Chương VI Nghị định 24/2024/NĐ-CP: Mua sắm tập trung, mua sắm thuộc dự toán mua sắm, mua thuốc, hóa chất, vật tư xét nghiệm, thiết bị y tế

Chapter VI

CONCENTRATED PROCUREMENT, PROCUREMENT UNDER PROCUREMENT ESTIMATES, PROCUREMENT OF DRUGS, CHEMICALS, TESTING MATERIALS, MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

Section 1. CENTRALIZED PROCUREMENT

Article 87. Principle of centralized procurement

1. Centralized procurement is carried out through centralized procurement units under ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, other central agencies, provincial-level People's Committees, and enterprises, except cases specified in Clause 5, Article 53 of the Bidding Law.  If the centralized procurement unit lacks sufficient capacity, a bidding consultant can be engaged to assist in selecting the bidder.

2. For goods and services that are required to be centrally procured through a framework agreement, the unit with procurement needs must sign a contract with the pre-selected vendor chosen during that process. If a framework agreement remains in effect and the procurement unit enters into a contract with a bidder other than the bidder selected through centralized procurement, the contract will not be paid unless an exception is specified in Clause 22 or Clause 23 of Article 131 of this Decree.

Article 88. Responsibilities in centralized procurement

1. The centralized procurement unit shall fulfill the responsibilities of the employer specified in Article 78 of the Bidding Law.

2. The superior of the centralized procurement unit shall fulfill the responsibilities of the competent person specified in Article 77 of the Bidding Law.

Article 89. Centralized procurement process under competitive bidding

1. Centralized procurement process:

Centralized procurement under competitive bidding is carried out according to Article 22 and Article 34 of this Decree, including the following steps:

a) Determine procurement volume:

There are two methods for determining the volume of goods and services to be procured centrally: Units with procurement needs can submit a list of required goods and services to the centralized procurement unit, or the centralized procurement unit can independently determine the required volume based on the actual usage data (volume and quantity) from the previous procurement period. For asset procurement under the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, except for drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment, the determination of centralized procurement volume is based on the list of goods and services sent by the unit with procurement needs to the centralized procurement unit as per the law on management and use of public assets.

The centralized procurement and price negotiation unit shall gather information on the procurement needs of private health facilities (if any) and then procure drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment for private health facilities as prescribed for public health facilities in the area;

b) The preparation, appraisal of and approval for specific contractor selection plans are carried out in accordance with Articles 37, 38, 39 and 41 of the Bidding Law;

c) The contractor selection organization shall comply with Article 26 and Article 38 of this Decree.

If it is necessary to select more than 1 successful bidder in one package’s part or an undivided package, the bidding documents must specify: bidding conditions, evaluation and ranking methods of bidders;

d) The evaluation of bids is carried out according to Articles 27, 28, 29, 30 or Articles 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43 of this Decree;

dd) The submission, appraisal of, approval for, and publication of the contractor selection result and explanation for unsuccessful bidders’ disqualification upon their requests comply with Article 31 and Article 44 of this Decree;

e) Finalize and sign the framework agreement:

The centralized procurement unit and the successful bidder finalize the content of the framework agreement as prescribed in Article 90 of this Decree, as a basis for signing the framework agreement. If a bidder wins multiple parts of a package or wins many different packages, the bidder must submit a commitment to ensure that the bidder has sufficient capacity and experience to complete the work according to the quality and performance schedule; this commitment is an integral part of the contract;

g) Finalize, sign, and perform the contract with the successful bidder:

If the centralized procurement unit directly signs a contract with the successful bidder, it is not required to sign a framework agreement as prescribed in Point e of this Clause. The bidder who has signed the framework agreement must furnish a performance security before or at the same time the contract takes effect for the unit with the procurement need. The bidder furnishes performance security for each unit with procurement unit or for the total number of package parts that the bidder sign a contract according to the form specified in the bidding documents or another form approved by the employer.

The unit with procurement needs shall notify the centralized procurement unit if the bidder does not sign the contract. The bidder has signed a framework agreement and has been asked by the procurement unit to sign a contract, but does not sign the contract or does not furnish a performance security, except for force majeure, his VNEPS account will be locked within 06 months from the date the Ministry of Planning and Investment receives the written request from the centralized procurement unit;

h) Conduct final settlement and contract liquidation.

2. Based on the scale and nature, the package can be divided into many parts to organize the bidding to select one or more successful bidders.

3. For packages that need to select more than one successful bidder in one package’s part or an undivided package, the bidding documents may stipulate the selection of contractors in one of the following ways:

a) Select bidders based on supply ability:

offer the full quantity or volume in the bidding documents. Based on the ability to supply goods or services of each bidder, the employer organizes the evaluation and selects a combination of bidders in ranking order from high to low on the basis of the evaluation criteria stated in the bidding documents. The selection of the list of successful bidders must ensure that the total quantity of goods offered by successful bidders is equal to the quantity of goods stated in the bidding documents, and also ensure that total proposed winning price of the package is lowest (for packages applying the least-cost selection); the total evaluated price of the package is the lowest (for packages applying the evaluated price selection); the aggregate score of the package is the highest (for packages that apply a quality-and cost-based selection) and the successful bid of the entire package does not exceed the approved package price.

The unit with procurement needs or the centralized procurement unit signs a contract with the bidder in order of priority in the bidder ranking list. If the higher ranked bidder refuses to sign the contract, the unit with procurement needs or the centralized procurement unit may sign a contract with the adjacent ranked bidder.

If a higher ranked bidder refuses to supply goods or services without a legitimate reason, without subject to force majeure, or breaching the framework agreement or contract, the breaches will be addressed according to the framework agreement or contract. Any bidder who breaches the contract will face the following consequences: a fine as stipulated in the contract, no refund of the performance security deposit, their negative contract performance will be published on the VNEPS;

b) Select bidders based on bidding volume:

The selection of contractors is based on the evaluation criteria stated in the bidding documents as prescribed in Articles 24 and 35 of this Decree. Bidders bid according to the required volume and quantity in the bidding documents. The approved list of successful bidders includes the main list (first ranked bidder) and reserve list (second ranked bidder onwards). During the contract performance process, if the bidder on the main list breaches the contract and cannot continue to supply goods or services according to the quantity and volume specified in the framework agreement or according to the signed contract, the centralized procurement unit or the unit with procurement needs will terminate the contract with that bidder and invite the second-ranked bidder (reserve list) to finalize and sign a framework agreement or sign a contract, and also request the bidder to renew their bid and bid security to have a ground for signing a framework agreement and contract. If the second ranked bidder refuses to finalize and sign the contract, the situation shall be addressed according to Clause 16, Article 131 of this Decree. The previously successful bidder who breaches the contract will face the following consequences: a fine as stipulated in the contract, no refund of the performance security deposit, their negative contract performance will be published on the VNEPS.

Article 90. Content of framework agreement

1. Based on the scale and nature of the package, the centralized procurement unit shall specify the detailed content of the framework agreement in the bidding documents accordingly but must include the main contents as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. Main contents of the framework agreement:

a) Scope of supply of goods or services;

b) Estimated time and location of goods delivery and service provision;

c) Conditions for supplying goods or services; advance payment, payment, contract liquidation;

d) Price corresponding to each type of goods or services;

dd) Warranty and maintenance conditions; training and instructions on use of goods or services;

e) Responsibilities of bidders supplying goods or services, including responsibility for signing and performing the contract and furnishing performance security for the unit with procurement needs;

g) Responsibilities of the unit with procurement needs in signing contracts and using goods or services;

h) Responsibilities of the centralized procurement unit;

i) Validity period of the framework agreement;

k) Penalties and compensation for damages due to breaches of contract;

l) Other related contents.

Section 2. PROCUREMENT UNDER PROCUREMENT ESTIMATES

Article 91. Authority to decide on procurement

1. Authority to decide on procurement of assets:

a) The authority to decide on the procurement of public assets at agencies and units shall comply with the law on management and use of public assets;

b) Heads of central agencies may decide on or delegate the authority to decide on procurement of assets for state-funded science and technology tasks;

c) The Provincial People's Council may decide on or delegate the authority to decide on procurement of assets for state-funded science and technology tasks regarding funding sources within the scope of local management.

2. Authority to decide on the procurement of goods or services other than the cases in Clause 1 of this Article:

a) The head of a central agency may decide on or delegate the authority to decide on the procurement using the science and technology fund managed by their agency (this includes procurement by agencies under their management, and other entities or individuals performing science and technology tasks, even if not directly managed by them);

b) The Provincial People’s Council may decide on or delegate the authority to decide on the procurement using the science and technology fund managed by the province (this includes procurement by agencies under their management, and other entities or individuals performing science and technology tasks, even if not directly managed by them);

c) Heads of budget estimate units at all levels can decide on procurement for: packages and procurement items with values within the scope of decision-making authority or as delegated by the competent authority, and packages and procurement items with values not exceeding 200 million dong;

d) Heads of central agencies and provincial People's Councils may decide on or delegate authority to decide on procurement to serve the operations of public service providers under their management.

Article 92. Procurement process

1. Contractor selection under the procurement estimate follows the process outlined in Chapters I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII of this Decree. No procurement decision submission or approval is required.

2. For goods on the list subject to Government- or Prime Minister-determined standards and limits (or those delegated to decide such standards and limits), the condition for successful bid is that the proposed winning price for each good must not exceed the price established based on the standards and limits of the relevant authorities.

Section 3. PROCUREMENT OF DRUGS, CHEMICALS, TESTING SUPPLIES, MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

Article 93. Contractor selection based on quantity of medical procedures

1. The selection of a bidder to supply a complete package of equipment, chemicals, testing supplies, and accompanying services (excluding operating personnel) is carried out in accordance with Point b, Clause 1, Article 55 of the Bidding Law. Bidding documents include the following contents:

a) Technical requirements for equipment; requirements for software to operate equipment and calibrate equipment;

b) Requirements on shelf life of chemicals and testing supplies;

c) Requirements for the bidder to list all chemicals, testing supplies and accompanying supplies needed to perform each medical procedure; packaging specifications for these goods;

d) The bid price summary schedule is built based on the expected number of medical procedures and the unit price quoted by the bidder for each medical procedure. This unit price is the total cost to perform the package for each medical procedure, including costs of equipment, chemicals, and testing supplies; warranty, maintenance, and component replacement services; installation, training, instructions for use; chemicals, testing supplies, and necessary accompanying supplies for testing the quality of the medical procedure and calibrating equipment; backup equipment (if any); chemicals, sample testing supplies and other related costs to perform the package. The employer shall not bear any costs other than the package cost calculated based on the number of medical procedures and unit price in the contract;

dd) Requirements for the bidder on warehousing and storage of chemicals and testing supplies to ensure that medical procedures are performed continuously and without interruption;

e) Requirements for installation and testing of quality and parameters of medical procedures;

g) Warranty and maintenance requirements, including periodic equipment maintenance;

h) Requirements for backup equipment, arrangement of backup equipment at medical facilities (if necessary);

i) Other necessary matters.

2. The bidder must allocate all costs of package performance specified in Point d, Clause 1 of this Article into the unit price for each medical procedure and must not pay for any costs other than the costs calculated according to the quantity of medical procedures and unit price in the contract.

3. The package can be divided into parts corresponding to one or some types of medical procedures.  A health facility can consolidate the needs of other health facilities to form a package.

4. The contract performance period must not exceed 60 months. If the two parties agree to apply the additional purchase option, the employer reports to the competent person to consider amending the contract to correspondingly extend the contract performance period for the additional work but no more than 18 months.

5. If the contract performance period expires and the number of medical procedures specified in the contract has not been performed, the employer can report to a competent person to consider granting an extension of contract performance period but not exceeding 12 months.

6. In all cases, the total extension of the contract performance period specified in Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article may not exceed 18 months.

Article 94. Procurement of drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, medical equipment

1. Direct contracting for packages specified in Point c, Clause 1, Article 23 of the Bidding Law is carried out in the following cases:

a) For immediate initiation in urgent epidemic prevention and control situations:

To expedite epidemic prevention and control efforts, the packages for consulting and non-consulting services, drugs (including vaccines and biological products), chemicals, testing supplies, medical equipment (including vaccination supplies), components and accessories, facilities, and construction should be initiated immediately upon: written directives of competent authorities (health authorities or governments at all levels), decisions on declaration of an epidemic for an infectious disease, or a locality’s request to declare an epidemic for an infectious disease of group A (as per the law);

Procurement should be initiated for the following items to support epidemic prevention and control when existing supplies at the health facility are insufficient: consulting and non-consulting services, drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, medical equipment, components, accessories, vehicles, and construction materials to establish, renovate, and build treatment areas, field hospitals;

Procurement for the following items can be initiated immediately to support diplomatic corps and other countries in their epidemic prevention and control efforts, upon practical needs and requests from competent authorities: consulting and non-consulting services, drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, medical equipment, components, accessories, vehicles, construction and installation materials;

b) In emergencies, to maintain health facility operations and avoid disruption that could endanger patients’ health and lives, immediate procurement can be initiated for: consulting and non-consulting services, drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment, components, accessories, vehicles, construction and installation materials;

c) For emergency treatment of patients in critical conditions (as defined by the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, if applicable), immediate procurement can be initiated for: consulting, non-consulting services, drugs, chemicals, and testing supplies, medical equipment, components, accessories, vehicles, construction and installation materials. These items are considered in unexpected needs, irreplaceable, essential for saving patients' lives;

d) Other cases according to the instructions of the Ministry of Health (if any).

2. If centrally procured drugs, medical equipment, or testing supplies are on the approved contractor selection plan but the contractor selection result has not been announced, or no successful bidder is selected, or the framework agreement of the centralized procurement package expires, then the health facility can procure items using the following methods (according to the notice of the centralized procurement unit, for up to 12 months): competitive bidding, limited bidding, direct contracting, direct procurement, online quotation, online procurement, shopping method according to the Bidding Law and this Decree. Payment will come from the health insurance fund based on the contract price. In case of winning bid for centralized procurement, the employer may continue the procurement according to the contract signed with the bidder.

3. The Ministry of Health shall organize centralized drug procurement at the national level, and take charge and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and Vietnam Social Insurance to negotiate prices. If price negotiation is applied, the bidder invited to negotiate must meet the eligibility requirements specified in Points a, b, c, d, e, g and i, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Bidding Law.

4. Regarding selection of drug suppliers, Vietnam Social Security has the following responsibilities:

a) Participate in the appraisal process of specific contractor selection plans for centralized procurement and price negotiation;

b) Publicize the price of each winning drug paid from the health insurance fund of each hospital, locality, and the Ministry of Health on the website of Vietnam Social Security.

Article 95. Payment of costs of purchasing drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment for private health facilities

1. Private health facilities can submit their consolidated procurement needs for drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment to the centralized procurement unit in their locality for centralized procurement (national level, local level) and price negotiation. When consolidating centralized procurement needs, private health facilities are responsible for developing plans to use drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment in compliance with regulations on bidding of centrally procured medicines, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment, similar to those required for public health facilities in the locality.

If a private health facility needs to purchase drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, or medical equipment through a centralized procurement unit, they must sign a contract with the centralized procurement unit.

2. Private health facilities that do not consolidate needs for centralized procurement and price negotiation according to Clause 1 of this Article shall organize their own selection of contractors to supply drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, medical equipment. Payment for drugs, chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment paid by the health insurance fund is made according to Clauses 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article.

3. Private health facilities that use drugs on the list of drugs paid for by the health insurance fund for medical treatment will be reimbursed at the purchased price, but not exceeding the following limits: winning unit prices of public health facilities at provincial, central levels, or winning unit prices of health facilities of the same healthcare practice level in the same locality. This applies to drugs with identical trade name, manufacturer, origin, concentration, content, administration route, technical criteria group, dosage form, and unit of measurement.

If there is no winning unit price in the same locality mentioned above, the determination of the unit price for reimbursement is based on the winning unit price of the drug with identical trade name, manufacturer, origin, concentration, content, route of administration, technical criteria group, dosage form, and unit of measurement in the following order of priority:

a) Results of national centralized procurement, results of price negotiations;

b) Results of centralized procurement in the locality;

c) Bidding results of public health facilities at provincial and central levels, or health facilities of the same healthcare practice level in neighboring areas;

d) Bidding results of public health facilities at provincial and central levels, or health facilities of the same healthcare practice level in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

4. Private health facilities will be reimbursed for chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment based on the actual purchase price. This applies to items with identical manufacturer, origin, and technical criteria. However, the reimbursement amount cannot exceed the winning unit price of public health facilities at the provincial, central level, or health facilities in the same healthcare practice level in the same locality.

If there is no winning unit price in the same locality mentioned above, the determination of unit price for reimbursement is based on the winning unit price of chemicals, testing supplies, and medical equipment from the same manufacturer, origin, technical criteria in the following order of priority:

a) Results of national centralized procurement, results of price negotiations;

b) Results of centralized procurement in the locality;

c) Bidding results of public health facilities at provincial and central levels, or health facilities of the same healthcare practice level in neighboring areas;

d) Bidding results of public health facilities at provincial and central levels, or health facilities of the same healthcare practice level in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

5. If a private health facility chooses to apply the Bidding Law to organize the selection of contractors to supply drugs, the reimbursement is based on the contractor selection result but does not exceed the winning unit prices in the same locality, centralized procurement results, price negotiation results, bidding results in neighboring areas, Hanoi City and Ho Chi Minh City according to the principles specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

6. If a private health facility chooses to apply the Bidding Law to organize the selection of contractors to supply chemicals, testing supplies, medical equipment, the reimbursement is based on the contractor selection result but does not exceed the winning unit prices in the same locality, centralized procurement results, price negotiation results, bidding results in neighboring areas, Hanoi City and Ho Chi Minh City according to the principles specified in Clause 4 of this Article.