Should Buyers Charge Suppliers to Tender for Contracts?
Summary
Two executives expressed their views on whether buyers should charge suppliers to tender for contracts. Tony Dunning, procurement manager of Birmingham International Airport, said that the real issue that concerns many who choose to charge is the proliferation of legislation from government that is placing an increasing administrative burden on public bodies. Charging for tenders is not illegal in the eyes of the European law-makers and perhaps this is where organizations opposed to the practice should address their complaints. Lizzy Hawkins, public affairs officer at the British Printing Industries Federation, said that the EU procurement directives make tendering an expensive and unwieldy process. Public-sector buyers need to find ways to narrow down the pool of applicants. However, charging potential suppliers a fee to distribute or process application documents is not acceptable. Other, better tools exist to cut the cost of running an Official Journal of the European Union tender.
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Extract
Should Buyers Charge Suppliers to Tender for Contracts?
Charging for tender documents discourages spurious applications, says Tony Dunning. But it's an indiscriminate barrier, argues Lizzy Hawkins
YesTony DunningProcurement managerBirmingham International AirportA recent poll on supplymanagement.com showed that around one in five buyers have charged suppliers for tender documents. Although it is unclear in which se...See the full content of this document