Transparency and Integrity in Ríkiskaup‘s Procurement Procedures
In 2019 Ríkiskaup started to use a new electronic procurement System, Tendsign from Visma. Ríkiskaup uses it to procure it works, goods and services on behalf of all A-level institutions/public agencies in Iceland. The use of electronic procurement system ensures more than ever transparency in Public Procurement in Iceland. The system documents all tenders that are received within the time frames and when they are opened and by whom. It is not possible to open tenders before the deadline.
In article 65 of the Icelandic Public Procurement Act no. 120/2016 there is a special rule about opening of tenders that does not derive from the Public Procurement Directives no. 2014/24 and 25. This Article is to secure transparency in Public procurement. It makes it mandatory for public buyers, on the day of the opening of tenders, to publish the tenderers name and the total tender amount and also whether the tender is submitted as variant. If the tenders are not submitted by electronic means tenderers shall be permitted to attend the opening of tenders where the informations about received tenders are read out loud. The total tender amount of all tenders is revealed although price is not the only award criteria.
The opening reports are published on the website of Ríkiskaup before the tenders are evaluated so that the tenderers know immediately after opening if their tender has the possibility of winning as regards price.
After the publishing of opening report the tenders are evaluated. After the evaluation the tenderers receive notifications about selection of the winning tender and how it is possible to stop the contract being made by sending a complaint to the PP Complaints Commission and informations about their right to request further reasoning for the selection. After a 10 days standstill period has passed and the when the procurement process is over, all informations regarding the outcome of the procedure is published on Ríkiskaup website.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs has decided that as of January 1, 2020, all invoices for the state's purchase of goods, services and works shall be electronic. Paper invoices issued after January 1, 2020 will not be accepted and the same applies for PDF-invoices via e-mail. Invoices should be in the so-called XML format and shared through a message server. The Financial Management Authority (FJS) receives electronic invoices for most of the state‘s institutions and agencies.
All invoices of Icelandic state institutions/agencies are published on the website Opnir reikningar
It is very important for Ríkiskaup to ensure that procurement procedures are transparent and that participants in procurement procedures are confident that all economic operators are treated equally.