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Law No. 69 Of April 25, 2016 Green Procurement

Original Language Title: LEGE nr. 69 din 25 aprilie 2016 privind achiziţiile publice verzi

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LEGE no. 69 69 of 25 April 2016 on green public procurement
ISSUER PARLIAMENT
Published in OFFICIAL MONITOR no. 323 323 of 27 April 2016



The Romanian Parliament adopts this law + Chapter I General provisions + Article 1 (1) The present law aims to establish the legal framework for the deployment of green public procurement in Romania. (2) The purpose of the present law is: a) promoting environmental protection and sustainable development; b) promoting sustainable consumption and production, as well as resource efficiency; c) encouraging the development and application of clean and environmentally friendly technologies; d) promoting social progress that favours economic development; e) ensuring the efficient use of funds, by promoting products, services and works with a minimum impact on the environment, in application of one of the award procedures provided in art. 18 18 para. ((1) or to art. 251 251 para. (1) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006 on the award of public procurement contracts, public works concession contracts and service concession contracts, approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 337/2006 , with subsequent amendments and completions, as well as for the direct purchase, provided for in art. 19 of the same normative act, by the contracting authorities; f) improving the quality of benefits and optimising the costs for public procurement in the short, medium and long term; g) development of the internal market for green products, services, works and technologies. + Article 2 For the purposes of this law, the following terms and expressions have the following meanings: a) contracting authority-as defined in art. 8 of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006 , approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 337/2006 , with subsequent amendments and completions; b) green public procurement-the process by which contracting authorities use environmental protection criteria to improve the quality of benefits and to optimise the costs of public procurement in the short, medium and long term; c) green public procurement contract-the public procurement contract, as defined in art. 3 lit. f) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006 , approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 337/2006 , with subsequent amendments and completions, which has been awarded following the use of one or more environmental protection criteria; d) target-the percentage of the annual value of green public procurement from the annual value of public procurement carried out by the contracting authority for the supply of products, the provision of services or the execution of works falling within in the categories of products, services and works established by the European Commission as being suitable for the use of environmental protection criteria; e) European Ecolabel-a graphic symbol accompanied by a short descriptive text, affixed to products, packaging, in a brochure or other information document, accompanying the product and providing information on at least one and no more than three Environmental impact types. + Chapter II Provisions applicable to green public procurement + Article 3 (1) The central public authority for environmental protection, namely the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forestry, has the responsibility of drawing up national policy in the field of green public procurement, as well as the National Public Procurement Plan green setting up multi-annual targets for green public procurement. (2) The National Green Public Procurement Plan shall be adopted by Government Decision. (3) The contracting authorities are required to meet the multiannual targets for green public procurement. + Article 4 (1) For the purpose of meeting the targets provided in art. 3, the contracting authority shall award green public procurement contracts, establishing, through the related award documentation, environmental protection criteria, which may take the following form: a) at least one qualification or selection criterion of the nature of those specified in art. 176 lit. d) and f) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006 , approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 337/2006 , as amended and supplemented, in so far as that criterion concerns the approach which the economic operator has had in relation to the protection of the environment and is relevant to the possibility of fulfilling the future contract; and/or b) technical specifications describing the object of the contract or parts thereof, specifications relating to the observance of systems, standards and/or performance levels with an impact on the protection of the environment, favouring the development sustainable by improving the quality of benefits, their efficiency and cost optimisation in the short, medium and long term. (2) When establishing a criterion of the nature of those referred to in par. ((1) lit. a), the contracting authority aims to verify the technical and/or professional potential of economic operators participating in the green public procurement, which is why it has the obligation to correlate the requirements with the specificity, volume and complexity products, services or works to be supplied, rendered or executed. (3) In accordance with the provisions of art. 35 35 para. ((3) and (6) and art. 36 36 para. (2) of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006 , approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 337/2006 , with subsequent amendments and completions, the contracting authority defines and applies the technical specifications of the nature of those provided in par. ((1) lit. b) by reference to technical systems, standards and prescriptions which relate to: a) to the European Union Ecolabel scheme; b) either to the specific criteria of the European Commission on Green Public Procurement; c) either to the European Union's criteria for organic production and labelling of organic products in the field of agriculture and foodstuffs. + Chapter III Competent authorities + Article 5 (1) Within 6 months from the adoption of this law, the central public authority for environmental protection, namely the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forestry, together with the National Agency for Public Procurement, shall develop a guide, approved by joint order of the Minister of Environment, Water and Forestry and the President of the National Agency for Public Procurement, which includes minimum environmental protection criteria for groups of products and services, as well as standard specifications, which is published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I. (2) After the entry into force of the order provided in par. (1), the central public authority for environmental protection, namely the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forestry, establishes the National Green Public Procurement Plan until October 31 for the following year, which it submits to approval by Government decision. (3) The national green public procurement plan shall contain the binding targets, which shall be expressed as a percentage corresponding to the annual value of green public procurement, as reported at the annual value of public procurement by the contracting authority for the supply of products, the provision of services or the execution of works for which ecological criteria have been developed by the European Commission. (4) The National Green Public Procurement Plan includes the format of the form for the reporting of the award notice in the case of the purchase of green products/services/works, hereinafter referred to as the APV Form, and the format of monitoring of green public procurement, hereinafter referred to as the APV Report. + Article 6 In order to implement the National Green Procurement Plan within the Electronic Procurement System, hereinafter referred to as SEAP, the SEAP operator shall perform the following tasks: a) provide the necessary technical facilities for the publication in the electronic catalogue of products, services and sustainable works; b) ensure the publication in SEAP of the APV Form, completed by the contracting authority. The completed APV form is set up as an annex to the award notices published in SEAP; c) ensure the publication in SEAP of the completed APV Report ensuring the monitoring of the fulfilment of the targets of the National Green Public Procurement Plan; d) make available to the contracting authorities the necessary technical means for publication through the SEAP of the completed APV Report; e) ensure the possibility of centralizing information on green public procurement carried out in the previous year by the contracting authorities for the purpose of monitoring by the National Agency for Public Procurement. + Article 7 In order to implement the National Green Procurement Plan, the contracting authorities shall have the following responsibilities: a) the application of the award procedures Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006 , approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 337/2006 , with subsequent amendments and completions, in order to achieve the targets established within the National Green Public Procurement Plan, including through direct acquisition; b) the completion of the APV Form, related to the award notice, in the case of purchases of works, services and organic products; c) the completion of the APV Report with information on green public procurement carried out through the SEAP system and through direct acquisition, as well as the publication in SEAP of the APV Report until March 1 of the year following the one in which it was made monitoring. + Chapter IV Sanctions + Article 8 The National Agency for Public Procurement monitors the way of awarding green public procurement contracts, ordering, as the case may be, the application of the sanctions provided in art. 9. + Article 9 (1) It constitutes a contravention and is sanctioned with a fine of 10,000 lei to 35,000 lei the following facts: a) non-compliance with the targets established under the National Green Public Procurement Plan; b) the non-filling by the contracting authorities of the APV Form when the award notice is published in SEAP; c) non-transmission by the contracting authorities of the completed APV Report, until March 1 of the year following the one in which the monitoring was made. (2) The finding of contraventions and the application of sanctions shall be carried out by the authorized persons of the National Agency for Public Procurement. ((3) The offender may pay, on the spot or within no more than 48 hours from the date of conclusion of the minutes, or, as the case may be, from the date of its communication, half of the minimum fine provided in par. (1), the finding agent making mention of this possibility in the minutes. (4) In so far as this law does not have otherwise, the contraventions provided in par. (1) their provisions are applicable Government Ordinance no. 2/2001 on the legal regime of contraventions, approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 180/2002 , with subsequent amendments and completions. + Article 10 This law shall enter into force within 30 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, except for the provisions of art. 9, which takes effect on January 1, 2018. This law was adopted by the Romanian Parliament, in compliance with the provisions of art. 75 75 and art. 76 76 para. (2) of the Romanian Constitution, republished.
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES PRESIDENT
VALERIU-STEFAN ZGONEA
SENATE PRESIDENT
CĂLIN-CONSTANTIN-ANTON POPESCU-TARICEANU
Bucharest, April 25, 2016. No. 69. -------