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Handbook for tHe Inter-amerIcan network on Government Procurement
development agenda, make refer- ence to SPP as a means to ensure
sustainable consumption and production patterns. the post-2015
development agenda builds on the millennium development Goals
mdGs, that consisted of eight anti-poverty targets that the world
committed to achieving by 2015. the members of the united nations
are now in the process of adopting the Sustainable development Goals
SdGs as part of a new agenda to build on and complete the mandate
of the mdGs.
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3. IntrOduCIng enVIrOnMentAL
And SOCIAL CrIterIA IntO the PrOCure-
Ment CyCLe
3.1 Identifying, assessing and deining the need
Procurement laws deine the pro- cesses under which public authori-
ties meet their needs for goods, services or infrastructure. the irst
step of the procurement process is deining exactly what needs to be
purchased. this is referred to as a needs analysis.
the procurement authority must identify and deine its needs, based
as much as possible on outcomes or results that the procuring author-
ity and end-users seek to achieve, rather than focusing on the discrete
products that may deliver these outcomes. for example, procure-
ment authorities can consider if what they need to procure is 50 cars
or a service to provide transport for 50 government oicials. the latter
option opens the door to procure the services of a transport company or to
lease 50 cars - both of which could be more cost efective procurement
solutions than purchasing the vehi- cles outright. a transport service or a
leasing arrangement would also help procurers and the end users upgrade
the vehicle leet and give preference to fuel-eicient, low-emission
vehicles with relative ease.
Procurers should ideally liaise with the end-users in conducting the
needs analysis. It is the end users that have the necessary information
on what needs they are seeking to fulill, on how often these needs
arise, on how these needs are likely to change in the medium term
and on what issues prevail with the existing products or service
arrangements that are currently being used. Procurers then can
work to determine how best to fulill these ‘needs’.
the needs analysis – a critical component of SPP – is one part of
the procurement cycle that requires a marked diference from traditional
public procurement processes. the latter traditionally focuses on buying
a discrete products rather than stop- ping to question what needs need to
be fulilled in the irst place.
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Further information on the SDGs can be found at https:sustainabledevelopment.un.orgtopicssustainabledevelopmentgoals
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SuStAInAbLe PubLIC PrOCureMent
Introducing sustainability into the procurement cycle
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3.2 Market consultations market consultations refer to
