RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONGPA/W/177
9 January 2002
(02-0100)
Committee on Government Procurement
CHECKLIST OF ISSUES FOR PROVISION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO
ACCESSION TO THE AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
Replies by Moldova
The following communication, dated 7 January 2002, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the Republic of Moldova with the request that it be circulated to the Parties.
_______________
I. LEGAL FRAMEWORK
1. Is there a single central law on procurement?  If so, please specify?
The Law No. 66-XIII, da ted 30.04.1997 on the procurement of goods, works and services for
the needs of the state constitutes the lega l framework regarding public procurements.
2. What are the other laws, regulations, decrees, administrative rulings, decisions, policy
guidelines and other instruments governing government procurement?  Please provide a summary of
the subject areas dealt with by each of these instrume nts.  Please also explain the main differences (if
any) that exist between their application at the central and sub-central levels of government and at
other types of entities.
Below there is a list of laws and regulations in force in the Republic of Moldova that are
applied in the public procurements sphere:
• Law No. 1166-XIII, date d 30.04.1997 on procurement of goods, works and services for the
state needs (Monitorul Oficial (the Official Gazette) No. 67-68/551, dated 16.10.1997);
• Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Moldova regarding the National Agency for
Public Procurements No. 1217, dated 31.12.1997 (Monitorul Oficial No. 12-13/86, dated
19.02.1998);
• Resolution of the Republic of Moldova No. 595, dated 25.06.1999 regarding management and
control over public procurement procedures (Monitorul Oficial No. 67-69/626, dated
01.07.1999);
• Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Moldova No. 1312, dated 28.12.2000
regarding estimation, homologation and procurement of literary-creative works, musical
compositions and pieces of applied arts for the completion of the state collections (Monitorul
Oficial No. 1-4/11, dated 11.01.2001);GPA/W/177
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• Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Moldova No. 711, dated 19.12.1996
regarding organization of auctions (tenders) for the design and execution of publicinvestments (Monitorul Oficial No. 12, dated 20.02.1997);
• Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Moldova No. 832, dated 13.08.2001
regarding approval of the Regulation concerning  procurement of goods and services based on
a demand of price proposals (Monitorul Oficial No. 104-105, dated 24.08.2001);
• Regulation concerning contracts of procurement of goods and services for the state
beneficiaries (public procurement contract), dated 17.11.1999 (Monitorul Oficial No. 1-4/2,
dated 06.01.2000).
Participants to procurements are physical and legal persons from the Republic of Moldova
and other countries, irrespective on their ownership form and legal organization status (suppliers
(businessmen)) that carry out activity in the established way.
3. To what extent will the provisions of the Agreement be applied directly or need to be
transposed into the relevant law?  In the event of direct application of the Agreement over conflicting
provisions of domestic law, please indicate the relevant legal basis.
Should an international treaty or an agreement, to which the Republic of Moldova is a party,
specify differently than the domestic law, then the provisions of the international treaty, or agreement
shall have predominance (Article 8 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, dated 29.07.1994;
Article 3, paragraph (2) of the Law No. 1166-X III, dated 30.04.1997 on procurement of goods, works
and services for the state needs).
II. SCOPE AND COVERAGE
4. Please summarize the organization of the government in your country at each level.
From an administrative point of view, the terr itory of the Republic of Moldova is organized
into counties, towns and villages.
Certain settlements in the South part of the Republic constitute a territorial autonomous unit
with a special status established based on an organic Law.
Certain forms and conditions of autonomy might be granted to a number of settlements
located on the left bank of the Nistru river, in conformity to a special status established through anorganic law.
Administrative organization of the territory of the Republic of Moldova is done at two levels:
the villages (communes) and towns (municipalities) constitute the first level, while the counties, the
Gagauz territorial autonomous unit and the Chisinau municipality constitute level two.
5. Please list all central government entities (min istries, departments, agencies, etc.) procuring
goods, services and construction services.
The central public administration bodies entitled to carry out procurement of goods, works
and services are the following:
• The Office of the President of the Republic of Moldova;GPA/W/177
Page 3
• The office of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, including the public bodies
that fall under the leadership and control of the Parliament;
• The State Chancellery of the Republic of Moldova;
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership
and control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Domestic Affairs, including the public bodies that fall under the
leadership and control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Agriculture and Processing Industry, including the public bodies that fall
under the leadership and control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Defence, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Transportation and Communications, including the public bodies that fall
under the leadership and control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Culture, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Ecology, Constructions and Territory Arrangement, including the public
bodies that fall under the leadership and control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Finances, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Industry, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Education, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Justice, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, including the public bodies that fall under
the leadership and control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Health Protection, including the public bodies that fall under the
leadership and control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Energy, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Ministry;
• Ministry of Economy, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Ministry;
• The Customs Department;GPA/W/177
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• The Department for Emergency Situations;
• Department of the Border troops;
• Standards and Metrology Department;
• Department of Privatization;
• Department of Youth and Sports;
• Statistics and Sociology Department;
• Academy of Sciences, including the public bodies that fall under the leadership and
control of the Academy.
6. What entities at the sub-central level of governm ent (states, provinces, municipalities, etc.)
procure goods and services?
Local public administration bodies entitled to carry out procurement of goods, works and
services are the following:
• County Councils, including the public bodi es that fall under their leadership and
control;
• Local Councils, including the public bodies that fall under their leadership and
control;
• Municipal Councils, including the public bodies that fall under their leadership and
control.
7. Which are the enterprises owned or controlled by the government that are subject to the rules
on government procurement?  Which are the other entities or categories of entities (Annex 3-type
entities) owned and controlled by the government that engage in procurement?  Specify.
In the Republic of Moldova the state enterprises, or the enterprises in which the state has the
control package of shares, do not carry out procurements within the provisions of the
Law No. 1166-XIII, dated 30.04.1997 on procurement of goods, works and services for the state
needs.  A possibility of this kind is envisaged, however, by the draft Law on Public Procurements,
which establishes a new mechanism of the state procurements.
8. Do entities listed in response to questions 5, 6 and 7 apply in their procurement the main law
(if one exists), other legislation provided by the federal or central level of government or are they
autonomous from federal or central government in  their procurement rules and practices?  Where
any of these entities are not subject to the main procurement law, please list the entities concernedand indicate which laws, regulations, etc., they are subject to.  How will your government ensure the
implementation of the Agreement by such entities below the central/federal government level?
In conformity to Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, dated 29.07.1994,
the Republic of Moldova is a unitary and undivided state.  From this point of view, the public
administration bodies carry out procurements within the provisions of the Law mentioned above.GPA/W/177
Page 5
9. Are there any general exceptions from the scope of application of the national procurement
rules, for instance for essential national defence or security reasons?  Please provide details.
The Law mentioned in Article 22 envisages the possibility to carry out special auctions with
limited attendance in case that the object of procurement are arms or in case when the requested
goods, works and services are necessary for the defence of the country and national security.
10. Please provide available statistics on the procurement by government entities in your country
in the last two years, including, to the extent av ailable, a breakdown by entity and by categories of
products and services.
At the request of state beneficiaries, the National Agency for Public Procurements has
organized and carried out the following events:
- in 1999 – the Agency carried out 75 auctions and of public procurement contracts
were signed for a total amount of MDL 58,000,000 of the Republic of Moldova
(R.M.);
- in 2000 - the Agency carried out 75 auctions and public procurement contracts were
signed for a total amount of MDL 185,017,197 of the R.M.  In parallel, procurement
contracts have been approved and registered as a result of procurement procedures
carried out through the request of price proposals (98 contracts for a total amount of
MDL 33,522,808.2 of the R.M.) and from a single source – predominantly
procurement of electricity, heat, gas and water supply (568 contracts for an amount ofMDL 163,890,451.1 of the R.M.).  Thus, contracts for a total amount of
MDL 382,430,456.2i of the R.M. have been signed;
- During semester I of 2000 – The Agency carried out 78 auctions and signed contracts
for a total amount of MDL 76,807,472 of the R.M.  In parallel, procurement contracts
have been approved and registered as a result of procurement procedures carried out
through the request of price proposals (391 contracts for a total amount of
MDL 38,571,896 of the R.M.) and from one and the same source (1,407 contracts for
an amount of MDL 275,944,341 of the R.M.)  Thus, contracts have been signed for a
total amount of MDL 391,323,709 of the R.M.
III. NATIONAL TREATMENT AND NON-DISCRIMINATION
11. Identify the specific provisions in the legislation which reflect the national treatment and
non-discrimination commitments of Article III of the Agreement.
Article 8 of the Law No. 1166-XIII, dated 30.04.1997 on procurement of goods, works and
services for the state needs, envisages, among ot her things, the right of suppliers (businessmen) to
participate to auctions irrespective of their citizenship.GPA/W/177
Page 6
12. Please provide details of any provisions in national legislation according domestic supplies
and suppliers treatment more favourable than that accorded to foreign supplies or suppliers or
according supplies or suppliers of any country more favourable treatment than those of any other
country.
Protection ensuring measures:
• Bearing in mind the state interests and in conformity to the Law in force in the Republic of
Moldova, Article 8 of the Law stipulates, as an exception, the possibility of the National
Agency for Public Procurement to decide to narrow the range of participating suppliers
(businessmen) in favour of the national ones.
• Article 38, paragraph (6) stipulates the following:  "The working group shall have the right
during evaluation and comparison of proposals to apply, with the consent of the Procurement
Agency, the preferential limit in favour of work proposals carried out by local businessmen,or in favour of indigenous goods proposals.  This preferential limit shall not exceed 10% of
the proposed price and shall be incorporated into the reports regarding the procurement
procedure.”
13. Please provide details of any provisions in national legislation allowing a locally established
supplier to be treated less favourably than another locally established supplier on the basis of its
degree of foreign affiliation or ownership or di scriminating against locally established suppliers on
the basis of the country of production of the good or service being supplied.
The Law of the Republic of Moldova to be observed in the public procurement area does not
include provisions that, based on certain criteria, would allow a local supplier to be treated in a lessfavourable way in comparison with another local supplier.
14. Please specify to what extent, if at all, more favourable treatment is granted to any sectors of
the economy, regions or specific categories of suppliers or supplies.
All goods are treated in an equal way in the Republic of Moldova, irrespective on their
region.
15. Please specify any provisions requiring or allowing the use of offsets or measures with
similar effect, such as domestic content, licensing of technology, investment, counter-trade or similar
requirements in the qualification or selection of suppliers, products or services or in the evaluation oftenders and award of contracts.
Article 6, paragraph (2) of the Law under consideration envisages in a particular way the
following:
"In order to be admitted to the procurement procedure, a supplier (businessman) shall submit
documents that certify the following:
(a) management competence, experience, good reputation, availability of professional
staff, financial status, technical capacity and other needed capacities for a qualitative
execution of the procurement contract;
(b) powers to sign procurement contracts;(c) business status (certificates proving that the supplier (businessman) is not undergoing
a liquidation or a bankruptcy process, that his property is not under sequestration and
his business activity is not suspended);GPA/W/177
Page 7
(d) documents proving that taxes are paid in a regular way and so are other contributions
and other obligatory payments due within the Law in force in the supplier's
(businessman's) country;
(e) documents confirming that no disciplinary, administrative or penal sanctions were
applied towards the supplier (businessman) during the last five years in connection
with his professional activity or in connection with the submission of misleading
information made with the goal to sign procurement contracts."
IV. ELEMENTS SPECIFIC TO PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES
16. Please provide a general description of your existing procurement methods and procedures,
including the main procurement methods used and a brief description of each method, and the extent
to which qualification of suppliers and open, selective and limited tendering for each level of
government is used.
The procurement procedures are the following:
(a) public auction  – During this procedure proposals or applications for the preliminary
selection are invited from all suppliers (businessmen) that wish to participate in the auction.  In order
to inform the potential participants the National Ag ency for Public Procurements publishes in advance
the conditions for the participation in a public auction, so that the interested parties may prepare their
proposals or applications for the preliminary selection.  In case of procurement of goods and worksthe preferable procedure shall be the procedure of a public auction.
(b) the two stages auction  – is carried out in the following situations:
• the National Agency for Public Procurements is supposed to carry out additional negotiations
with the proposing agencies due to impossibility  to formulate the detailed characteristics of
the goods, works or to determine the peculiarities of services and to make optimum decisions
regarding procurements;
• the contract is signed with the purpose to carry out investigations, experiments, surveys or
elaborations with the exception of the case when a contract presupposes a production of
goods in satisfactory quantities to ensure the commercial efficiency or the compensation ofexpenditures made for these activities.
During the first stage of the two stages auction procedure, in the tender documents the
suppliers (businessmen) are proposed to submit their proposals without indicating the price.  It is also
requested that they submit information regarding the technical and qualitative characteristics, as well
as other peculiarities of the goods, works and services.  Also, in line with the contract clauses, they
are requested to indicate data regarding professional, technical and qualification skills of suppliers(businessmen), depending on the case.  During the first stage of the two stages auction procedure the
Agency for Procurements has the right to carry out negotiations with any supplier (businessmen),
provided that his/her proposal has not been rejected.
During the second stage of the two stages auction procedure the bidders participants to the
first stage, whose proposals have not been rejected, submit their final proposals, indicating their
prices.  The Agency for Procurements may exclude or modify any provision initially included in the
tender documents and may add new characteristics or criteria in conformity to this Law.  Information
concerning such an exclusion, amendment or completion in the tender documents shall be submitted
to the bidders through an invitation to submit final proposals.  A bidder that does not wish to submit afinal proposal may abandon the bidding procedure without losing the right to withdraw the guaranteeGPA/W/177
Page 8
of his proposal.  The final proposals are subject to an evaluation and comparison in order to determine
the winning one.
(c) the auction with limited participation  – is applied in the following cases:
• whenever the goods, the works or the services have a complex or specialized character
and are available to a limited number of suppliers (businessmen);
• whenever the value of the procurement contract is smaller than 12,500 minimum salaries,
and the costs supported for the consideration and evaluation of a big number of proposalsexceeds the costs of requested goods, works and services.
In case of an auction with limited participation, the Agency for Procurement attracts the
preliminary selected proposals, in conformity to the request submitted by the suppliers (businessmen)who have got the demanded goods, works and services and ensures the sufficient number of
participants for an effective competition.
The Agency for Procurement places in its pub lication information regarding the auction with
limited participation.
(d) special auction with limited participation  – such an auction is organized whenever
the object of procurement are arms, goods, or works and services necessary for the defence of the
country and for national security, or if it is necessary that secret or confidentiality be observed.
(e) the price proposal request  – application of such a procedure is conditioned by the
value of the procurement, which is not supposed to exceed 2,500 minimum salaries.
The price proposals are requested to a rational number of suppliers (businessmen), but no less
than three.  Whenever it happens that only two suppliers (businessmen) meet the qualification
requirements to act as suppliers of goods, to do the works and to deliver the requested services, the
request to submit price proposals shall be placed with these suppliers (businessmen).  Whenever it
happens that only one supplier (businessman) meets the qualification requirements to act as supplier
of goods, to do the works and to deliver the requested services, the request to submit price proposals
shall be placed with this supplier (businessman).  Any supplier (businessman) requested to submit hisprice proposal shall be informed whether additionally to the costs for goods and services, the price is
supposed to include costs for transportation, insurance, payment of customs duties and taxes.
A supplier (businessman) can submit one single price proposal, with no right to be changed.
No negotiation between the Procurements Agency and the bidder shall take place concerning such an
proposal.
The proposal that meets all requirements at the smallest price shall be considered the winning
one.
(f) procurement from one single source  - shall take place provided that:
• there is an urgent need of goods, works and services as a result of an emergency;
• there is only one single supplier (businessman) that has got the necessary goods, works or
services, or only one single supplier (businessman) has got the priority rights over such
requested goods, works or services and there is no other alternative;GPA/W/177
Page 9
• the working group responsible to do procurement of goods, equipment, technologies or
services from a certain supplier (businessman) decides to make additional procurements fromthe same supplier (businessman), provided that their amount does not exceed 30 per cent of
the initial procurements quantum;
• the contract with this supplier (businessman) is  signed in order to carry out investigations,
experiments, surveys or explorations, with the exception of cases when the contract
presupposes production of goods in sufficient quantities to ensure their commercial efficiency
or to recover costs for the sake of mentioned purposes;
• after having carried out the procurement procedure the Agency, after placing a bidding,
received one single proposal, and the initiation of a new bidding procedure is not rational.
17. Identify the provision in your country's legislation requiring non-discrimination as regards
the qualification of suppliers in terms of Article VIII and selection of suppliers in terms of Article X.
Indicate any exception to this requirement.  What are the provisions ensuring non-discriminatory
access of new suppliers to existing qualification lists?
Article 6, paragraph (3) of the Law under consideration envisages that the suppliers'
(businessmen') include qualifying data in the documents submitted for the preliminary qualification
selection, if there exists one, in the auction documents and in other documents developed to attractproposals and that all suppliers (businessmen) are supposed to comply with this requirement.  The
procurement working group for a state beneficiary shall not establish additional criteria, requirements
or procedures regarding qualification data.  Neither shall it establish discriminating criteria,
requirements or procedures with respect to a certain category of suppliers (businessmen).  Regarding
the preliminary selection procedure Article 7 stipulates that the preliminary selection is carried outbased on non-discriminating principles.
18. In situations where qualification procedures and selective tendering may be used, to what
extent do entities allow suppliers to become qualified during the procurement process?  To what
extent do entities maintain permanent lists of suppliers?
The public authorities carry out evaluation of the suppliers' (businessmen') qualification data
based on criteria and methods indicated in the documents designed for the attraction of proposals, and
in case of application of preliminary selection procedures the suppliers that have submitted
applications are selected in conformity with th e preliminary selection criteria included in the
preliminary selection documents.
There exist no permanent lists of suppliers.
19. What are the conditions and circumstances foreseen in your legislation allowing the use of
the limited tendering method under Article XV of the Agreement?  What measures exist in order to
ensure that this method is not used with a view  to avoiding maximum possible competition or in a
manner which would constitute a means of discriminating among foreign supplies/suppliers or infavour of domestic supplies/suppliers?
The relevant Law envisages the following:
"Article 21.  Auction with limited participation
(1) The Agency for Procurement may carry out procurements through the limited
participation auctions provided that:GPA/W/177
Page 10
(a) the goods, the works or the services with a complex or specialized character are
available with a limited number of suppliers (businessmen);
(b) the value of the procurement contract is smaller than 12,500 minimum salaries, and
the costs to do consideration and evaluation of a big number of proposals will exceedthe costs of requested goods, works and services.
(2) In case of an auction with limited participation, the Agency for Procurement attracts
the preliminary selected proposals, in conformity to requirements, submitted by the suppliers
(businessmen) who have got the requested goods, works and services and ensures the sufficient
number of participants for an effective competition.
(3) The Agency for Procurement in its publication places information regarding the
auction with limited participation.
Article 22.  Special auction with limited participation
(1) Whenever the object of procurement are arms, goods, or works and services
necessary for the defence of the country and for national security, or if it is necessary that secret or
confidentiality be observed the National Agency for Procurement may carry out a special auction with
limited participation.
(2) In carrying out this kind of auctions the Agency for Procurements is obliged to
observe provisions of Article 21, provided that it keeps the secrecy or confidentiality of the
information concerning the security and national defence."
20. Article XIV of the Agreement allows for negotiation under certain conditions.  Are entities
allowed to proceed to negotiations?  If so, which categories and what are the conditions imposed?
No negotiations shall take place between the Agency for Procurements and the state
beneficiary working group on one hand and the bidder on the other hand regarding the made proposal.
21. Article XI sets out the minimum time-periods for tendering and delivery.  What are the rules
and practices regarding time-periods in your legisla tion?  Does the legislation reflect the various
minimum time-periods as set out in the Agreement?  If not, give information on any different
time-periods which have been established in your national legislation.
Article 32 of the Law envisages the following:
"(1) The Procurement Agency shall establish the place, the dead line date and hour of the
term for the proposal submission.  This term shall be at least 10 days long and shall start 45 days laterthe date of the tender documents issue.
(2) Should the Procurement Agency make explanations or amendments to the tender
documents, or should it hold a meeting of suppliers (businessmen), the term for the proposals
submission shall be prolonged, depending on the case, so that the suppliers (businessmen) haveenough time to take into consideration the made explanation, modification or the stipulation of the
meeting minutes.
(3) Before the term for the proposal submission expires, the Procurement Agency has the
right, at its decision, to prolong this term.
(4) The notification regarding the term prolongation shall be immediately sent to each
supplier (businessmen) to whom the Procurement Agency has sent the bidding documents.GPA/W/177
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(5) The written and signed proposal is submitted in a sealed envelope.  In case of certain
standard goods, in conformity to certain rules worked out by the Procurement Agency, it is also
possible, to transmit a proposal via the fax.  In this case the Agency shall issue at the request of the
supplier (businessman) a receipt indicating the date and the hour of the proposal reception.
(6) The proposal received by the Procurement Agency later than the established deadline
for the proposals submission shall not be open, and shall be returned back to the supplier
(businessman) that had submitted it."
22. Briefly describe the procedures for the submission, receipt and opening of tenders and
awarding of contracts, in particular the procedures and conditions guaranteeing regularity of theopenings and consistency with the non-discrimination provisions of the Agreement.  How is the
information on the proceedings related to the receipt, opening and evaluation of tenders maintained
by entities?
The National Agency for Public Procurements through a decree shall set up an auction
committee, which shall include minimum five memb ers.  The membership of the committee shall
include:
/g113 the chairman of the committee who is usually the representative of the Agency;
/g113 a representative appointed by the Ministry of Finances;
/g113 a representative(s) of the working group(s) for procurements for a state beneficiary(ies), who
shall carry out procurements;
/g113 other representatives, as members of the auction committee, who shall be specialists with
professional experience in the respective public procurement area.
The auction committee organizes the auction session during which the proposals are open.
Proposal opening is done at a time set in the bidd ing documents in the presence of the auction
committee members and representatives of the bidders.
During bids opening, the chairman of the auction committee announces the name, or
depending on the case, the name of the bidders, the cost of bids, the proposals for alternative bids,
including the main values and characteristics of the bids.  Next, he reads the written notifications
regarding amendments or withdrawals of bids, in cases in which there exist guarantees of
participation.  He also reads any other details that the auction committee considers necessary.
After bids opening and announcement of the bidders, the auction committee works out two
copies of the minutes of the session.  One copy is kept as records of the committee, where it states the
data mentioned during bids opening.  The minutes are read in the presence of participants, and then it
is being signed by the members of the auction committee and by the bidders representatives.
Bids that have been withdrawn or submitted later than the established deadline shall be
returned back to the respective bidders without being open.
In the case when procurements are supposed to be carried out by a single state beneficiary, the
bids, after having been open in a public way, are submitted by the auction committee to thebeneficiary procurement working group for their subsequent consideration, evaluation and
comparison.GPA/W/177
Page 12
In the case when procurements are supposed to be carried out by two or more state
beneficiaries the bids are being considered, evaluated and compared by the auction committee.
23. Please identify the provisions in your legislation setting the parameters for the prescription of
technical specifications by entities as part of the evaluation criteria.
Article 23 of the Law under consideration:
"Characteristics of goods, works and services.
(1) The characteristics of goods, works and services requested by the working group need
to represent an exact and complete description of the procured object.
(2) The characteristics shall meet the requ irements set forward by the working group in
respect to quality, efficiency, testing, security, dimensions, symbols, packaging, transportation way,
marking, labelling, processes and methods of production of the procured object, as well as procedures
of determination of its compliance with the tender documents.
(3) During editing of the technical specifications, designs, technical drawings and
descriptions requested by the working group the following shall be fulfilled:
(a) a physical description of requested goods, works and services shall be made, based on
the technical and qualitative, objective and relevant characteristics;
(b) should the physical description be impossible, or should the efficiency parameters be
primordial, characteristics shall be made from the point of view of the exploitation of,
or the efficiency of works and services;
(c) in doing description of requested goods, works, and services one shall use
characteristics, requirements, symbols and standard terms or international standards
and the national standards recognized on an international level, as approved by the
Department of Standards, Metrology and Technical Supervision.
(4) The technical specifications shall not make reference to a special commercial mark or
to a firm, to a patent, chart or type of goods, works and services, and shall not indicate a concreteorigin, a producer or a supplier.  In cases when there exist no way to express in a sufficiently exact
way the requirements put forward by a special procurement, but such a reference appears inevitable,
the characteristics shall include the words "or the equivalent".
The Law of the Republic of Moldova applicable in the public procurement sphere does not
specify the requirements concerning the protection of environment and security of employees, these
requirements constituting exclusively the object of legal regulation covered by the Law on protection
of environment and the Law on labour.  Thus, during procurement operations, the subjects involved
are supposed to ensure observation of these provisions.
24. Identify the measures in national legislation ensuring that awards are made in accordance
with the evaluation criteria and essential requirements specified in the tender documentation.
Article 38 of the Law under consideration stipulates that the working group of the state
beneficiary, by using methods and criteria specified in the bidding documents, considers, evaluates
and compares the received bids in order to determine the winning bid.  No other criteria than the onesindicated in the bidding documents shall be used.  The results of the bids consideration, evaluation
and comparison shall be submitted to the National Agency for Public Procurements for approval.GPA/W/177
Page 13
V. INFORMATION
25. Article XIX:1 of the Agreement foresees the publication of laws, regulations, judicial
decisions, administrative rulings of general application and procedures regarding government
procurement.  Please give the name of the relevant publication(s) and indicate the media used for this
purpose.  Please also provide, where available, the address of an Internet website where thelegislation referred to in questions 1 and 2 can be found.
The laws, the Parliament resolutions, the Pres idential decrees, the Government resolutions
and the normative acts of ministries and departments are published in the "Monitorul Oficial" (The
Official Gazette).
26. Article IX:1 of the Agreement foresees the publ ication of invitations to participate for all
cases of intended procurement by entities.  Please give the name of the relevant publication(s) andindicate the media to be used for this purpose.  Please also provide, where available, the address of
an Internet website where such invitations are published.
Invitations to participate to all types of procurements held by public authorities are published
in the "Economicescoe Obozrenie" Bulletin of the National Agency for Public Procurements.  The
Internet is one of the tools used for this purpose.
27. Please specify the types of information that your legislation requires to be included in notices
of invitation to tender or in tender documentation, and identify the relevant provisions of your
legislation.
Invitation to the tender is made through the radio and is placed in the "Economicescoe
Obozrenie" newspaper.
An invitation to participate to an auction shall include the following data:(a) the name and venue of the Procurement Agency;(b) the goods, quantity and place of their delivery;  the works, the place of their
application;  the services and the place of their delivery;
(c) the terms of the delivery of goods, deadline of completion of works and the schedule
of service delivery;
(d) criteria and way of evaluation of qualification data with respect to suppliers
(businessmen);
(e) a provision, which subsequently may not be changed, saying that the suppliers
(businessmen) can participate to the procurement procedure irrespective on theircitizenship or the provision saying that the range of participants is limited in
conformity to Article 8, paragraph (1);
(f) the way and the place where the tender documents may be obtained;
(g) the fee (if there is one) for the tender documents;
(h) the currency and the way to pay fees for the tender documents;(i) the language (or languages) used in the development of the tender documents;GPA/W/177
Page 14
(j) place and terms of submission of bids.
An invitation to participate to the preliminary selection shall include the following
information:
(a) the way and place where the documents regarding the preliminary selection may be
obtained;
(b) the fee (if there is one) to be paid for the preliminary selection documents;(c) the currency and the way to do the payment of the fee for the preliminary selection
documents;
(d) the language (or languages) used in the development of the preliminary selection
documents;
(e) the place and the terms of the submission of  the preliminary selection applications.Conditions for the release of the action documents:The Procurement Agency offers the auction documents to suppliers (businessmen) in
conformity to provisions included in the invitatio n to participate to the auction.  In case of the
preliminary selection procedure the Agency offers a set of auction documents to each supplier
(businessman) selected in advance, who has paid th e fee for mentioned documents (if there is such a
fee).  The fee that the Agency is entitled to collect for the auction documents shall be established only
based on expenditures supported for the printing of documents and their delivery to the supplier
(businessmen).
The auction documents shall include the following:(a) guidelines concerning the preparation of bids;(b) criteria and ways used to evaluate the bidders' qualification data and to confirm these
data;
(c) requirements to be met by the documents or other information that is supposed to be
submitted by the bidders in order to confirm their qualification data;
(d) the technical and qualitative characteristics requested with respect to the goods,
works and services; the amounts of goods;  the related services;  the place of
development of works, the place of delivery of services;  the terms of goods delivery,
completion of works and service delivery;
(e) criteria used to evaluate the winning bid, including any other preferential goods, their
relative value;
(f) the procurement contract clauses and the template of the contract that needs to be
signed by the parties;
(g) the respective declaration and description of the evaluation and the way of
comparison of the alternative bids, whenever alternatives are admitted with respect to
the characteristics of goods, works and services and the contract clauses or other
requirements;GPA/W/177
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(h) description of a part (parts) with respect to which bids may be submitted, if the
suppliers (businessman) are allowed to submit bids for only a part of requested goods,
works and services;
(i) the way the price is calculated and expressed, including indications regarding the
need that, additionally to the genuine cost of the goods, works and services, to also
include other elements in the price, such as the transportation and insurance, payment
of customs fees and taxes, etc.;
(j) information about the currency (or currencies) used to calculate and express the price
of the bid;
(k) information about the language (or languages) of the bids;
(l) the requirements put forward by the Procurement Agency towards the issuer and
information regarding the form, amount and other basic conditions of the guarantee of
the bid, the guarantee that is supposed to be submitted by the bidder and therequirements regarding the guarantee of the contract implementation by the supplier
(businessman) that signs a procurement contract;
(m) the notification regarding the possibility of the supplier (businessman) to modify or
withdraw his bid before the expiration of the bids submission deadline withoutloosing the right to withdraw the guarantee made for the respective bid;
(n) the way, place, the deadline term and the hour of the bids submission term;(o) the way, in which the supplier (businessman) may request explanations in connection
with the tender documents and the notification regarding the intention of the Agency
to summon at a certain stage a meeting of the suppliers (businessmen);
(p) the term of the bids validity;(q) the place, the date and the hour of the bids opening;
(r) the procedure to be followed in the bids opening and consideration;
(s) information about the currency to be used in the evaluation and comparison of bids or
the exchange rate to be taken as equivalent for the price of the bids in a special
currency, or the declaration regarding the fa ct that the applied exchange rate shall be
the one published by a certain financial institution and valid at a certain date;
(t) reference to this Law and to other normative acts concerning procurements;  the lack
of such a reference should not constitute grounds to advance claims to the Agency or
to impose certain obligations on the Agency;
(u) the name, surname, the function and the contact data of one or more decision-making
factors or of the Agency employees entitled to communicate directly with the
suppliers (businessmen);
(v) the notification regarding the right to co mplain in connection with a certain action or
a decision of the Agency or with a certain procurement procedure applied by the
Agency;GPA/W/177
Page 16
(w) the notification concerning the right of the working group to reject all bids in
conformity to Article 12;
(x) the necessary formalities, after a bid has been accepted, to sign the procurement
contract, including, as the case may be, approval of a superior body and thepresupposed term to obtain such an approval;
(y) other requirements established by the Agency in conformity to present Law and other
normative acts concerning procurements.
28. Article IX:1 of the Agreement foresees publication of permanent lists of qualified suppliers by
entities maintaining such lists.  Please give the name of the relevant publication(s) and indicate themeans used for this purpose.  Please also provide, where available, the address of an Internet website
where such lists are published.
The public bodies shall not develop permanent lists of qualified suppliers.
29. Article XVIII:1 of the Agreement foresees the publication of details of contract award notices
by entities.  Please give the name of the relevant publication(s) and indicate the means to be used for
this purpose.  Please also provide, where available, the address of an Internet website where such
notices are published.
Public entities do not publish announcements regarding the award of the contract.
30. Please specify the types of information that notic es of contract awards should contain in your
country and identify the relevant provisions in your legislation.
The Procurement Agency, based on Article 14 of the Law on public procurements publishes a
notification regarding signing a procurement contract within a 30-day period of time since its signing.
The notification includes at least the name of the supplier (businessman) with whom the contract hasbeen signed, the object of the contract, the price or the total value of the contract.
31. Please specify the relevant provisions in your legislation enabling, as foreseen in
Article XVIII:2, the provision of information to other Parties and unsuccessful tenderers regarding
the reasons why a tender was not selected.
In conformity to Article 40 of the Law on Procurements, the Procurement Agency, within a
3-day period of time since it has approved the winning bid, sends to the bidder a writtencommunication informing him about the fact that his proposal has been accepted or has not been
accepted.
VI. BID CHALLENGE PROCEDURES
32. Please provide information on existing challenge procedures.
Consideration, evaluation and comparison of bids is done by the working groups of the state
beneficiary.
In order to facilitate the consideration, evaluation and comparison of the bids, the working
group may request the bidder to submit explanations concerning the proposal.  No modifications areallowed, including modifications of the price that might contribute to the fact that the proposal is
brought into compliance with some requirements wi th which it didn't comply initially.  The working
group, during its consideration, shall correct only the arithmetic errors found in the proposal and shall
immediately inform the bidder about them.GPA/W/177
Page 17
The working group has the right to consider th e proposal complying with the requirements
also in cases when a proposal contains insignificant deviations from the provisions of the tender
documents, errors or omissions that might be corrected without affecting its essence.  Any deviation
of this kind shall be expressed, to the possible extent, in a quantitative way and shall be taken intoconsideration during evaluation and comparison of the bids.
A working group shall not accept a proposal in the following cases:(a) the bidder doesn't meet the qualification requirements;(b) the bidder does not accept to correct an arithmetic mistake;(c) the proposal does not meet the requirements included in the tender documents;(d) it was stated that corruption actions have been undertaken in this respect.
In order to determine the winning bid the working group evaluates and compares the received
proposals using ways and criteria included in the tender documents.  No criteria other than the ones
contained in the tender documents shall be used.  The results of consideration, evaluation and
comparison of the proposals are submitted for approval to the Procurement Agency.
A proposal shall be considered a winning one provided that:
(a) it is the bid that proposes the smallest price, while taking into consideration the
preferential limits;
(b) it is the proposal that has the smallest es timated value, should such a requirement be
envisaged in the tender documents, determined based on the criteria listed below, that
are to be considered via relative values, and if possible, via an equivalent magnitude
of the cost:
- the price of the proposal, taking into consideration any preferential limits;
- operation, maintenance and repair costs; terms of the delivery of the goods, of
the completion of the works and delivery of services;  functional 
characteristics of goods and works;  payment conditions and the guarantee of 
goods, works and services;
- defence and national security treaty as priority issues.
In case that the prices of the proposals are expressed in two or more currencies, then in order
to facilitate the evaluation and comparison of the proposals, the prices of all proposals shall be
calculated in one single currency in line with the exchange rate established in the tender documents.
Should a bidder refuse to fulfil the request of the working group to confirm the second time
the qualification data for the contract signing, then the proposal is rejected and a new proposal is
selected out of the still valid proposals.  At the same time, the working group with the consent of the
Procurement Agency, has the right to reject all the other proposals.
Information regarding the consideration, evaluation and comparison of proposals shall not be
disclosed to the bidders or to other persons officially uninvolved in theses procedures or during the
winning bid selection procedure.GPA/W/177
Page 18
33. Are there specific provisions enabling access of foreign suppliers to challenge procedures?
The Law of the Republic of Moldova applied in the public procurement area does not contain
provisions that could allow the access of foreign suppliers to the proposals consideration procedure.
34. To the extent that this information does not fully respond to the following points, please
provide the supplementary information necessary to do so:
(i) The time-limit to launch a complaint contained in the Agreement is "not less than
10 days" from the time when the basis of the complaint is known or reasonably
should have been known.  What are the limits in your domestic legislation?
A supplier (businessman), that considers himself damaged or expects to be damaged as a
result of the procurement procedure, shall have the right, within a 20-day period of time since the daywhen the supplier (businessman) started the action, period during which he learnt about circumstances
that served as grounds for the appeal, to complain in connection with these actions or in connection
with the decision of the Procurement Agency.
(ii) What body is responsible for the challenge procedures?  Is this a "court" or an
"impartial and independent review body"?  If the latter:
- How are its members selected?- Are its decisions subject to judicial review?- If not, how will the requirements of paragraph 6 of Article XX be taken into 
account?
In such cases the National Agency for Public Procurements shall be responsible for the
resolution of the complaint.
(iii) What is the applicable law by reference to which the challenge body will examine
complaints?
The Law No. 1166-XIII, dated 30.04.1997 on the procurement of goods, works, services for
the needs of the state is the relevant Law to be applied in the complaint settlement.
(iv) Which rapid interim measures are provided to correct breaches of the Agreement and
to preserve commercial opportunities?
- Do these measures include the possibility to suspend the procurement 
process?  On what conditions?
Submission of a complaint in the set terms brings about a suspension of the procurement
procedures for seven days, provided that this is an essential complaint and contains a declaration that,
once proved, confirms the following:
(a) without undertaking such a suspension, the supplier (businessman) would suffer
damages;
(b) there is the possibility that such a complaint may be settled;(c) the suspension will not cause damages to parties involved in the procurement
procedure.GPA/W/177
Page 19
In case of a procurement contract signing, a relevant complaint submission shall bring about
the suspension of the contract execution for a 7-day period of time, provided that the complaint meets
the requirements mentioned above.  In order to ensu re the rights of the supplier (businessman) that has
submitted the complaint, or the one who has started an action, the Procurement Agency may prolongthese terms of suspension, on condition that the suspension term does not exceed a 30-day period of
time.
Suspension shall not be applied if the Procurement Agency considers that the public urgent
interests require prolongation of procurements.  The decision that proves the existence of such
interests, and which is countersigned in the report regarding the procurement procedure, is definite,
with the exception of cases appealed in the court.
(v) How do challenge procedures provide for correction of the Agreement?  What types
of compensation for loss or damages suffered can the challenge body order?
The Law does not envisage compensation possibilities for the supported losses or damages.
These will have to be defined (established) by the corresponding institution.
(vi) Give any available information on the tim e-periods for the stages of the challenge
process, including to obtain interim measures and a final decision.
The Procurement Agency shall establish the place, the deadline date and hour of the terms of
the proposals submission.  This term shall be no less than 10 days and shall start 45 days later than the
date of tender documents release.
In case that the Procurement Agency makes explanations or makes modifications in the tender
documents, or in case that the Agency holds a meeting with the suppliers (businessmen), the term of
the bids submission is prolonged, as the case may be, so that the suppliers (businessmen) have enough
time to take into consideration the explanation, the amendment or the provisions of the meeting
minutes.
Before the term of the bids submission expires, the Procurement Agency has the right, at its
decision, to prolong this term.
The notification regarding the prolongation of the term is immediately sent to each supplier
(businessman), to whom the Procurement Agency had previously sent the tender documents.
The written and signed proposal is submitted in a sealed envelope.  In case of certain standard
goods, in conformity to certain rules worked out by the Procurement Agency, it is also possible, to
transmit a proposal via the fax.
In this case, the Agency shall issue at the re quest of the supplier (businessman) a receipt
indicating the date and the hour of the proposal receipt.
The proposal received by the Procurement Agency later than the established deadline for the
proposals submission shall not be open, and shall be returned back to the supplier (businessman) that
had submitted it.
(vii) What are the usual costs to conduct a challenge procedure?  Are there possibilities
foreseen to do so free of charge?
The Law on public procurements envisages that the procedure of bid consideration is done for
free.GPA/W/177
Page 20
VII. OTHER MATTERS
35. To what extent is information technology  being used in the process of government
procurement?  Are notices of invitations to tender and/or notices of contract awards published
electronically?  Please provide the address of such electronic publications.
For publishing purposes and for the devel opment of the documents the information
technology is used.  The announcement regarding th e contract award is not published electronically.
36. Is there a contact point in your country for responding to enquiries from suppliers, other
governments and the wider public relating to laws, regulations and procedures and practices
regarding government procurement at the central and/or sub-central level?  Please provide the
address.
The contact address is:
Piaţa Marii Adunari Na ţionale 1,
National Agency of Public Procurements
E-mail:  anap@moldova.md
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