Public Procurement Service "MAS Measures... Improving On-site Killer Regulations"

The Public Procurement Service (PPS) is reforming the Multiple Award Schedule system (hereinafter MAS) to improve killer regulations that procurement companies find inconvenient or unfair in the field.

On the 29th, PPS announced that it will revise and implement two administrative rules related to goods MAS: the Goods MAS Work Processing Regulations and the Goods MAS Special Conditions.

Baek Seung-bo, Deputy Administrator of the Public Procurement Service, is explaining the amendments to the 'Two Administrative Rules Related to Goods MAS' at the Government Daejeon Complex on the 29th. The revised administrative rules will be applied and enforced from this day. Photo by Public Procurement Service

MAS is a contracting system that designates two or more contractors so that public institutions can select and purchase goods of the same or similar types with equivalent or similar quality, performance, and efficiency to meet diverse demands. This system has been in effect since December 2004, following the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Procurement Business Act.

However, in practice, there are concerns that sellers without fault may suffer unintended damage in the competitive structure of MAS (selecting two or more contractors). When two companies participate in MAS and one is excluded from the contract due to sanctions such as suspension of transactions, the remaining company may face disadvantages such as being unable to sell products on the shopping mall without any fault of its own.

Accordingly, PPS has improved the system so that even if only one seller remains within the MAS framework, the transaction can be maintained if there is no fault. This aims to guarantee the business autonomy of companies so that those who comply with contract obligations are not disadvantaged by sales suspension due to unfair procurement practices by the counterpart company.

Safety measures have also been established to prevent companies from colluding by abusing the revised administrative rules.

When one of two companies participating in MAS is excluded due to unfair procurement practices, the remaining company can resume sales after one month. If no new company is contracted for more than six months under the same circumstances, it is considered that the original competitive purpose of MAS has been lost, and sales suspension will be reinstated. This is the core of the revision.

PPS will also reduce the number of interim inspections for MAS. Only one interim inspection will be conducted during the three-year contract period (down from two), reducing the burden on MAS companies to submit various certificates and documents during the inspection.

Additionally, changes to contract specifications during the MAS product delivery process will only be allowed when there is mutual written agreement between the ordering agency and the company. Excessive changes that damage the essence of the contract, such as design or material, will be restricted to reduce the burden on companies.

Provided by Public Procurement Service

The revision also includes measures to improve the efficiency of MAS operation and management. PPS plans to allow flexible judgment of factors such as delivery performance, market environment, and product characteristics when reviewing the suitability of MAS contract items. It will also specify the obligation to manage the origin of MAS products and impose sanctions such as transaction suspension for origin violations to encourage autonomous origin management by MAS companies.

Furthermore, the administrative rules include expanding the institutions issuing the ‘MAS Professional Certificate,’ which grants additional points during contract performance evaluations, to resolve fairness issues among educational institutions and increase educational opportunities to enhance the expertise of procurement companies related to MAS.

As of July this year, 11,957 procurement companies have registered and sold a total of 815,553 items under MAS contracts on the Korea ON-line E-Procurement System (KONEPS). The supply performance through MAS amounts to 11.6 trillion KRW, accounting for 45.8% of the total goods and services performance (25.3 trillion KRW) of PPS.

Lim Gi-geun, Administrator of PPS, said, “The improvement of MAS administrative rules is meaningful in that it focuses on reforming killer regulations that burden companies in the MAS market, which is the most utilized by companies in the procurement market. PPS will continue to identify and eliminate unreasonable regulations from the perspective of procurement companies to create a dynamic procurement ecosystem where companies can grow.”

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