Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Act, 2020 (No. 27 of 2020)

1. This Act may be cited as the Public Procurement Short title and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Act, 2020.

2. In this Act, “the Act” means the Public Interpretation Act No. 1 of Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act. 2015 2 No. 27 Public Procurement and Disposal of 2020 Public Property (Amendment) Commencement 3. This Act shall come into effect on such date as is set by the President by Proclamation. Section 4 4. Section 4 of the Act is amended by deleting the amended definition of “bid rigging”, and substituting the following new definition: “ “bid-rigging” means collusive price-fixing and anti-competitive behaviour which is designed to unfairly influence the outcome of a competitive tender process in favour of one or more bidders;”. Section 7 5. Section 7 of the Act is amended— amended (a) in subsection (2), by deleting the words after the words “prevail” and substituting the word “.”; and (b) by inserting after subsection (4), the following new subsections: “(5) Subsection (3) shall not apply to reports regarding matters of national security. (6) This Act shall not apply to the following services provided to public bodies or State-controlled enterprises— (a) legal services; (b) debt financing services for the national budget; (c) accounting and auditing services; (d) medical emergency or other scheduled medical services; or (e) such other services as the Minister may, by Order, determine. No. 27 Public Procurement and Disposal of 2020 3 Public Property (Amendment) (7) An Order under subsection (5) shall be subject to affirmative resolution of Parliament. (8) The Minister shall submit to the Office annual guidelines which outline the circumstances under which exempted services in subsection (6) may be procured. (9) The Office shall forward a copy of the guidelines in sub- section (8) to the Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall cause the guidelines to be laid in Parliament at the earliest opportunity.”.

6. Section 13(1) of the Act is amended by deleting Section 13 amended paragraph (o).

7. Section 29 of the Act is amended by deleting Section 29 amended paragraph (c) and substituting the following: “(c) have not been convicted within the past ten years of corruption or fraud related offences locally or internationally— (i) as individuals; or (ii) as directors or officers of a company;”.

8. Section 50(12) of the Act is being amended by Section 50 deleting the words “twenty working” and substituting amended the word “thirty”.

9. Section 59 of the Act is amended by inserting after Section 59 subsection (1), the following subsection: amended “Chap. 45:55 (1A) For the purposes of subsection (1), “relative” means a spouse, cohabitant within the meaning of the Cohabitational Relationships Act, father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter.”. 4 No. 27 Public Procurement and Disposal of 2020 Public Property (Amendment) Section 66 10. Section 66 of the Act is amended— amended (a) in subsection (1), by inserting after the words “on the date of assent of this Act”, the words “or on the coming into force of this Part”; and (b) in subsection (2)— (i) by deleting the word “Act” and substituting the word “Part”; (ii) in paragraph (a), by deleting the word “retire” and substituting the word “retirement”; and (iii) in paragraph (c), by deleting the word “remain” and substituting the word “remaining”. Passed in the House of Representatives this 4th day of December, 2020. Clerk of the House Passed in the Senate this 8th day of December, 2020. Clerk of the Senate Senate amendments were agreed to by the House of Representatives this 11th day of December, 2020. Clerk of the House PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTER, CARONI REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO—2020