Inquiry for quotations is one of the six procurement methods in the current government procurement law. Inquiry is similar to public bidding in terms of procedures, emphasizing one quotation, which is a bit like a "simplified version" of public bidding; it is also similar to competitive negotiation and competitive consultation in terms of competition scope and review team composition. This issue has compiled 10 questions about inquiry.

1. Can service items be purchased through inquiry?

Answer: No. Article 32 of the "Government Procurement Law" stipulates that government procurement projects that require unified specifications and standards of goods, sufficient spot supply, and small price changes can be purchased through inquiry in accordance with this law. This article clarifies that the applicable scope of inquiry procurement can only be goods.

It is worth noting that in July 2022, Article 62 of the "Government Procurement Law (Revised Draft for Comments)" announced by the Ministry of Finance expanded the scope of application of inquiry to "technology, services Services and projects that have unified standards and already have a fixed market” may be the direction for future revisions to the Government Procurement Law.

2. Is the inquiry notice drawn up by the purchaser or the inquiry group?

Answer: The "Measures for the Administration of Non-Tendering Procurement Methods in Government Procurement" stipulates that the inquiry notice shall be confirmed or formulated by the inquiry team and shall be subject to the written consent of the purchaser.

Legal Basis

"Measures for the Administration of Non-Tendering Procurement Methods in Government Procurement" (Ministry of Finance Order No. 74) Article 8 Competitive Negotiation Team or Inquiry Team During the Procurement Activities The following responsibilities should be performed: (1) Confirm or formulate negotiation documents and inquiry notices;...

3. Inquiry procurement, can substantive parameters be set for the technical parameters of the inquiry notice?

A certain goods procurement project adopts the inquiry method. Can substantive parameters be set for the technical parameters in the inquiry notice? Or if no substantive parameters are set, the responding products should fully respond to the technical parameters of the purchased products, and no negative deviations are allowed. ?

Answer: The rule for inquiry procurement is: determine the supplier based on the principle that both quality and service can meet the substantive response requirements of the procurement document and the lowest quotation. Therefore, the inquiry notice should stipulate substantive requirements, and if the substantive requirements stipulated in the inquiry notice are not met, the response document will be invalid.

Legal Basis

"Measures for the Administration of Non-Tendering Procurement Methods in Government Procurement" (Ministry of Finance Order No. 74) Article 48 The inquiry team shall satisfy both quality and service requirements Among the suppliers whose procurement documents substantially respond to the requirements, more than 3 deal candidates will be proposed in order of lowest to highest quotation, and a review report will be prepared.

4. After the inquiry method fails, can it be changed to a single source?

Answer: Single-source procurement cannot be adopted just because the inquiry procurement fails. Single-source procurement must meet the legal conditions of Article 31 of the "Government Procurement Law".

Legal Basis

Article 31 of the "Government Procurement Law" Goods or services that meet one of the following circumstances may be purchased from a single source in accordance with this law: (1) Only can purchase from the only supplier; (2) cannot purchase from other suppliers due to unforeseen emergencies; (3) must ensure the consistency of the original procurement project or the requirements for supporting services, and need to continue to purchase from the original supplier Additional purchases are made from merchants, and the total amount of additional purchase funds does not exceed 10% of the original contract purchase amount.

5. In government procurement activities, can the size of goods purchased through inquiry be limited?

Answer: Yes. The conditions for use of inquiry procurement are government procurement projects with unified specifications and standards, sufficient supply of spot goods, and small price changes.

Legal Basis

Government procurement projects purchased under Article 32 of the "Government Procurement Law" have unified specifications and standards, sufficient spot supply, and small price changes may be subject to this provision. Procurement by inquiry is not allowed.

6. Is there a second quotation for government procurement projects using the inquiry method?

Answer: Second quotations are not allowed.

Legal Basis

Article 47 of the "Measures for the Administration of Non-Tendering Procurement Methods in Government Procurement" (Ministry of Finance Order No. 74) Suppliers participating in inquiry procurement activities shall comply with The Inquiry Notice stipulates that the price shall be quoted once and shall not be changed.

7. Under the premise of meeting the procurement documents, does the inquiry have to be the lowest price?

Answer: Competitive negotiation and inquiry procurement methods use the lowest price transaction evaluation method, and the comprehensive scoring method is not allowed.

Legal Basis

"Measures for the Administration of Non-Tendering Procurement Methods in Government Procurement" (Ministry of Finance Order No. 74) Article 35 The negotiating team shall meet the procurement requirements from both quality and service Among the suppliers whose documents have substantially responded to the requirements, more than 3 candidates will be proposed in order of the final quotation from low to high, and a bid evaluation report will be prepared. Article 48 The inquiry team shall propose three or more candidates for the transaction in order of lowest to highest quotations from suppliers whose quality and services can meet the substantive response requirements of the procurement documents, and prepare an evaluation report.

8. In the inquiry notice, can you specify which brands you are inquiring about?

Answer: No. No matter what procurement method is used, if the purchaser or procurement agency limits or specifies a specific brand, it is a case of differential or discriminatory treatment against suppliers under unreasonable conditions.

Legal Basis

Article 20 of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Government Procurement Law" If a purchaser or procurement agency has any of the following circumstances, it shall be subject to unreasonable conditions for suppliers Differential or discriminatory treatment: (6) Restricting or designating specific patents, trademarks, brands or suppliers.

9. Are there procedures similar to bidding opening and sealing inspection at the inquiry site?

It is marked in the inquiry document that the response document must contain a certain time and cannot be opened, but it does not say "If this is not done, the purchase will be terminated". It does say "must be submitted in strict accordance with the requirements. If the agent fails to comply with the requirements, You have the right to refuse and return it, and refill it and submit it again.” However, some suppliers at the inquiry site did not follow this method, and the purchasing agency did not ask the suppliers to inspect, but only asked supervision to check the tightness, and then the inquiry was completed. It's over. Can this be questioned or can the question be raised on the spot?

Answer: There are no bid opening and bid document sealing inspection procedures similar to bidding for price inquiry. Questioning should not be considered valid.

10. How to define the inquiry and procurement method? Two companies provide the same brand?

Answer: When purchasing by inquiry, the rules for suppliers to provide products of the same brand are stipulated in the inquiry notice. You can refer to the "Measures for the Administration of Bidding for Government Procurement of Goods and Services" (Ministry of Finance Order No. 87) relevant regulations.

Legal Basis

Article 31 of the "Measures for the Administration of Tendering for Government Procurement of Goods and Services" (Order No. 87 of the Ministry of Finance) for procurement projects that adopt the lowest evaluated bid price method, provide If different bidders for the same brand of products participate in bidding under the same contract, the bidder who has passed the qualification review, compliance review and has the lowest price will participate in the bid evaluation; if the bids are the same, the purchaser or the bid evaluation committee entrusted by the purchaser shall follow the provisions of the bidding documents. Method to determine a bidder to participate in the bid evaluation. If the bidding document does not provide for it, it will be determined by random selection. Other bids will be invalid

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