers,
invited to bid) and limited (or negotiated) procurement, including individual, sole-source, single-source or direct tendering. In addition
to formal tendering procedures, countries also use “informal” methods, such as requests for proposals and requests for quotations (where
procuring entities seek detailed technical and cost proposals, on the basis of which they hold negotiations with prospective providers) or
novel methods of procurement, such as purchase cards or electronic catalogues, brought forward by the increasing use by national
administrations of information and communication technologies.
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Government Procurement
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The formal process through which official government agencies obtain goods and services,
including construction services or public works. It also includes all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any goods, service, or
construction, including description of requirements, selection and solicitation of sources, evaluation of offers, preparation and award of
contract, dispute and claim resolution and all phases of contract administration. In GATT language, government procurement means the process
by which a government obtains the use of or acquires goods or services, or any combination thereof, for governmental purposes and not with a
view to commercial sale or resale, or use in the production or supply of goods or services for commercial sale or resale.
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| Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
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A plurilateral agreement negotiated during the Tokyo Round to ensure that government purchases
of goods and services entering into international trade are based on specific, published regulations that prescribe open procedures for
submitting bids; to improve transparency in national procurement practices; and to ensure effective recourse to dispute settlement procedures.
The agreement was renegotiated during the Uruguay Round, becoming effective 1 January 1996.
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| Limited tendering/ Direct contracting
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Contracting with a firm that is selected without competition.
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| Notice of invitation (Solicitation)
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The process used to communicate procurement requirements and to request responses from interested
suppliers.
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| Open tendering
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Also referred to as “public bidding,” the formal, public, and competitive procedure during which
offers are requested, received and evaluated for goods or services and after which the related contract is awarded to the bidder that complies
with the conditions specified in the notice of invitation. It involves a series of stages, acts or steps that must follow rules prescribed in
the bidding documents. The procedure consists of: (i) a public invitation directed to all those with a possible interest in presenting offers;
followed by (ii) an evaluation stage to select the offer most advantageous to the owner and finally (iii) the award of the corresponding contract.
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| Selective tendering
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A method similar to open/public tendering, except that the invitations to bid are not issued to the
public in general but only to firms selected by the procuring agency. In general, the same procedures are used as for competitive bidding. It may
include a prequalification, this is a step in the bidding process in which the agency first selects the firms to whom invitations to bid will later
be issued.
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| Procuring entities
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Government agencies that obtain goods and services by methods subject to the procurement provisions
of the Agreement. Countries may not subject all entities to the rules of the agreement, but usually maintain exclusions with respect to entities
within sensitive sectors and those carrying out special programs.
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| Performance requirements
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Special conditions imposed on tenders by government agencies, sometimes requiring commitments to
purchase given supplies locally, or to ensure the employment of a specified percentage of local labor and management. See Investment, page 34
and Tariff and Non-tariff Measures, page 44, where this text may have a slightly different meaning.
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| Public bid opening
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A formal date, time, and location where and when sealed bids requested by a agency will
be opened, announced, and available for review by the public.
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| Technical specification
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A specification that lays down the characteristics of goods to be procured or their related
processes and production methods, or the characteristics of services to be procured or their related operating methods, including the
applicable administrative provisions, and a requirement relating to conformity assessment procedures that an entity prescribes. A technical
specification may also include or deal exclusively with terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labeling requirements, as they apply to
a good, process, service or production or operating method.
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| Transparency provisions
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Provisions related to procedural steps, such as, but not exclusively, the initial announcement
and dissemination of information about a tender; the definition and dissemination of criteria for prospective bidders; the establishment of
timelines and guidelines for preparation and submission of bids; information about the type of award procedure being used; the definition and
dissemination of criteria used to evaluate the quality and competitiveness of a given bid; and the availability of avenues for challenging
given awards.
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| Thresholds
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In most national legislations, the determination of the type of tendering applicable to a specific
procurement is based on the value of the procurement. Thresholds often differ for goods, services and public works. Some international agreements
use thresholds to determine procurement subject to the provisions of the Agreement.
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