Subject to Art. 10, the goods and services listed in Schedule 1 are acquired by one of the following central purchasing services: ¹

A.

Armasuisse grouping;

B.

Federal Roads Office (OFROU);

C.

OFCL;

D.

Confederation Travel Central (CAC).

¹ The following goods and services are acquired by the following services:

A.

Goods and services for international development cooperation, cooperation with the Eastern European states and the contribution to EU enlargement: by the relevant departments of the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs (DFAE) and the Federal Department of Economics, Training and Research (DEFR) ¹ ;

B.

Goods and services for humanitarian assistance: by the competent service of the FDF;

C.

Goods and services acquired abroad for Swiss representations abroad: by the competent service of the FDF;

D.

Goods and services in the field of cryptology: by the competent department of the Federal Department of Defence, Population and Sports Protection (DDPS).

² For goods and services not necessarily covered by central purchasing services, such as s. 9, departments can define within their own departments an administrative unit responsible for centralising procurement for the whole department. ²

¹ Central purchasing services respond to the strategic and operational management of acquisitions.

² In particular, they perform the following tasks in their field of competence:

A.

They acquire standard and standard assets that respond throughout their lives to high economic, ecological and social demands. To this end, they may establish, in accordance with the specialised services (Art. 28 and 29), catalogues of products which are compulsory for the requesting services. In the acquisition of information and communication technologies (ICT) for administration, they take into account the directives of the internal standard-setting body;

B.

Establishing product catalogues, taking into account the needs of the requesting services, generally proposing different products and informing them of their offer of services;

C.

They ensure that the orders of the Confederation are concentrated and contracts are concluded for that purpose;

D.

Ensure that competencies and processes are clear and transparent and apply to procurement an adequate internal control system;

E. ²

They may establish tender documents and contracts for requesting services.

¹ There are three types of delegations:

A.

Delegation for acquisitions of less than the threshold value: for the continuous acquisition of services of less than the threshold value for public tenders;

B.

Delegation linked to a specific acquisition project: for the limited acquisition in time of goods and services in relation to a specific project;

C.

Special delegation: for the permanent acquisition of goods and services independently of threshold values.

² Delegations within the meaning of para. 1, let. A and b are provided by central purchasing services. Delegations within the meaning of para. 1, let. C, are granted by the Conference on the Procurement of Confederation (CA).

¹ Delegations shall be granted only upon request and in exceptional cases justified.

² The delegate must, in any event, have sound public procurement knowledge in accordance with Annex 2, c. 1.

³ In order to benefit from a delegation related to a specific acquisition project, the delegate must, in addition to the condition set out in para. 2, prove that he or she is the only one who needs the goods or services to be acquired. It is prohibited from acquiring goods and services on behalf of other administrative units (clustering effect).

⁴ To benefit from a special delegation, the delegate must, in addition to the condition set out in para. 2, prove that this delegation is necessary to preserve public order and security or that a centralized procurement is not appropriate.

¹ The requesting service shall send the competent service a request for a reasoned delegation.

² The competent service shall check whether the conditions for granting a delegation are fulfilled. If the delegation grants the delegation, it enters into a written agreement with the delegate setting out the terms and conditions of the delegation.

³ It maintains a list of the delegations it has granted.

⁴ As soon as the delegation has effect, the delegate assumes the responsibilities of the central purchasing department.

⁵ The delegate shall ensure that the terms and conditions of the delegation are complied with on a permanent basis and shall draw up a periodic report for the competent service.

⁶ The competent service may, on the basis of the reports, verify by survey whether the conditions for granting the delegation are still fulfilled and whether the terms of the delegation are complied with. If the conditions of grant are no longer fulfilled or if the terms and conditions are no longer complied with, the competent service shall revoke the delegation.

⁷ In addition, the procedure and responsibilities are governed by Annex 2.

Repealed

¹ The applicant service shall cover its requirements for the goods and services listed in Annex 1 with central purchasing services, unless the acquisition authority has been delegated to it or has been delegated to another service. ¹

² Before deciding on an acquisition, it examines the needs taking into account the cost-benefit ratio; it integrates the resources and the environment aspects. ²

³ It announces its needs for central purchasing service early enough and group if possible its orders for goods or services of the same nature.

⁴ It shall draw up documents, in particular the tender documents and the contract; it shall respect the harmonised procedure referred to in Art. 4. ³

⁵ It ensures that it has the necessary knowledge of the goods and services to be acquired.

¹ The Public Procurement Skills Centre (PPC) supports central purchasing services and applicant services in the acquisition of goods and services.

² In particular, it performs the following tasks:

A.

Advising central purchasing services and requesting services in legal matters relating to procurement and contracting;

B. ¹

Supporting and advising procurement services and requesting services on the administrative and formal aspects of bidding procedures;

C.

Developing the training and development programme for public contracts and contracts and offering training and development courses; these courses can be open to cantonal and local purchasing staff; The OFCL shall adopt the tariffs necessary for the fixing of costs covering the costs;

D.

Providing manuals, checklists and standard contracts;

E.

Drafting and revising the terms and conditions based on a mandate from the Board, and submitting them for approval;

³ It is administratively attached to the OFCL.

¹ The green procurement service primarily encourages environmentally friendly and natural resource acquisitions.

² In particular, it fulfils the following tasks:

A. ¹

It makes recommendations on the environmental criteria for products subject to public procurement and provides information on new resource-friendly technologies;

B.

Advising central purchasing departments and requesting services on the integration of environmental aspects into public procurement;

C.

Collaborating in the development of the PPC training offer;

D.

It promotes the exchange of information and experience on green procurement in Switzerland and abroad;

E.

Participates in committees dealing with sustainable construction issues;

F. ²

It harmonizes as far as possible its instruments and standards with those of other federal departments, cantons and municipalities; it dialogues with the private economy to promote sustainable acquisitions;

G.

He is a member of the Management of Resources and Environmental Management Team of the Federal Government (RUMBA), in which he is responsible for issues related to green procurement.

³ It is administratively attached to the OFEV.

¹ The service of information technology in public procurement encourages the use of information technology in public procurement.

² In particular, it fulfils the following tasks:

A.

Responding to information technology services in the context of procurement procedures;

B.

It harmonizes as far as possible its instruments and standards with those of other federal departments, cantons, municipalities and individuals;

C.

Leads interdepartmental projects on the use or collaboration of new technologies in Confederation;

D.

Developing, in collaboration with the Board and central purchasing departments, the strategy for the application of information technology in public procurement and submitting it to the relevant committees for decision;

E. ¹

Supporting the training and development activities of the CCMP to promote the implementation of the strategy on the use of information technologies in public procurement;

F. ²

He sits on the "Training and Development" committee of the CA and participates in the training offer of the CCMP.

³ It is administratively attached to the UPIC.

¹ When the performance is carried out in Switzerland, the Directorate of Labour of the SECO may advise central purchasing departments and the requesting services on the requirements for working conditions which are referred to in Art. 7, para. 1 of the Order of 11 December 1995 on Government Procurement (OMP) ¹ .

² When the performance is carried out abroad, SECO's Directorate of Labour can advise central purchasing services and requesting services on matters relating to compliance with the fundamental conventions of the Organization. International Labour Organization (ILO), which are referred to in Art. 7, para. 2, OMP.

³ The SECO can also promote the exchange of information and experience on socially responsible public procurement in Switzerland and abroad, as well as collaborate in the development of the training offer of the CCMP and the harmonisation of Instruments and standards between the various services of the Confederation, the cantons and the municipalities.

¹ The Federal Office for Equality between Women and Men (BFEG) provides advice to central purchasing departments and the requesting services on equal pay for women and men.

² The BFEG shall inform the services concerned of the results of the checks carried out under Art. 6, para. 4, OMP ¹ .