Dirección Nacional de Contrataciones Públicas
Being aware of the need to introduce the sustainable procurement topic as public policy and considering the assumed international commitments that address these criteria, the National Management of Public Contracting (DNCP) of the Republic of Paraguay has developed since the beginning of 2008 the Sustainable Public Procurement Project.
Sustainable Procurement Activities
The purpose of the project is to generate a technical basis for the development of tools that facilitate sustainable procurement and SME promotion through a higher government procurement share. It also aims to support this Management in achieving sustainability and enhancement of the public procurement standards and practices system, rendering it more efficient, transparent and uniform for the whole public sector.
An important result is the elaboration of a national policy and of standardisation tools introducing Sustainable Procurement concepts.
For the correct incorporation of these criteria into the standard specifications for the bidding of works, goods and services DNCP is preparing a breakdown of the general expenditure made through public procurement, by which DNCP will know which goods are most purchased by the State and then, after processing them through a sustainability index matrix, DNCP will find out which government procurements differ from the sustainability standards; DNCP will thereafter adapt the corresponding specifications in a progressive manner in accordance with the negative impact degree of the most acquired goods, works or services.
The DNCP believes that this change must be headed by actions set as example; therefore, in the following month of October DNCP will inaugurate the first sustainable public building of Paraguay, which will be the seat of its National Administration and where DNCP will implement actions aimed to mitigate environmental damages through labor activities. These actions are: the use of solar panels, compact fluorescent lamps, the responsible consumption of office materials and the classification of residuals. The last activity within the Sustainable Procurement Project had been the organisation of the III International Government Procurement Seminar which took place in Asunción, Paraguay on the 1st and 2nd of September 2008.
