Public Procurement Service, Amendment to the Procurement Business Act to Eradicate 'Unfair Procurement Practices'

The Public Procurement Service (PPS) announced on the 4th that the partial amendment to the "Act on Procurement Business (hereinafter referred to as the Procurement Business Act)" recently passed the National Assembly plenary session and will be enforced starting September this year.

The amendment will serve as a basis for securing electronic tax invoice data from the National Tax Service and import-export information from the Korea Customs Service, which are necessary for investigations into unfair procurement practices and the resale (resale) of stockpiled materials.

Until now, even when the PPS became aware of signs of unfair procurement practices such as direct production violations or received related reports, there were no appropriate means to respond if the investigated companies refused or concealed the submission of materials.

The amendment is significant in that it resolves these limitations, enabling the PPS to actively respond to unfair practices and illegal resale of stockpiled materials within the procurement market.

A provision allowing exceptional resale of stockpiled materials has also been newly established. Previously, companies reselling stockpiled materials were uniformly subjected to disadvantages such as deregistration.

However, with the enforcement of the amendment, the PPS expects that resale of stockpiled materials will be possible with the approval of the PPS Administrator in cases of unavoidable reasons such as bankruptcy, insolvency, or production suspension.

Im Gi-geun, Administrator of the PPS, stated, “Unfair practices in the public procurement market lead to disadvantages for honest and diligent companies,” and added, “The PPS will work with related ministries to create a public procurement market where fairness and common sense prevail.”

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