14:57, 24/05/2023
On the morning of May 24, continuing the 5th session, under the chairmanship of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and the direction of National Assembly Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai, the National Assembly listened to reports on the 2021 state budget settlement; discussed in the hall a number of contents with different opinions of the draft Law on Bidding (amended).
Presenting the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law on Bidding (amended), Member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee Le Quang Manh said that, accepting the opinions of National Assembly deputies, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has directed the appraisal agency to closely coordinate with the drafting agency and relevant agencies to closely follow the objectives and requirements of law amendments to complete the draft Law in the direction of: Reviewing and revising the scope, subjects of application of the law, processes and procedures for selecting contractors and investors to ensure consistency and consistency between the provisions of the Law on Bidding and related laws; reviewing processes, reducing bidding time, reforming administrative procedures, promoting the application of online bidding; removing difficulties and obstacles in bidding activities, especially obstacles in bidding for the procurement of drugs, chemicals and medical supplies in the past; clearly stipulate prohibited acts, incentives for domestic enterprises, enhance competitiveness, publicity, transparency, and economic efficiency in bidding activities; legalize contents that have been stipulated in sub-law documents that have been implemented stably; clearly stipulate the responsibilities of ministries, branches, localities, bidding parties, and bidders.
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| Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee Le Quang Manh presents the Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law on Bidding (amended). Photo: Quochoi.vn |
Discussing at the meeting, delegates expressed their agreement and appreciation for the National Assembly Standing Committee's comprehensive acceptance, revision, and supplementation of the draft Law on Bidding (amended). The Law on Bidding is a difficult law project in terms of both policy and legislative techniques. Because the Law must both resolve arising problems and create favorable conditions for bidding while improving the effectiveness of management. It is very difficult to find a balance between these requirements. Too tight management will lead to loss of autonomy and cause difficulties and congestion, while too loose management will not ensure state management.
The delegate also stated that this draft law has received much attention from voters in recent times, especially those in the health sector, to overcome difficulties in bidding for drugs and medical equipment.
The delegate said that many violations in the past were related to the bid package price. The bid package price is a particularly important content in the construction of the contractor selection plan as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 39. Currently, the determination of the bid package price is carried out according to the guidance in Circular 68 of the Ministry of Finance, which has many shortcomings. One of the methods being used is "3 quotations", which is inconsistent with the provisions of the draft Law on Prices (amended) and the price appraisal standards. The draft does not have any guidance on determining the bid package price. The delegate suggested that it is necessary to develop a principle for determining the bid package price in the draft Law on Bidding (amended), creating a legal basis for the Government to specify this content in detail.
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| Delegates attending the working session. Photo: Quochoi.vn |
Regarding prohibited acts, delegates suggested that it is necessary to clarify prohibited acts such as "collusion, arrangement, agreement", "intentionally not providing documents to prove capacity and experience when requested by the inviting party to clarify the bidding documents or when requested to compare documents to create conditions for one party to win the bid".
The delegate said that currently, fraudulent acts in bidding are very complicated with many sophisticated tricks, difficult to detect because there are no specific regulations. Having specific regulations on prohibited acts will help the state management of bidding activities and the enforcement of bidding laws to be implemented more openly, strictly and transparently.
Regarding the subject of application, in Clause 2, Article 2, there are 2 options for regulations on contractor selection activities. Delegates agree with option 2 to ensure feasibility and legality, while avoiding the abuse of other mechanisms to avoid the provisions of the bidding law, preserving state investment capital sources, and helping the contractor selection process to be public and transparent.
Unifying the regulations for forms of contractor selection requires bidding, however, some delegates said that not all fields require bidding and not every bidding brings practical results to the State. Delegates cited examples, in the past, there were cases where the value of the bidding package was high but when bidding, the value was very low. In the tricks of some investors in the past to want their familiar contractors to win the bid, there were specific methods, in the end the familiar contractors will win; therefore, it is necessary to review and provide more specific regulations.
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| Overview of the meeting. Photo: Quochoi.vn |
Regarding the conditions for consideration of winning bids for contractors providing non-consulting services, goods procurement, construction and mixed services, delegates said that it is necessary to clarify that the proposed winning bid price includes all tax expenses of the bid package, not taking into account the price of the goods of the bid package. Because in reality, there are bid packages where the proposed winning bid price does not exceed the approved estimated price, but there are some goods with prices higher than the approved price. However, currently, in addition to determining the winning bid price in accordance with regulations, inspection and examination agencies also separate the prices of each type of goods in the bid package to compare with the import price, to determine the increase or decrease of each goods, and the level of damage to the state budget.
In addition, there is currently no regulation to control ceiling prices for contractors providing non-consulting services, goods procurement, construction and installation, and mixed services. Delegates said that this is one of the shortcomings in recent times, and suggested that the Drafting Committee clearly stipulate the content to achieve consistency...
At the discussion session, delegates also contributed many opinions to complete the draft law such as: scope, subjects of application, forms and methods of selecting contractors and investors, cases of designated bidding, process of selecting contractors and investors, responsibilities of parties participating in bidding activities, handling complaints in bidding, etc.
* This afternoon, the National Assembly will hear the Submission and Verification Report on the continued implementation of the policy of reducing value added tax by 2% according to Resolution No. 43/2022/QH15 dated January 11, 2022; Submission and Verification Report on the decision on the investment policy for the traffic project from National Highway 27C to Provincial Road DT.656 in Khanh Hoa province - connecting with Lam Dong and Ninh Thuan; Report on explanation, acceptance and revision of the draft Law on Civil Defense. After that, the National Assembly will discuss in the hall a number of contents with different opinions of the draft Law on Civil Defense.
Lan Anh (synthesis)
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