In these cases the Bank must approve the corresponding budget.

• The IDB?s Basic Procurement Policies and Procedures contain several provisions relating to the equal participation of suppliers and non-discrimination between suppliers originating from member countries. As set out in paragraph 3.2 of the BPPP, participants must be treated equally. This principle requires avoiding any type of preference or discrimination that favors or jeopardizes one bidder on the detriment or benefit of others. In this sense, participation of the maximum number of qualified bidders is encouraged. No requirement for the prequalification or registration of bidders can be established that would impede or make difficult the participation of foreign firms, or that would tend to violate the principle of equal treatment to bidders (paragraph 3.7 of the BPPP). In addition, technical qualifications, financial guarantees and commercial capacity of suppliers shall not be as high as to discourage competition or include requirements which make it difficult for qualified contractors to participate (paragraph 3.8 of the BPPP).

• General Procurement Notices (GPN) (paragraph 3.6 (a) of the BPPP). These notices, which are prepared by the Borrower with the collaboration of the Bank, are intended to provide advance notice to interested parties regarding future possibilities for the procurement of works or goods under new Bank-financed projects.

• The GPN contains basic information about the project concerned, including the name of the country in which it will take place; reference to financing by the Bank; the amount and objective of the loan; the threshold amounts above which international competitive bidding is required; a tentative schedule of procurement of works and goods; and the address, telephone and facsimile numbers of the Borrower, in order to permit those interested to obtain more detailed information. The Bank undertakes the publications of these notices, on behalf of the Borrower, in the United Nations publication "Development Business".

• The publication of the GPN takes place well in advance of the first notice for prequalification or bidding issued with respect to the corresponding project. This may in cases of Bank financing that is expected but not yet approved, require publication of the GPN before the date of approval by the Bank. GPNs are also published in the Bank?s journal, IDB Projects and on the Internet at http://www.iadb.org.

• Notices for specific bidding opportunities (Specific Procurement Notices)" SPN" (paragraph 3.6 (b) of the BPPP). The announcement of prequalification or registration -- and the announcement of bidding, when prequalification does not take place -- shall be published in the following manner:

  1. National publicity: Every bidding for goods, works or related services includes national publicity. This publicity requires that the public notice of prequalification or registration, and that of the invitation to bid, when invitation is not restricted to prequalified firms, must be published at least on two occasions in a newspaper of wide national circulation, or at the discretion of the Borrower, on one occasion in two different newspapers of wide national circulation.

  2. International publicity: In the case of bidding with a value estimated to be equal to or above the thresholds set forth for international competitive bidding, in addition to the national publicity referred to above, the Borrower must carry out international publicity. In such cases, the public notice of prequalification or registration and that of submission of bids, when there has been no prequalification, must be published in the United Nations Journal Development Business. For large or complex works, additional publicity may be required at the discretion of the Bank and with the concurrence of the Borrower, in news paper or recognized technical journal of wide international circulation.

• The text of procurement notices require the approval of the Bank and must specify, as a minimum the following:

• It is preferable that the publicity be in one or more of the Bank?s official languages (Spanish, English, French and Portuguese) in order to facilitate competition both locally and internationally. When a document is produced in more than one language, it is necessary to indicate which language governs in case of conflict among the versions (paragraph 3.5 of the BPPP).

• For large or complex works, the Bank requires that prequalification be carried out. The Borrower may also require prequalification for the procurement of very specialized goods or services, or whenever it may determine that this procedure is pertinent. Prequalification should be based exclusively on the ability of the potential contractors to carry out the works in satisfactory manner. The criteria to evaluate this ability are:

1. experience and results obtained in similar jobs.

2. personnel and equipment available.

3. financial soundness.

4. The existence of other obligations, or of pending or future obligations, or undertakings that may compete with execution of the works involved in the bidding.

5. Any litigation or arbitration resulting from prior contracts or contracts under execution, during the last five years.

• In the prequalification procedures, and those for registration of bidders, no requirements for qualification or registration can be established that would impede or make difficult the participation of foreign firms, or that would tend to violate the principle of equal treatment of all bidders (3.7 (a) of the BPPP).

• The registration of potential bidders is a form of prequalification acceptable to the Bank. Registers must: I) be open permanently or be opened on a frequent basis, whether for updating information on registered firms or adding new firms; II) be open for each bidding to be carried out for projects financed by the bank; III) include no requirements that would impede or render difficult the participation of foreign bidders.

• The date for presentation of prequalification documents should be at least 45 calendar days after the date of the last announcement of prequalification (Art 3.7 (d) of the BPPP).

• For international competitive bidding, not less than 45 calendar days must be allowed from the date of publication of the last notice of invitation to bid or the date of availability of bidding documents, whichever is later, until bid opening (Art 3.10(a) of the BPPP).

• Where large or complex civil works are involved, not less than 90 calendar days must be allowed for contractors to familiarize themselves with national laws and working conditions, complete technical investigations and determine the availability of labor at the site. The determination whether a 45 or 90 calendar day bidding period will be followed is made during the project analysis period and incorporated in the loan documents presented to the Bank?s Board of Executive Directors (Art 3.10 (a) of the BPPP).

• The time limit for consulting services is 30 calendar days from the date of publication.

• Clarity and content. The documents should describe carefully and in full detail what is required in the way of works or goods and related services to be provided; they should not include requirements which make it difficult to for qualified contractors to participate and they should clearly indicate the criteria to be used in the evaluation and comparison of bids. The detail and complexity of the documents may vary according to the nature of the bidding, but in general, the documents should include: the invitation for bids; general instructions to bidders; special instructions to bidders; general condition of contract; special conditions of contract; technical specifications; a list of goods, related services and delivery schedule; criteria for the evaluation of bids; sample forms; and list of member countries of the Bank (bid form, bid bond form , performance security, declaration of firm?s nationality and origin of goods, contract form, declaration of commissions and gratuities, guarantee form for advance payment, manufacturers authorization form) (paragraph 3.8 (a) of the BPPP).

• Price of the Documents. If a price is fixed for the purchase of bidding documents, it should reflect reproduction costs of those documents and in no case be so high as to discourage competition (paragraph 3.8 (b) of the BPPP).

• Free access to the Borrower. The Borrower must be available, once the bidding documents have been collected by bidders, up to a reasonable time (e.g., 10 calendar days) before the bids are opened, to answer questions or clarify the bid documents for bidders. Inquiries must be answered promptly by the Borrower, and clarifications made known to other interested parties that have acquired the bidding documents and to the Bank. The names of the firms which requested clarifications remain confidential (paragraph 3.8 ( c ) of the BPPP) .

• As set out in paragraph 3.10 of the IDB?s Basic Procurement Policies and Procedures, bids should be presented in writing in sealed envelopes and must be safeguarded in a secure place. They must be signed by legal representatives of the bidder and comply with the requirements established in the bidding documents. Bids must be opened in public and at locations, dates and hours previously announced.

• Representatives of the bidders and of the bank must be permitted to be present at the opening of bids. Bids received after the date and hour established for presentation of bids must be returned unopened.

• The name of each bidder, the price of each offer, and the time period should also be read during the public session but after the presentation of the principal offer. Minutes of the complete proceedings must be prepared and signed by the representative of the borrower and by those representatives of the borrower who desire to do so.

• The award should be made to the bidder whose offer has been determined to be the lowest evaluated bid and has been determined to be substantially responsive the bidding documents, and which meets standards of capacity and financial responsibility. The Bank?s approval is required prior to the awarding of a contract (paragraph 3.11 of the BPPP).

• Negotiation procedures with all tenderers allowed in the context of direct contracting. In addition, negotiation is used in the context of competitive bidding for the procurement of consulting services with the bidder who obtained the best evaluated technical offer to determine the price of the contract. If an agreement is not reached with the bidder whose offer was the best evaluated offer the entity may negotiate with the second.

• Limited international bidding (paragraph 4.1 of the BPPP). While similar to international competitive bidding, limited international bidding involves express invitations to predetermined firms rather a public announcement. These firms must be qualified firms, selected in a non-discriminatory manner, including eligible foreign firms, when available. The Borrower must invite a sufficient number of firms to ensure competitive prices. In general, the same principles and policies are applied to limited bidding as to competitive bidding except, as mentioned above, with regard to publicity. In addition, the rules for margins of preference do not apply. Limited bidding, which must be authorized in advance by the Bank, may be appropriate in cases such as: