RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/WGTGP/W/10
16December 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5518)
Original: English Working Group onTransparency
inGovernment Procurement
INFORMATION ONPROCEDURES AND PRACTICES ONTRANSPARENCY IN
GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Communication from Hong Kong, China
Introduction
1. TheGovernment oftheHong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) adopts anopen,
competitive andnon-discriminatory tendering system intheprocurement ofgoods andservices. The
objective istoensure thattenderers aretreated onanequal footing andthattheGovernment getsthe
bestvalue formoney.
2. Thisnoteisintended asacontribution tothestudy phase oftheWorking Group onTransparency
inGovernment Procurement oftheWorld Trade Organization (WTO). Itprovides abriefdescription
oftheprocedures andpractices oftheGovernment oftheHKSAR, which relate totransparency in
government procurement.
Public announcement ofprocurement opportunities
3. Tender notices forprocurement ofgoods andservices through open tendering orselective
tendering fromqualified contractors/suppliers bygovernment departments arepublished bothinEnglish
andChinese intheGovernment oftheHKSAR Gazette onFriday (except when Friday isapublic
holiday). Where necessary, tender notices mayalsobeadvertised inthelocal and/or international
press. Forprocurements covered bytheAgreement onGovernment Procurement ofWTO (GPA),
procuring departments will,ifappropriate, alsonotify consulates andoverseas trade commissioners
ofthetender invitations.
4. Toprovide sufficient information about theintended procurement toenable
contractors/suppliers/service providers tomake aninitial assessment oftheirpotential interest inthe
contract andtorequest thetender documents forpreparing theirbids,information published intender
invitationscoversthetenderreference,theprocuringdepartment,adescriptiononthenatureandquantity
ofthegoods orservices required, thelikely commencement andcompletion ofthecontract, theaddress,
telephone number andfaxline oftheoffice from which forms oftender andfurther particulars may
beobtained, theexact location ofthetender boxinwhich tenders aretobedeposited, andtheclosing
dateandtimeforreceipt oftenders. Reference willalsobemade iftheintended procurement iscovered
byGPA.
5. Apart from publishing tender notices intheGovernment oftheHKSAR Gazette, anoutline
ofthetender information ongovernment procurement ofgoods andservices isalsoprovided onthe
Finance Bureau Homepage ontheInternet (Address: http://www.info.gov.hk/fb/tender.htm). Updating
ofthetender information ontheInternet willbemade every Friday. Inaddition, aforecast ofinvitations
totender forbuilding andengineering works under theWorks Digest issued onaquarterly basis, and
tender information ontenders invited bytheworks departments arepublished ontheWorks BureauWT/WGTGP/W/10
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Homepage ontheInternet updated onaweekly basis (Address: http://www.weplb.gov.hk/).
Furthermore,theGovernmentSuppliesDepartmentandthePrintingDepartmentalsopublishinformation
ontenders invited bythemontheirrespective homepages ontheInternet (Address: Government Supplies
Department -http://www.info.gov.hk/gsd/tender.htm, Printing Department -http://www.info.gov.
hk/pd/), andthetender information willalsobeupdated every Friday.
Information onthecriteria usedforassessing bidsandawarding contracts
6. Tenders aregenerally accepted onthebasisoftheircompliance withthetender specifications
andthetendered sum. Incases where predetermined assessment criteria approved byanappropriate
tender board priortotheinvitation oftender areusedintheevaluation oftenders, procuring departments
arerequired tospecify inthetender document theuseofamarking scheme intender evaluation,
including anoutline oftheassessment criteria. Thisistoensure thattenderers arefullyaware ofthe
conditions relating totheassessment oftenders andtotheaward ofcontract.
Tenders received forworks contracts
7. Forworkscontracts,thenumberoftendersreceivedandtherangeoftenderedsumsarepublished
ontheFinance Bureau Homepage ontheInternet intheweek aftertheyareopened, together witha
notetospecify thatthetenders havenotbeenchecked forconformity andthatthetender sums have
notbeenchecked foraccuracy.
Information onaward ofcontracts
8. Contracts awarded bytheGovernment oftheHKSAR arepublished forgeneral information
intheGovernment oftheHKSAR Gazette before theendofthefollowing month. Thenotice contains
information ontheprocuring department, thetypeoftendering procedure adopted, thedescription
ofthecontract awarded, name ofthesuccessful tenderer andthecontract sum. Such information is
alsopublished ontheFinance Bureau Homepage ontheInternet. Furthermore, theprocuring department
isrequired to,inaddition tonotifying thesuccessful tenderer ofaccepting histender, inform all
unsuccessful tenderers oftheresult ofthetender exercise andthereasons whytheirbidshavenotbeen
accepted.
Listofapproved suppliers/contractors
9. Where there isfrequent need toinvite tenders forservices orgoods butwhere notall
suppliers/contractors inthemarket arecapable ofdelivering, government departments mayestablish
listsofqualified suppliers/contractors forthepurpose ofselective tendering, subject totheapproval
oftheSecretary fortheTreasury. Atpresent, theWorks Bureau maintains permanent approved lists
ofapproved contractors forworks categories andsuppliers ofmaterials andspecial contractors for
publicworks.TheGovernmentSuppliesDepartmentandtheGovernmentPropertyAgencyalsomaintain
prequalified listofsuppliers/contractors, which arevalid foraspecified period, forthepurpose of
selective tendering. Departments maintaining theselistsofqualified suppliers/contractors arerequired
topublish theup-to-date lists,theperiod ofvalidity ofthelists,themethod ofapplication andassessment
andthemethod ofrenewal, where applicable, intheGovernment oftheHKSAR Gazette annually.
Thenotice should alsospecify thatanyinterested firms maysubmit applications forinclusion anytime
tothegovernment bureaux/departments concerned direct.WT/WGTGP/W/10
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Channel forcomplaint/appeal
10. Suppliers/contractors maylodge complaints about theprocess orresult ofatender exercise
totheprocuring department direct ortotherelevant tender board, Independent Commission Against
Corruption, ortheOffice oftheOmbudsman. Under theOmbudsman Ordinance (Cap. 397ofthe
Laws oftheHKSAR), theOmbudsman isempowered toinvestigate acomplaint concerning the
proceduresadoptedininvitingtenders,determiningthequalificationofpersonstotenderandtheselection
ofthesuccessful tenderer.
11. Inconnection withtheaccession toGPA, Hong Kong, China isrequired tosetupabidchallenge
system comprising anindependent review body toenable suppliers/contractors tochallenge alleged
breaches oftheAgreement arising inthecontext ofprocurements inwhich theyhave, orhavehad
aninterest. Detailed procedures ofthesystem arebeing worked outbyataskforce setupbythe
Government oftheHKSAR.
Release oftender information tomembers ofthepublic
12. Upon request frommembers ofthepublic, theprocuring departments mayprovide thefollowing
information:
(a) tender documents upon thepayment ofafeewhere appropriate;
(b) particulars ofacontract, thecategory oftenderers invited totender forthecontract,
andtheclosing dateforreceipt oftenders; and
(c) thenumber oftenders received foraparticular contract, thename ofthesuccessful
tenderer, theaccepted tender sumandthedateoftheaward ofthecontract. Information
onthewinning tender should onlybeprovided afterthecontract hasbeenexecuted
withthesuccessful tenderer.
Guide toGovernment Procurement
13. TheGovernment oftheHKSAR ispreparing aGuide toGovernment Procurement toprovide
aready single reference forallthose whomaybeinterested inthetendering system andprocedures
oftheGovernment.IntheGuide,wewouldhighlighttheprinciplesunderlyinggovernmentprocurement
practices inHong Kong, summarize thegovernment procurement process andtheGovernment bodies
involved inprocurement, andinclude useful contacts forthose whowishtoobtain more information
about anyparticular areaofgovernment procurement. TheGuide, which isexpected tobeavailable
inDecember 1997, willbeposted ontheFinance Bureau Homepage ontheInternet.