Will Military Food Procurement Bids Be Improved This Time?

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] Can 'Chicken Tender' that you eat outside be available in the military as well? The military authorities plan to change the procurement method so that excellent commercial products from the civilian sector can be supplied directly to the military.

On the 4th, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that it will improve the procurement system for military supplies to enhance the quality of military goods, which had been perceived as low-grade supplies.

Until now, the procurement of military supplies involved specifying product requirements in detail through standards or purchase requests, and then conducting qualification reviews or negotiated contracts among manufacturers capable of producing the items. Since only delivery records and credibility evaluation bonus points were emphasized, conditions favorable to existing suppliers were presented. This was why companies involved in defense corruption could continue supplying.

There was a significant difference between military purchase requests and commercial product specifications, resulting in quality gaps between military supplies and commercial products, and many excellent commercial products did not meet military requirements. For example, in the case of oxtail soup, the military purchase request included specific requirements such as 5.5% beef bone extract, 0.12% beef extract, and 0.02% yeast extract powder. In contrast, commercial products only listed simple specifications like purified water and 15% oxtail.

DAPA plans to present military requirements based on excellent commercial products and guarantee a reasonable price level to prevent quality degradation caused by low-price bids.

DAPA also stated that it will enforce strict sanctions against unfair practices to create a healthy procurement environment. Through the revision of the 'Product Qualification Review Standards,' which are the evaluation criteria for military supply procurement, DAPA will evaluate and deduct points for any history of unfair practices in the past three years.

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