Compliance requirements
A bidder may be excluded for final convictions within the previous 5 years, or while an exclusion period remains in force, involving participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorist offences, money laundering or terrorist financing, or child labour and human trafficking. These grounds may also apply to members of the bidder’s administrative, management or supervisory bodies and other persons authorised to represent, direct or control it. Where permitted for this procurement, the bidder may provide evidence of measures taken to restore its reliability.
Other grounds include unpaid taxes or social security contributions; bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, suspended business activity or comparable situations; serious professional misconduct; agreements distorting competition; an unresolved conflict of interest or involvement in preparing the procurement that creates an unremediable competitive advantage; serious or repeated breaches of earlier contracts resulting in early termination, damages or comparable sanctions; false or misleading information, failure to provide required information or documents, or attempts to improperly influence the procurement. Grounds also cover breaches of environmental, social or labour obligations. National grounds include enabling unlawful employment of a foreign national, being covered by an international or Estonian government sanction, and certain tax-related convictions. The notice describes the foreign-employment ground as mandatory and the tax-offence conviction ground as discretionary.
Qualification criteria and exclusion grounds
The bid must accept all tender-document conditions, be unconditional and remain valid for 4 months. The bidder must provide the details needed to prepare the contract, including the company’s name, registration code and address; the signatory’s name, authority to sign and position; the contract contact’s name, position, telephone number and email address; and the bidder’s invoice account number. Details of representatives whose authority is not shown in the commercial register must also be supplied for exclusion checks.
The bidder must have the manufacturer’s authorisation to sell the contracted products in Estonia. Provide a copy of the authorisation or a reference to the manufacturer’s website. Authorisation to represent the manufacturer in the EU is also accepted. If relying on a cooperation partner, provide both evidence that the manufacturer authorised the partner and evidence of the partner’s cooperation with the bidder.
The bidder’s registered or residential location, and that of any joint bidders and subcontractors, must be in Estonia, another EU Member State, an EEA contracting state or a state party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement. For a joint bid, the bidders must appoint an authorised representative and submit the joint-bid power of attorney. By the time contract performance starts, the contractor must provide each subcontractor’s name, registration code and contact details, information about its legal representatives, and the subcontracting agreement’s title, date, number and value; the same details are required for subcontractors added later.
The bidder must identify any trade secrets in its bid and explain why they qualify; bid prices and other figures used to evaluate bids may not be designated as trade secrets. Where an equivalent product or solution is offered, explain the equivalence and provide supporting evidence. The bidder must also confirm that it will not involve, for more than 10% of the contract value, subcontractors or suppliers covered by the stated EU Russia-related restrictions, and that the offered goods are not subject to international sanctions or from sanctioned regions.