Al-Qabas Publishes Key Amendments to the Public Tenders Law

While the Cabinet approved, during its session held today, a draft decree-law amending the General Tenders Law, the following are the key features of the amendments to the General Tenders Law, as obtained by Al-Qabas:

• Prohibition of the use of local agents or commission-based agents in contracting procedures, in accordance with the regulations approved by the Cabinet.

• Raising the value threshold for oil contracts subject to procurement procedures to KD 20 million, with the possibility of amendment by Cabinet decision, and granting the Supreme Petroleum Council the authority to approve purchases, imports, or the assignment of urgent works to contractors.

• Raising the financial limit for contracts under the jurisdiction of the Central Tenders Committee to KD 1 million, with the possibility of increasing or decreasing this limit by Cabinet decision.

• Re-evaluating the bases and criteria for classifying contracting companies.

• Allowing the combination of design and execution works whenever the nature of the project requires it.

• Establishing a new mechanism for determining the preference for national products, and reducing the preference margin for small and medium-sized projects from 20% to 10%, while prohibiting the combination of both preferences.

• Requiring contractors to purchase no less than 30% of the products listed in the Local Industrial Directory.

• Regulating the relationship between the Appeals Committee and the Board of Directors of the Central Tenders Committee, and setting a 30-day period for resolving appeals, while excluding award decisions from the Committee’s jurisdiction.

• Excluding specific oil operations stipulated in the law from the oversight of the Central Tenders Committee.