In an attempt to stop administrative corruption in state agencies, Law 340-06 on Government Procurement and Contracts has been and is currently being revised and amended to streamline the system and strengthen control mechanisms and consequences.
Since its approval until now, this regulation has undergone several changes. First, it had to adapt to comply with the Free Trade Agreement with the United States (DR-Cafta) and on that occasion, articles such as the one establishing the prison and fines were also amended as a result of non-compliance with this legislation.
With the amendment that gave rise to Law 449-06, the part of official advertising contracting that was planned to regulate was also eliminated, as explained by Listín Diario, the executive director of the Public Procurement and Contracting Directorate, Carlos Pimentel.
Pimentel indicates that the most significant change that this regulation has undergone is the one that took place for the establishment of Law 47-20 on public-private partnerships, when the concession regime is eliminated, being authorized only to purchase goods, services and plays.
He added that the most recent change is the one that was specifically submitted to make an exclusion for the purchase of Covid vaccines. “What it is is that this law had two different regulations. A first regulation and now a regulation from 2012 is in force “, explains the lawyer.
Challenges
Many expectations have been created in this government management to stop and penalize public corruption. In this sense, Law 340-06 plays a fundamental role. “Any law can be improved, it can be improved and so is the Law on Procurement and Contracts,” says the executive director of the Department of Procurement and Contracts.
REGIME
Preliminary project.
“We are preparing a bill that aims to streamline the public procurement and contracting system,” says Pimentel.
Decisions
He explained to Listín Diario that he evaluates all the decisions taken by the governing body and the policies that have been implemented from 2006 until now regarding this law.