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Procurement

As the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation, LuxDev intervenes in the framework of bilateral development cooperation project or programme protocols, signed by the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Governments of the partner countries.

Implementation of these projects and programmes involves procurement of goods, services and works, financed by the contributions of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or other Donors and for which LuxDev acts as Awarding Authority.

In the framework of its activities, LuxDev complies and ensures the compliance, in terms of procurement, with the principles of competitive tendering and treatment of economic operators on equal terms, in a non-discriminatory way, in proportionality and in all transparency. LuxDev commits itself to ensure prudent management of financial means made available by the State within the framework of projects and programmes, by applying the principles of accurate risk management and the principles of sound economic management of public funds. The principles and conditions for procurement are contained in the General Regulations for the procurement of goods, services and works financed by the contributions of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or other donors and for which LuxDev acts as Awarding Authority.

Each project or programme is managed in cooperation with a national implementing agency of the partner country, formally designated in the respective project or programme protocol. At the beginning of each acquisition procedure, the two designated implementing agencies shall agree which of them shall act as the Contracting Authority on behalf of the Project. Contracts may thus be implemented in two different forms:

  • when contracts are governed by LuxDev’s acquisition procedures, the Project complies and ensures the compliance, in terms of procurement procedures, with the stipulations of the General Regulations of LuxDev;
  • when contracts are governed by the acquisition procedures of the Partner country, the authorities of the Partner country comply and ensure the compliance with the procedures and documents prescribed by the national legislation of the Partner country.

When possible, the operational and financial implementation of the development actions can be entrusted to partners through the conclusion of Operational Partnership Agreements. For acquisitions within such Operational Partnership Agreements, operational partners will apply the rules and procedures applicable under the national legislation of their country, rules and procedures LuxDev will be made aware of.

General principles and policy of LuxDev

In terms of public procurement, LuxDev ensures the compliance with the principles of competitive tendering and treatment of economic operators on equal terms, in a non-discriminatory way, in proportionality and in all transparency.

The Partner countries and LuxDev shall take the necessary measures to ensure the widest possible participation on equal terms in tenders for goods, services and works, including, as appropriate, measures to:

  • ensure publication of invitations to tender in the written media, the Internet and/or any other appropriate information media;
  • eliminate discriminatory practices or technical specifications which might stand in the way of widespread participation on equal terms;
  • ensure that all evaluation and award criteria are specified in the tender dossiers;
  • ensure that selected tenders comply with the requirements specified in the tender dossiers;
  • ensure that no criterion that was not published or is unknown to tenderers is used for the selection of tenders;
  • ensure that selected tenders meet the award criteria specified in the tender dossiers;
  • ensure the respect of the Ethics clauses.

Splitting of similar acquisitions into several contracts shall be justified and receive prior agreement in accordance with the applicable procedures of LuxDev. No contract may be artificially split simply to evade compliance with the applicable acquisition procedures.

Contracts are awarded according to the following award criteria:

  • to the economically most advantageous tender for acquisitions of services, i.e. the tender representing best value for money;
  • to the least expensive substantially compliant tender for acquisitions of goods;
  • to the least expensive compliant tender for acquisitions of works.

Eligibility for contracts

Rules on nationality and origin

Participation in tenders financed by the contributions of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (or other donors) is open on equal terms and without conditions to:

  • Natural persons, companies or firms, public bodies or bodies with public participation;
  • Cooperative societies and other legal persons governed by public or private law; and
  • Any joint ventures or consortia of such companies or firms.

The necessary precisions are indicated in the Tender dossiers.

Grounds for exclusion from participation in tenders

Candidates or tenderers are excluded from participation, where:

  1. they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
  2. they are the subject of proceedings for a declaration of bankruptcy, for winding-up, for administration by the courts, for an arrangement with creditors or for any similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
  3. they have been convicted of an offence concerning professional conduct, including environmental offences, by a judgment which has the force of res judicata;
  4. they are guilty of serious professional misconduct proven by any means which the Contracting Authority can justify;
  5. they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions in accordance with the legal provisions of the country where they are established;
  6. they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country where they are established;
  7. they are guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the contracting authorities as a condition of participation in a tender procedure or contract;
  8. they have been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with obligations in connection with another contract with the same Contracting Authority or another contract financed by contributions from the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg;
  9. they are, in connection with the tender or contract, in one of the situations calling for exclusion referred to in the Ethics clauses below.

Grounds for exclusion from the award of contracts

Candidates or tenderers are excluded from the award of contracts, where during the tender procedure:

  1. are in one or more of the situations calling for exclusion from participation referred to above;
  2. are in a situation of conflict of interest;
  3. have made themselves guilty of false declarations during their participation in the tender.

Ethics clauses

Any attempt by a candidate or tenderer to obtain confidential information, enter into unlawful agreements with competitors or influence the evaluation committee, the Contracting Authority and/or LuxDev during the process of examining, clarifying, evaluating and comparing tenders shall lead to the rejection of his tender and may result in administrative sanctions.

When putting forward a tender, the candidate or tenderer must declare that he is affected by no potential conflict of interest, and that he has no particular link with other tenderers or other parties to the project. Should such a situation arise during the performance of the contract, the Contractor must immediately inform the Contracting Authority and/or LuxDev.

The Contractor must at all times act impartially and as a faithful adviser in accordance with the code of conduct of his profession. He must refrain from making public statements about the project or services without the Contracting Authority’s and/or LuxDev’s prior written consent.

For the duration of the contract, the Contractor and his staff must respect human rights and undertake not to offend the political, cultural and religious mores of the beneficiary country.

The Contractor may accept no payment connected with the contract other than that provided for therein. The Contractor and his staff must not exercise any activity or receive any advantage inconsistent with their obligations to the Contracting Authority.

The Contractor and his staff are obliged to maintain professional secrecy for the entire duration of the contract and after its completion. All reports and documents drawn up or received by the Contractor are confidential.

The contract shall govern the contracting parties’ use of all reports and documents drawn up, received or presented by them during the execution of the contract.

The Contractor shall refrain from any relationship likely to compromise his independence or that of his staff. If the Contractor ceases to be independent, the Contracting Authority, after appropriate consultation with LuxDev, may, for any damage thus suffered, terminate the contract without further notice and without the Contractor having any claim to compensation.

LuxDev reserves the right to suspend or cancel financing of contracts through the contributions of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (or other Donors) if corrupt practices of any kind are discovered at any stage of the award process and if the Awarding Authority and/or the Contracting Authority fail to take all appropriate measures to remedy the situation. For the purposes of this provision, "corrupt practices" are the offer of a bribe, gift, gratuity or commission to any person as an inducement or reward for performing or refraining from any act relating to the award of a contract or implementation of a contract already concluded with the Contracting Authority.

More specifically, all tender dossiers and contracts for goods, services and works must include a clause stipulating that tenders will be rejected or contracts terminated if it emerges that the award or execution of a contract has given rise to unusual commercial expenses. Such unusual commercial expenses are commissions not mentioned in the main contract or not stemming from a properly concluded contract referring to the main contract, commissions not paid in return for any actual and legitimate service, commissions remitted to a tax haven, commissions paid to a Beneficiary who is not clearly identified or commissions paid to a company which has every appearance of being a front company.

The Contractor undertakes to supply LuxDev on request, with all supporting evidence regarding the conditions under which the contract is being executed. LuxDev may carry out whatever documentary or on-the-spot checks it deems necessary to find evidence in cases of suspected unusual commercial expenses.

Contractors found to have paid unusual commercial expenses on contracts funded by contributions from the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (or other Donors) are liable, depending on the seriousness of the facts observed, to have their contracts terminated or to be permanently excluded from receiving this type of funding.

Failure to comply with one or more of the ethics clauses may result in the exclusion of the candidate, tenderer and/or Contractor from other contracts from the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (or other Donors) and in penalties. The individual or company in question must be informed of the fact in writing.

Environmental clauses

The award of contracts of goods, services and works financed on the contributions of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or other Donors and for which LuxDev acts as Awarding Authority registers in the development policy of the Luxembourg Government according to which the environment must imperatively be taken into account for any development that wants to be sustainable.

Within the framework of procurement, LuxDev acting as Awarding Authority can require that particular conditions related to environmental protection and climate change be included in the tender dossiers. Environmental clauses thus concerned will always have to be clearly indicated in the Notices of Invitation to Tender or in the terms and conditions.

These clauses will aim at promoting sustainable energies and clean technologies as much as the transfer of these technologies and the access to environmental information in the countries partners.

Consequently, the award of contracts might be refused if a given contract is likely to negatively impact on the environment and the ecosystems of the partner country, this in order to avoid all intervention that could be harmful to the environment.

Types of contract/tender and applicable procedures

In the framework of projects, three types of tenders may be found:

  • Goods: contracts for the acquisition of equipment, which may also include tasks such as installation, commissioning, maintenance, training and after-sales services, connected with the provision of goods.
  • Services: contracts for the recruitment of technical assistance (advice mission) or of services providers (formulation mission, feasibility studies, market studies, technical studies, evaluations and audits)
  • Works: contracts concluded for the execution of works or the building of a structure.

The type of contract and the estimated value of the acquisition define three acquisition categories that characterise the applicable procedure:
 

Acquisition categories Category A Category B Category C
Applicable thresholds > 100,000 EUR 10,000 to 100,000 EUR < 10,000 EUR
Minimum applicable procedure Open procedure for goods and works

Restricted procedure with publication for services		 Simplified restricted procedures for goods, services and works Prudent purchasing for goods, services and works

Open procedure (category A): The open procedure involves a general call for competition through a mandatory publication of a tender notice in the press (local or international) and on the Internet. Following the call for tenders, any natural or legal person wishing to submit a tender receives, on request, the tender dossier (for a fee or free of charge), in accordance with the instructions given in the tender notice. In the open procedure, negotiation is not allowed. The selected tender having been evaluated as the least expensive compliant tender, the contract is concluded at the amount and content of the tender, without change. Evaluation and award criteria are clearly defined in the tender dossiers.

Restricted procedure with publication (Services - category A): The open restricted procedure involves a general call for competition through the mandatory publication of a call for expressions of interest (EOI) in the press and on the Internet. Following the call for EOI, any natural or legal person wishing to express its interest receives, on request, the EOI dossier, in accordance with the instructions given in the EOI notice. In response to the expressions of interest received, a shortlist of qualified candidates (based on the criteria defined in the EOI dossier) is established. In a second stage, only the services providers retained on the shortlist will be invited to submit a tender. In the open restricted procedure, negotiation is not allowed. The selected tender having been evaluated as compliant and economically most advantageous, the contract is concluded at the amount and content of the tender, without change. Evaluation and award criteria are clearly defined in the tender dossiers.

Simplified restricted procedure (category B): The simplified restricted procedure is a restricted procedure without a general call for competition through publication. The shortlist of candidates that will be invited to submit a tender is established by a committee, after having verified the interest and availability of qualified and reputable candidates. In the simplified restricted procedure, negotiation is allowed but remains exceptional. Evaluation and award criteria are clearly defined in the tender dossiers.

Prudent purchasing (category C): The prudent purchasing procedure is a procedure in which the person responsible for the purchase identifies the goods, services or works that are economically advantageous and proceeds directly with their purchase in a prudent manner, while following the principles of sound economic management of public funds. Negotiation is recommended where circumstances allow it, in order to obtain the economically most advantageous offer.

Notices published on this website

Pre-information notice: The publication of a pre-information notice is optional. Pre-information notices provide succinct information of expected forthcoming tenders. Given its pre-informative character, such a notice does not commit the Contracting Authority or LuxDev to finance the contract.

Information notice: The publication of an information notice is mandatory for any tender above 100,000 EUR and optional for tenders below 100,000 EUR. Information notices contain the same indications that those on the tender notices published in the press. The scope of the contract, information to request the tender dossier (goods and works) or the EOI dossier (services), as well as the deadline for submission, are described therein.

Shortlists established after a call for expressions of interest (EOI) are also be published as information notices.

Post-information notice: these notices provide information on the contracts that have been awarded or cancelled. When a contract is awarded, the name of the successful tenderer and the amount of the contract are indicated in the post-information notice.

LuxDev draws the attention of tenderers to the fact that their participation in a call for tenders involves their agreement to possibly having their names published on this website.

Procurement procedures are described in the General Regulations applicable to the procurement of goods, services and works financed by contributions of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or other Donors and for which LuxDev acts as Awarding Authority:

The General Conditions of Contracts for goods, services and works form an integral part of the contracts: