PART V:
Organization and Mandate of the Tender Committee
 

Article 20: Tender Committee

     All procurement procedures defined in Parts II, III and Part IV shall be executed by a Tender Committee appointed by the procuring entity at the central or local level which shall ensure strict compliance with these Implementing Rules and Regulations.

     When a contract award is not proposed to be made to the lowest bidder, and prior to the decision for award of contract, the Tender Committee may seek the advice and guidance of the Director of the Procurement Monitoring Office on the correct application of the procurement procedures. The decision of the Tender Committee is subject to approval in accordance with the Article 22 below. Where the procurement has been carried out in breach of these Implementing Rules and Regulations, such approval will be withheld.
 

Article 21: Tender Committee Composition

The Tender Committee is composed of:

     1. In the case of public bidding and international comparison, the Committee shall be composed of 5-9 members. At the central level members will be appointed by the Minister or his/her authorized representative of the line agency and at the provincial level appointed by the Governor or his/her authorized representative.

     • At the level of a ministry and equivalent agency, 1-3 representatives of the procuring entity or project owner, 1 representative of the Ministry of Finance, 1 representative of the Committee for Planning and Cooperation, 1 representative from each relevant technical department and 1 representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (External Economic Cooperation Department) in the case of loan and grant funded procurement,.

     • At the provincial level, 1-3 representative of the provincial administrative office and the procuring agency or project owner, 1 representative of the provincial Finance Department, representative of provincial planning and cooperation and 1 representative from each relevant technical division.

     2. In the case of direct contracting and limited bidding, the Tender Committee shall be composed of 3-5 persons appointed by the minister of the procuring entity or the provincial governor.

     • At the ministry and equivalent agency level, 1 representative of the ministry's cabinet, 1 representative of the Finance Department or Office, 1 representative from the procuring entity or project owner and 1 representative from each relevant technical division.

     • At the province level, 1 representative of the province administrative office, 1 representative of the province Finance Department, 1 representative of the procuring entity or project owner and 1 representative from each relevant technical section.

     3. In the case of bids to be obtained on the basis of price comparison, the Tender Committee shall be composed of 3-5 persons appointed by the Chief of Cabinet of the concerned ministry or of the province.

     • At the ministry level or equivalent agency level, 1 representative from the Cabinet, 1 representative of the procuring agency or project owner. In the case goods are procured for a particular department or several departments, 1 representative from each of these departments will participate in addition.

     • At the province level, 1 representative of the province Administrative Office, 1 representative of the province Finance Department, 1 representative of the procuring entity or project owner or 1 representative from each of the relevant technical sections.

     • The Chief of Cabinet of the ministry or Head of the province Administrative Office may delegate the responsibility for contract awards on the basis of price comparison to the procuring entity or project owner. Such delegation must be made in writing and clearly describe the extent of delegated authority. Assigned persons must strictly follow the procurement decree and these Implementing Rules and Regulations.

      4. The Tender Committee for procurement under State Owned Enterprises: The Committee shall be composed of 3-5 members appointed by the Managing Director or his/her authorized representative. In the case of contracts that will be financed by a Sub-loan from MOF, there will be 1 (one) representative from MOF.

Article 22: Approval of the Bid Evaluation

     • In the case of a contract which value exceeds 50 billion Kip, upon completion of the evaluation of bids, the procuring entity will submit a bid evaluation report prepared by the Tender Committee first to the concerned Minister or his/her assignee. The concerned Minister shall then organize a meeting and invite the representative of Ministry of Finance, Procurement Monitoring Office for preliminary approval of the bid evaluation. The concerned Minister shall submit the finalized bid evaluation to the Chief of the Prime Minister's Office or his authorized representative to consider the award decision and final approval.

     • In the case of a contract which values in the range 10-50 billion Kip, upon completion of the evaluation of bids, the procuring entity will submit a bid evaluation report prepared by the Tender Committee to the concerned Minister or his/her assignee to consider the award decision and final approval. The concerned Minister shall then organize a meeting and invite the representative of Ministry of Finance, Procurement Monitoring Office for final approval of the bid evaluation.

     • In the case of the contract amount value in the range 1-10 billion Kip, upon completion of the evaluation of bids, the procuring entity at the central level will submit a bid evaluation report to the concerned Vice-Minister or his/her assignee, and at the provincial level to the Governor or his/her assignee, to consider the award decision and final approval.

     • In the case of the contract amount value less than 1 (one) billion Kip, upon completion of the evaluation of bids, the procuring entity at the central level will submit a bid evaluation report to the Chief of Cabinet or his/her assignee, and at the provincial level to the Chief of Provincial Cabinet to consider the award decision and final approval.

     • In the case of state owned enterprises, upon completion of the evaluation of bids, the Tender Committee will submit a bid evaluation report to the Managing Director or his/her assignee, to consider the award decision and final approval.
 

Article 23: Tender Committee for Foreign Grants or Loans

     In the case of foreign grants, loans or credits, when a treaty or other form of an agreement is entered into by the Lao PDR with the concerned donor, the appointment of the Tender Committee and approval of the award decision shall be as agreed by the government and the concerned donor. Otherwise and where no other agreement exists, the Procurement Decree 03/PM dated 9 January 2004 and these Implementing Rules and Regulations shall apply.
 

Article 24: Rights and Duties of the Tender Committee

     The Tender Committee at all levels have the right and duty to prepare tender documents, carry out and evaluate bids and submit the award decision for approval. The Tender Committee must notify the unsuccessful bidders the contract award information and return bid securities within 7 days after approval of the award decision by the ministry or procuring entity and the signing of the contract by the successful bidder. The Tender Committee shall maintain all records of procurement proceedings and documentation for respective cases in a procurement file. Such records shall be made available on request to Ministry of Finance, Procurement Monitoring Office. The Tender Committee shall after the execution of the contract with the successful bidder post contract award information in the offices of the procuring entity or project owner for view by the public.
 

Article 25: Bid Examination and Evaluation

     The Tender Committee shall consider and evaluate the bids within 15 days of the date of bid submission and submit a report to the procuring entity for consideration and obtain the required approvals of the award decision. If a longer period is required by the Tender Committee, prior authorization shall be obtained from authorized authority in accordance with Article 22.
 

Article 26: Confidentiality

     Any information related to the examination and evaluation of bids and proposals, deliberations related to the evaluation and the award decision shall be kept confidential by the Tender Committee and may not be disclosed to bidders or unrelated persons until the award decision has been approved and the contract accepted.
 

Article 27: Rejection of the Award Decision

      In the case of rejection of the award decision, the procuring entity may not modify the Tender Committee's evaluation report, but may require the Tender Committee to review the main causes for rejection and resubmit to the concerned approving authority. If the award recommendation is rejected for the second time, the report will be referred to the State Inspection Authority in the Prime Minister's Office for review.