Procurements at Sida

Tenders are not considered if they are submitted after the applicable deadline.

It is quite likely that you will be able to reuse certain sections and paragraphs, but each procurement contains conditions that must be satisfied in order for a bid to be considered, and these often differ in each individual procurement. So you will need to read through the bid specification very carefully and ensure that you respond to each point.

It is difficult to say, but start preparing your responses to the bid specification as soon as you can. You may need to obtain certain information and documents from government agencies, which can take time. Which documents should be attached? Read the bid specification carefully to see which documents are required. The following two documents are often required:

• A copy of the company’s certificate of registration issued by the appropriate official agency, which in Sweden is the Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket).
• Certificate of VAT registration, which should be signed by the Tax Authority. In Sweden this is the Swedish Tax Board’s form SKV 4820.

Questions must be submitted in writing. Each tender states the contact person and where questions should be sent. You will also find a final deadline for questions, which is usually ten days before the deadline for the tender expires.

A report detailing relevant questions, answers and clarifications for each separate procurement is published in Kommers Annons.

The questions and answers that are published in Kommers Annons provide important additional information to that contained in the tender invitation, so it is important to read the information published there.

There is absolute confidentiality up until the point when Sida decides who is to be awarded the contract and all tenderers have been informed of the outcome. This means that no information from the tenders, or the applications, may be released. For example, Sida may not say who has submitted tenders, who has requested the bid specification, or even how many are taking part in the procurement process.

When Sida has made a decision on who is to be awarded a contract, all the tenderers are informed via e-mail. This is when you receive an award decision, with a report on the basis for the decision, and, if your tender was accepted, information on who is to sign the contract.

Your company will then enter into a procurement contract/framework agreement with Sida. Provided that no review of the process has been initiated, Sida usually signs contracts on the 11th day after notifications have been received by all the tenderers,. The contract is not legally binding until it has been signed by both parties.

Tenderers are excluded from the procurement process if they have been convicted of a crime, or are at risk of bankruptcy, for example. More reasons for disqualification are detailed in Chapter 13, §1-3 in LOU.