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The New Zealand government has announced domestic businesses will have a smoother run at winning contracts under new changes to government procurement rules.
The changes, included under the fifth edition of the Government Procurement Rules, are minimum expectations for public servants when spending public money. They cover procurement life cycle and support good practice behaviours and processes for planning, approaching the market and managing the contract.
Principal changes to the fifth edition of the Government Procurement Rules include a new rule requiring agencies to include economic benefits to New Zealand in all procurements. There will be a minimum 10 per cent weighting for evaluation purposes on economic benefit criteria
Other changes include strengthened accountability to maintain focus on the responsible and transparent use of public money, making procurement policies and contract awards publicly available, stronger requirements around setting up and running supplier panels and secondary procurement.
“The new rules agreed to by cabinet will take effect on 1 December. More than 900 submissions were received during consultation on the new rules earlier this year,” Minister for Economic Growth Nicola Willis said.
“Businesses shared that the lack of weighting for New Zealand’s interests in the evaluation criteria was holding them back. That’s why we’re introducing a new economic benefit to New Zealand test that will apply to every procurement to ensure we are creating value and jobs for Kiwis.
“We want to see taxpayer money supporting Kiwi businesses to grow, hire and thrive.
“We also heard loud and clear that the paperwork, time and complexity were making it hard for small to medium-sized businesses to apply for government contracts. We’ve listened and these updated, simpler rules will make it easier for businesses to follow and apply the rules.
“Government contracts are collectively worth more than $50 billion a year. The purpose of these changes is to make it easier for New Zealand businesses to win more of these contracts, either directly, or as subcontractors in the supply chain.
“The economic benefit test is intended to not only support more Kiwi businesses to compete for government work but to encourage international companies bidding for government contracts to demonstrate a commitment to creating value in New Zealand.
“These changes not only help level the playing field but help ensure that taxpayer money is spent responsibly and efficiently and maintains public trust as well as supporting local businesses.
“New Zealand respects its international trade commitments and the settings in the rules continue to uphold our obligations. This is important to ensure that Kiwi businesses continue to benefit from open access to large international markets.”
The changes include the addition of a new economic benefit test and the number of rules cut from 71 to 47. The new rules will reportedly apply to all goods, services and refurbishment contracts worth more than $100,000 and all construction contracts over $9 million.
