Bribery In Public Procurement Methods Actors And Counter Measures

A ground-breaking report that throws new light on the shadowy mechanisms and patterns of bribery in public procurement, and offers insider expertise that governments and international organisations can use to improve their anti-corruption policies.

Provides, for the first time, a comparative overview of practices from A to Z. It maps out practices to enhance integrity throughout the whole procurement cycle, from needs assessment to contract management. It also takes a global stance by including practices from non-OECD countries.

This volume comprises papers presented at the OECD Global Forum on Governance: Fighting Corruption and Promoting Integrity in Public Procurement held in Paris in November 2004.

Anti-corruption measures have firmly taken centre stage in the development agenda of international organisations as well as in developed and developing countries. One area in which corruption manifests itself is in public procurement and, as a result, States have adopted various measures to prevent and curb corruption in public procurement. One such mechanism for dealing with procurement corruption is to debar or disqualify corrupt suppliers from bidding for or otherwise obtaining government contracts. This book examines the issues and challenges raised by the debarment or disqualification of corrupt suppliers from public contracts. Implementing a disqualification mechanism in public procurement raises serious practical and conceptual difficulties, which are not always considered by legislative provisions on disqualification. Some of the problems that may arise from the use of disqualifications include determining whether a conviction for corruption ought to be a pre-requisite to disqualification, bearing in mind that corruption thrives in secret, resulting in a dearth of convictions. Another issue is determining how to balance the tension between granting adequate procedural safeguards to a supplier in disqualification proceedings and not delaying the procurement process. A further issue is determining the scope of the disqualification in the sense of determining whether it applies to firms, natural persons, subcontractors, subsidiaries or other persons related to the corrupt firm and whether disqualification will lead to the termination of existing contracts. The book compares and contrasts the legal, practical and institutional approaches to the implementation of the disqualification mechanism in the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Republic of South Africa and the World Bank.

'Corruption' in public procurement typically involves procurement decisions taken in favour of preferred bidders in exchange for improper compensation (the acceptance of bribes, for example), while supplier collusion refers to a type of cartel activity, in which firms rig their bids in a tendering process. Although these practices are distinct, they frequently occur together in the public procurement context, reinforcing one another. Combatting Corruption and Collusion in Public Procurement: A Challenge for Governments Worldwide examines the causes of corruption and collusion in the public procurement sphere, its resulting harm, and how states can best try to combat these practices. This book provides a legal, economic, and practical analysis of issues concerning corruption and supplier collusion in public procurement, both generally and in seven diverse and representative jurisdictions: the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Hungary and Poland, Ukraine, and Canada. It encompasses a discussion of both 'generic' cross-jurisdictional issues and specific proposals for individual jurisdictions. It offers practical guidance on building robust regimes for combatting corruption and collusion in public procurement and how to bolster and improve them when they are faltering. The book stresses the need for a multi-faceted and joined-up approach to the problems, emphasizing the importance both of enhanced investment in the effective enforcement of anti-corruption and cartel laws and of increasing the resilience of public procurement systems to corruption and collusion through a range of measures. The relevance of the topic to the social and economic well-being of citizens and the survival of democratic governance is highlighted throughout the book. Pioneering and comprehensive, Combatting Corruption and Collusion in Public Procurement provides a pathbreaking analysis of a range of global issues, making it an essential read for scholars, lawyers, government officials and representatives of international and non-governmental organizations around the world.

Recognising the significant number of procurement fraud and corruption risks that can impact an organisation - including roles and people who have the potential to influence or manipulate projects and the procurement life cycle that might include a lack of trained personnel, procurement and financial controls, and compliance measures in place - can undermine the design and implementation of an anti-corruption and counter procurement fraud approach. Since procurement fraud and corruption continue to develop in scope, scale and creativity, the risks, typologies and routes to mitigation should be regarded as part of a constantly assessed and updated approach. Creating an anti-corruption and counter procurement fraud approach should provide an awareness of the criminal risks within an organisation's procurement and associated processes and reinforce the importance and vital role of leadership, ethics professionals, staff and other stakeholders in building an anti-corruption culture to protect organisational revenues and reputation. The 4-pillar framework approach to counter procurement fraud contains 16 steps to identify and prevent corruption and procurement fraud risk. It examines how a risk mitigation framework created with a foundation of education, data collection, risk assessment and a coordinated response and change management process can help identify and mitigate risk. Planning and following this approach one step at a time, collecting all available data, will assist in assessing the challenges and performance measurement in each area and help create a strategic response to identified risk.

The OECD Principles for Integrity in Public Procurement are a ground-breaking instrument that promotes good governance in the entire procurement cycle, from needs assessment to contract management.