Public Procurement Service Revises Multiple Supplier Contract Regulations... Effective April 1

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Public Procurement Service (PPS) has revised the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) regulations, which will take effect from April 1.

According to the PPS on the 7th, this revision focuses on ▲ preferential treatment for job-creating and improving companies, small businesses, and small merchants in line with government policy directions ▲ reducing the burden on procurement companies ▲ strengthening price and product management.

First, the PPS has introduced a new credibility bonus point system to give preferential treatment to companies that have improved job quality, such as those excelling in human resource development and regular employee conversion, as well as small businesses and small merchants.

Additionally, when evaluating excellent employment companies, the related regulations have been changed to reflect the average employment growth rate over six months compared to the previous year to verify employment continuity.

This aims to reduce the possibility of companies intentionally hiring staff for a short period just to benefit from the system. Before the revision, only the employment growth rate for one month compared to the previous year was reflected, making it difficult to guarantee employment continuity, according to the PPS.

Regulatory improvements to reduce the burden on procurement companies will also be implemented. For example, through system adjustments, the PPS has relaxed the penalty criteria for the essential evaluation item of ‘timely delivery’ by 50% compared to before during the MAS second-stage competition.

Moreover, even if procurement companies have records of delayed delivery or substandard specifications during the contract period, if the issues are minor and did not disrupt the purchasing agency’s projects, the related regulations have been changed to allow contract extensions.

Conversely, regulations regarding price and product management will become stricter than before. Sanctions for violations of price-related regulations will be strengthened, and products with no or minimal sales performance for three years will be restricted from contract renewal for one year.

This is intended to prevent cases where some companies merely register their products in public procurement items for promotional purposes.

In particular, the PPS plans to increase the level of sanctions by immediately imposing a one-month transaction suspension without a first warning if the MAS product contract price does not maintain the preferential price obligation, which requires prices to be equal to or lower than market transaction prices.

The PPS plans to hold briefing sessions in 11 regional zones nationwide next month to help procurement companies and purchasing agencies recognize the revised contents and prepare in advance.

Kang Kyung-hoon, Director of the Purchasing Business Bureau, said, “In line with government policy directions such as job creation, improving job quality, and regulatory improvements, the PPS will continue to improve the procurement system.”

Meanwhile, MAS is a system where the PPS signs unit price contracts with three or more companies, allowing public institutions to easily purchase and use products from the Nara Marketplace without separate contract signing. As of last year, the supply performance through MAS reached 10.6836 trillion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.