SANTO DOMINGO.-As of this Wednesday, the new Public Procurement and Contracting Law 47-25 comes into force, a regulation that significantly tightens the regime of incompatibilities for public officials, by completely eliminating the possibility that they can participate as suppliers to the State, regardless of the percentage of shares they own in a company.
With the entry into force of the new legislation, the criterion established in Law 340-06 is repealed, which allowed an official to contract with the State as long as their shareholding was similar to or less than 10%.
From now on, any level of participation, even minimal, automatically places the public servant in a regime of absolute incompatibility.
Record deletion
The general director of Public Purchasing and Contracting, Carlos Pimentel, reported that the law enforcement regulations will be signed this Wednesday at 4:00 in the afternoon by the President of the Republic, which formally activates the new system.
From that moment on, the General Directorate of Public Procurement (DGCP) will begin purging the Registry of State Suppliers (RPE) to identify and disqualify congressmen, officials of the Executive Branch and elected authorities of the city councils who still appear as suppliers.
Pimentel stressed that Law 47-25 does not constitute a simple modification of articles, but rather a structural reform after two decades of Law 340-06 being in effect.
During that time, he explained, profound deficiencies were evident, particularly the absence of an effective system of consequences. He recalled that the regulations approved in 2006 were modified just six months later to eliminate the sanctions, which led to a scheme of impunity that lasted for 20 years.
In this context, the new law incorporates a robust regime of criminal, administrative and pecuniary sanctions. Officials who attempt to hide their participation in contracting companies through fraudulent maneuvers will incur criminal violations that carry penalties of one to two years in prison, in addition to administrative sanctions.
“Conflicts of interest are generated when it is not declared, when it is hidden or when compliance with the law is evaded,” Pimentel warned.
The transition
The DGCP clarified that all purchase processes initiated under the protection of Law 340-06 will continue their course in accordance with the legal regime that gave rise to them. However, the processes that are uploaded to the Electronic Public Procurement System as of January 28 must be governed exclusively by Law 47-25.
During a transition period, processes under both regulations will coexist, until the files initiated with the previous law are completed.
Purchase modalities
Regarding contracting modalities, the new legislation maintains national and international tenders, eliminates restricted tendering and introduces abbreviated tendering for common goods and services, reducing the deadlines between the receipt of offers and the award.
Added to these are figures such as agreements and the association for innovation. Exception processes are also preserved, such as emergency hiring, national security and those of a specialized nature, including lawyers and universities.
The thresholds
When interviewed on the radio program Esto No Hace Nombre, Pimentel said that Law 47-25 maintains the threshold calculation mechanism based on the General State Budget, but strengthens the policy of productive inclusion.
The quota of purchases destined for MSMEs is raised from 20% to 30%, while for MSMEs led by women the percentage reserved increases from 5% to 10%. Likewise, the regulations more clearly introduce the “value for money” criterion, incorporating economic, environmental and quality variables in the evaluation processes.
Under this scheme, the State is no longer obliged to contract exclusively the cheapest offer, prioritizing quality, sustainability and the fairest price.
The law also toughens the consequences for anti-competitive practices such as collusion between suppliers and so-called reckless offers, those that are far below or far above the reference price.
In these cases, the supplier must technically justify its proposal, under the risk of facing disqualifications of up to ten years depending on the severity of the fault.
Universal application
— Regulations
The implementation of the new law that governs State purchases will be based on the application of at least five regulations that will be published and applied in a phased manner in the coming months.
Town councils are obliged
Fact. One of the most relevant changes introduced by Law 47-25 is the express inclusion of local governments and autonomous organizations within its scope of application. The DGCP will issue specific regulations for that level of government.
Likewise, autonomous organizations become governed by law, with the development of special regulations that allow their proper integration into the public procurement system.
Pimentel announced that the implementation of the law will be supported by the issuance of five specific regulations, the updating of the supplier registry, the adaptation of the electronic contracting system and an extensive training program for which they already have agreements.
