Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento

3 - Anti-corruption clauses to strengthen integrity in public procurement

Brief description of the commitment: Strengthening the integrity of the national public procurement system through a participatory design and the incorporation of anti-corruption clauses in public tender documents. These clauses will establish a more robust regulatory and operational framework to prevent, detect, and penalize fraud and corruption in procurement processes.

The development of these provisions will be carried out through a co-creation process involving actors from the public sector, civil society, the private sector and technical experts, thus promoting greater transparency, public trust and institutional accountability in government procurement.

The implementation of disseminations and training actions on the regulatory update that guide its effective implementation will also be considered.

Organization that leads the commitment: State Procurement Regulatory Agency (ARCE).

Person responsible for the commitment: Andrea Cutrin, Deputy Director. Contact: andrea.cutrin@arce.gub.uy

Technical Manager: Karla Moccia. Contact: karla.moccia@arce.gub.uy

Stakeholders:

1. Government: All State Public Administrations.
2. Civil Society: Civil Society Organizations and citizens in general.
3. Other actors: Legislative Branch, Judicial Branch, Academia, International Organizations, suppliers, researchers.

Implementation period: December 2025 - June 2029.         

Problem definition

What problem does the commitment intend to address?

To address the need for provisions and tools that strengthen the transparency and integrity of the national public procurement system in all governmental Public Administrations and ensure the proper management of public funds, competition and selection of suppliers.

What are the causes of the problem?

The main cause of the problem lies in the lack of cross-cutting provisions that apply to all State Public Administrations in their procurement procedures, which creates a regulatory gap that can be exploited for opaque or even corrupt practices.

Description of the commitment

What has been done so far to solve the problem?

To date, some actions have been taken to address this issue. In 2020, as a result of the recommendations made during the self-assessment of the national public procurement system under the Methodology for Assessing Public Procurement Systems (MAPS), promoted by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), ARCE incorporated a clause into the standard bidding documents of the  framework agreement regime and into the Consulting bidding documents.

The MAPS report concluded that the regulatory provisions on corruption, fraud, conflict of interest and unethical behavior do not oblige the Administration to include "this type of stipulations in the tender documents or particular specifications of each call."

What solution does it propose?

It intends to develop bidding documents that establish an appropriate framework to address the issue of fraud and corruption in public procurement procedures, based on both ARCE standards and specific guidelines of each agency.

An international survey and a comparative study of best practices in public procurement will be carried out to this end.

There will be workshops with stakeholders specializing in the subject to compare the results of the surveys and identify practices applicable to national public procurement.

The document will be made available in Public Consultation to receive input and comments on the design proposal.

The proposed clause will be referred to the Court of Auditors for its ruling regarding the inclusion in the Single Specifications, and once approved, there will be dissemination and training actions concerning the regulatory updates and implications.

What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment?

The inclusion of this clause seeks to guarantee the implementation of new instruments built in coordination with stakeholders specialized in strengthening ethics, transparency and integrity in the national public procurement system.

Commitment analysis

How will the commitment promote transparency?

The introduction of anti-corruption clauses in the tender documents, as proposed in the solution, promotes transparency, directly informing the parties to the contract about the framework to which they must adhere, establishing clear limits and preventing improper behavior.

The implementation of these types of clauses aims to guarantee integrity by demanding strict compliance with the regulatory framework, identifying conduct that should be condemned, and adopting preventive measures. Increased efficiency and transparency in government management, thus fostering a stronger relationship between the administration and the citizens, ultimately favors the fight against corruption.

How will the commitment help foster accountability?

In turn, the incorporation of standards regarding the treatment of conduct contributes to transparency and makes it easier for citizens to get to know the rules of conduct and, therefore, the social control of the management of public funds.