Catering and event services

A provider may be excluded if it, or a person in its management, supervisory or representative bodies, has a relevant final conviction within the previous five years or remains subject to an exclusion period for participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud, terrorism-related offences, money laundering or terrorist financing, child labour or human trafficking. This also covers enabling the unlawful employment of a foreign national in Estonia, which is identified as a mandatory exclusion ground. Exclusion may also apply where the provider has breached tax or social security payment obligations; breached applicable environmental, social or labour-law obligations; is bankrupt, being liquidated or subject to insolvency proceedings; or has seriously or persistently breached an earlier public contract, resulting in early termination, damages, a price reduction or a contractual penalty. A provider may also be excluded if awarding the contract would breach an international or Estonian government sanction. Where legally permitted, the provider may present evidence of measures taken to restore its reliability. The notice explains that a tax-debt certificate is not issued in Estonia where the relevant debt is below EUR 100 or payment has been deferred.

The provider must have a valid notice of economic activity for catering in the trade sector, or an equivalent operating permit issued by a competent authority. If the provider does not have the required notice when submitting its bid, it must undertake to provide it before the contract is signed if its bid is successful. The contracting authority will check the details of providers registered in Estonia itself. During the 36 months before the procurement began, the provider must have successfully catered at least eight different events: three with at least 300 participants, three with 60–150 participants, and two with 10–60 participants. The events must be distinct and must not overlap. The bid must include the clients’ names and contact details, a description of the services and the event dates. The contracting authority may verify the information through public enquiries or by contacting the clients. The provider must have, or have written agreements to use, the staff, tools, equipment and technical resources needed to perform the services. It must describe these resources sufficiently to demonstrate their availability. The bid must include a description of the sample orders using the form provided in the procurement documents, covering all products and services listed in the form, and their prices excluding VAT. The provider must also submit a service description covering the service arrangements, participating staff and their competence, available or planned inventory, environmentally sustainable methods and other relevant matters. The service description will be evaluated; it cannot be supplemented after the bid deadline and will form a basis for assessing service quality during contract performance. The bid must be unconditional and confirm acceptance of the procurement-document requirements. Prices must follow the specified pricing structure, include all costs needed to provide the service and carry no separate additional charges. Prices quoted for sample orders apply throughout the framework agreement and may be changed only as provided in that agreement. The provider must also confirm compliance with the applicable international sanctions requirements. Joint bidders must appoint an authorised representative and include their authorisation. Any information identified as a trade secret must be justified; prices and other specified evaluation-related numerical data may not be designated as trade secrets. The service description is an evaluation criterion, but the available document text does not state its detailed scoring method.