Research by keywords

ARTICLE 2 : The decree herein fixes the rules of contracting, performance, settlement and control of the public procurements.

ARTICLE 4 : All the documents of the procurement, including the specifications, mentioned in article 41 of the decree herein, shall constitute a single document.

ARTICLE 6 :   The procurement is valid only after its signature by the contracting parties.

Article 13 : (Decree n°1329 dated 4 June 2007) The procurements may be contracted only with natural or legal persons able to be bound and presenting the guarantees and references necessary for the proper performance of their duties. Contracts may not be concluded with the suppliers or representatives of the Tunisian or foreign manufacturers who were public servants in the public administration, establishment or enterprise that will strike the deal for goods and services supply and who stopped working, at least, five years ago.  According to the article herein, the enterprise owner, the manager, the person responsible for the management or marketing or one from among the main contributors in the capital up to 30% or more, or the manufacture’s concessionary are deemed suppliers or manufacture’s representative.

Article 14 : ( Decree n°1329 dated 4 June 2007) Tenders shall be set in accordance with the specimen indicated in the specifications and signed by the candidates who shall submit them directly or through their duly accredited representatives provided that he/she represents only one candidate in the same competition. They shall be accompanied by the following documents: 1 -  the tax certificate provided by the legislation in force, 2 - an insurance under the national social security fund, 3 - a certificate of non bankruptcy, judicial settlement, or any other equivalent document provided for by the law of the native country of non resident bidders in Tunisia, 4 - a sworn statement submitted by the resident bidders in Tunisia provided that they are not bankrupt or in a judicial settlement status in accordance with the regulations in force. Bidders who are engaged in an amicable settlement status shall furnish a declaration, 5 - a sworn statement specifying their intent not to make promises, donations gifts either personnally or by proxy submitted by the bidders, with a view to influence the different procedures of either personnally or the stages of its performance, 6 - a sworn statement submitted by the bidder specifying that he was not a civil servant in the administration or public establishment or enterprise which enter into contract of goods and services supply, that he/she had stopped working for them for at least five years, 7 - any other document required by the specifications. Any tender not including the above mentioned documents as well as any other document required by the specifications will be laid aside at the expiry of the additional deadline shall beprovided for by article 67 of the decree herein.

Article 19 : The public purchaser shall, during the elaboration of the specifications relating to the procurement, take into consideration the capacity of the contractors, the producers, the service providers and the engineering and design departments. The allotissement of the public orders is compulsory when it is likely to favour the participation of the national enterprises or when it is likely to present advantages of a technical, financial or social nature. The specifications shall specify the nature and the importance of each lot . The tenderers are authorized to take part in one or many  lots and the specifications shall indicate the maximum number of lots which may be granted to the same tenderer. When one or many lots could not be granted, a new procedure shall be initiated, the file is submitted to the prior opinion of the procurements commission having examined the initial file. In case the consistency of the non-granted lots or some clauses of the specifications are amended, these amendments shall be submitted to the prior opinion of the procurements commission having already examined the initial file.

Article 19 bis : (Decree n°2167 dated 10 August 2006 - Decree n°561 dated 4 March 2008)  The public purchaser reserves annually to the small sized enterprises a percentage within the limit of 20% of the provisional value of the labor procurements, supply of goods, services and studies, as indicated in subparagraph 2 of the article herein. Is considered small- sized enterprises within the meaning of the decree herein, the enterprise in activity and the enterprise established recently, in accordance with the conditions put forward in the following table which determines the maximum provisional amounts of the procurements which are reserved to it : Subject of the procurements Maximum provisional amount of the procurement inclusive of tax Maximum annual turnover for the enterprise in activity Maximum investment volume for the enterprise established recently Works of civil engineering or roads 500 thousand Dinars 1 million Dinars 500 thousand Dinars Technical works relating to fluids, or to electricity, or to fire safety, or similar works 100 thousand Dinars 200 thousand Dinars 100 thousand Dinars Technical works relating to joinery or to painting or to airtightness or to elevators or to kitchens or similar works 80 thousand Dinars 160 thousand Dinars 80 thousand Dinars Goods 150 thousand Dinars 300 thousand Dinars 150 thousand Dinars Services 100 thousand Dinars 200 thousand Dinars 100 thousand Dinars Studies 30 thousand Dinars 60 thousand Dinars 30 thousand Dinars   The provisions mentioned above are not applicable to the enterprise, which more than 25% of its capital is held by an enterprise or a group of enterprises which do not meet the definition of the small-sized enterprise. These procurements are concluded after separate orders or within the framework of one or many batches of a set of orders in which the participation is exclusively reserved to the small-sized enterprises according to the subject of the procurement. It is precised in the notice of a competitive bidding and specifications, that the order as a whole or that one or many batches are reserved to the concerned small-sized enterprises, and this, on the level of participation and attribution. The public purchaser establishes a procurements -program to be reserved to small-sized enterprises and notifies it, enclosed with a provisional calendar of execution to the national observatory of public procurements mentioned in title 9 of the decree herein and in a deadline not exceeding 31 January of each year. In case it's possible to reserve the abovementioned procurements to the profit of the small-sized enterprises within the limit of the abovementioned percentage, for technical considerations or in case of lacking of small enterprises which may be charged of the implementation of the aforesaid procurements, the public purchaser has to justify it in a report addressed to the procurements commission established within it or related to, which puts forward its opinion on this subject. The public purchaser establishes at the end of each year a report over the procurements attributed to small-sized enterprises comprising notably a procurements value comparison with the expectations as well as an evaluation of the conditions of implementation, and notifies this report to the national observatory of public procurements and to the committee of follow-up and inquiry over the public procurements mentioned in title 9 of the decree herein.

Article 19 ter  - Decree n° 2008-561 dated 4 March 2008 Is reserved to craftsmen as defined by the legislation and the regulation in force, the participation in the works linked to handicrafts activities within the public projects, unless in case of impossibility . In this case, the public purchaser should precise in the special report mentioned in article 100 of the decree herein, the justifications of this impossibility. The competent procurements committee, necessarily, puts forward its opinion over these justifications.

ARTICLE 20 : Taking into account the provisions of articles 19 and 24 of the decree herein, and in case it is resorted to international calls for competition, the related specifications shall comprise, except duly justified impossibility, a clause called national subcontracting according to which the foreign tenderers shall entrust to local providers the performance of the maximum of lots of the order, products, equipments or services in all cases the local industry and companies are likely to satisfy a part of the subject of the order. The foreign tenderers will be invited to provide in support of their tender, the detailed lists of the lots or the products to be entrusted to local subcontractors

ARTICLE 21 : The products of Tunisian origin, with equal quality, are preferred in all the supplies procurements to the products of any other origin, insofar as the prices of the Tunisian products do not exceed by more than 10%, the prices of the foreign products.  The tenderer is bound to present the certificate of Tunisian origin delivered by the concerned departments. For the application of the preference margin of the products of Tunisian origin, the comparison of the tenders is carried out taking into account the customs duties and on the basis of the selling prices all inclusive of tax and duty.

ARTICLE 22 : Unless otherwise provisions of the specifications, and for technically complex orders within the meaning of article 72 of the decree herein, the tenderers may present one or many variable tenders comprising the technical specifications others than those provided by the basic solution on condition of presenting a tendering referring to the subject of the procurement as provided for by the specifications and that the variable tender does not involve substantial modification of the needs of the public purchaser. The tender relating to the variable solution shall comprise all the indications and precisions relating to this variant and shall be supported by useful documents allowing to evaluate this solution on the basis of the same methodology announced in the specifications.

ARTICLE 23 : Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of article 22 of the decree herein, the Tunisian enterprises may exceptionally present variable tenders without being bound to present a basic solution when it is established that the conditions and the specifications of the basic solution do not allow any of these enterprises to take part in the invitation to tenders. The proposed variable tender shall meet the needs and objectives required as far as the technical quality, the cost, the procedure and the performance deadlines are concerned.

ARTICLE 24 : When a foreign engineering and design department is called for, the specifications shall provide for, except duly justified impossibility, the obligation to associate a Tunisian engineering and design department chosen, if necessary, on the basis of a list of pre-selected departments fixed by the public purchaser according to the nature and the subject of the study. This list will be inserted in the specifications. The contract to be concluded with the foreign engineering and design department shall reveal clearly the services entrusted to the associated Tunisian department and the related amounts.

ARTICLE 25 : (Decree n° 2004-2551 dated 2 November 2004) When foreign enterprises specialized in the sector of the informatics and communication technologies are called for, the specifications shall comprise, except duly justified impossibility, the obligation to associate specialized Tunisian enterprises selected according to criteria announced in the aforementioned specifications.

ARTICLE 26 :(Decree n°2003-1638 dated 4 August 2003) The books of the particular clauses shall not comprise provisions which are likely to eliminate or to exclude the participation of the Tunisian enterprises in the public order. Are considered, as provisions of eliminatory nature within the meaning of this article, the requirement for the tenderers to have references referring to the performance of similar projects in the fields where the national enterprises did not operate before. In this case, the public purchaser shall, except in duly justified exceptional cases, replace the condition of the similar references by projects having the same degree of complexity in the field subject of the procurement without being similar. The relevant procurements commission puts compulsory forward its opinion about these justifications.

ARTICLE 27 : The procurements are concluded in order to satisfy the annual needs of each public purchaser. However, when the grouping of purchases relating to one or many public purchasers is likely to present advantages of technical or financial nature, it is possible to resort to a framework procurement or a general procurement in accordance with the provisions of articles 28 and 29 of the decree herein. The grouping of purchases does not exclude their distribution in lots in order to allow the widening of competition. The distribution of the order in lots shall take into account the means of the potential participants, their capacities as well as their references and notably of those of small and medium-sized enterprises.

ARTICLE 28 : When the required orders are intended for the satisfaction of needs of same nature or complementary nature of permanent and foreseeable characteristic, a framework procurement it may be contracted. The framework procurement fixes only the minimum and the maximum of the orders fixed in value or in quantity, likely to be performed during the period covered by the procurement.  The needs to satisfy and the quantities to be acquired shall be specified by purchase order. This procurement shall indicate the duration for which it is concluded; it may comprise a clause of tacit renewal, on condition that the total duration of the contract does not exceed three years and exceptionally, five years for the framework procurements requiring the mobilization of specific investments.

ARTICLE 29 : The orders of supplies of goods intended for the satisfaction of needs common to a group of public purchasers may be the subject of one or several collective procurements said "general procurements". In this case, the quantities to be ordered by each public purchaser are fixed according to his needs in a particular procurement concluded in accordance with the conditions of the "general procurement ".

ARTICLE 31 : The invitation to tenders may whether be open or be preceded by a pre-selection. The open invitation to tenders consists of a public call for competition in accordance with article 63 of the decree herein. The invitation to tenders preceded by a pre-selection is carried out in two phases. - the first phase consists of a public call of candidacy opened, on the basis of book of the terms of reference which determine the conditions of participation as well as the methodology and the criteria used to pre-select the candidates authorized to take part in the consultation. The book of the terms of reference is submitted for the prior examination by the relevant procurements commission. - the second phase consists of inviting the pre-selected candidates to present their tenders. The report of pre-selection is submitted to the prior opinion of the relevant procurements commission.

ARTICLE 32 : An invitation to tender with competition may be organized on the basis of a program established by the public purchaser, when reasons of technical, aesthetic or financial nature justify particular researches or require a particular specialization from the participants. The invitation to tenders with competition may be organized within the framework of the encouragement of the content industry for the orders linked to the programs of didactic, cultural or of multimedia training nature. The program of the competition, beforehand submitted to the examination of the relevant procurements commission, shall specify the content of the needs to which the order as well as the methodology and the criteria of evaluation of the tenders shall meet and shall fix the maximum of the expenditure provided for the performance of the project subject of the competition.

ARTICLE 33 : the competition shall deal whether: 1 - with the study of a project; 2 - with the achievement of a project beforehand studied;   3 - with the study of a project and its achievement at the same time.

ARTICLE 34 : The invitation to tenders with competition may be open or preceded by a pre-selection.  - the invitation to tenders with open competition comprises a public call for competition. - the invitation to tenders with competition preceded by a pre-selection comprises a public call for candidacy published in accordance with the book of the terms of reference of the pre-selection which fixes the subject of the competition, the conditions of participation and the methodology of pre-selection.    The book of the terms of reference is submitted to the prior examination of the relevant procurements commission.  Only the pre-selected candidates are allowed to present tenders after examination of the report of pre-selection by the relevant procurements commission.  The proposals are examined by a jury appointed by decision of the public purchaser. The draft decision appointing the jury members which also fixes the operating procedures of the aforesaid jury is submitted to the prior examination of the procurements higher commission for the files of its competence.  The jury of competition shall record the methodology of examination of the projects and the results as well as its proposals in a report signed by all the members and comprising, if necessary, their reserves.     This report is submitted to the prior examination of the relevant procurements commission.

ARTICLE 35 : When the competition deals only with the study of a project, the program shall fix the premiums, rewards or advantages granted to the best ranked project promoters. The program shall, in addition, provide for: - Whether that the awarded projects will become fully or partly property of the public purchaser; - or that the public purchaser reserves the right to entrust to the provider of his choice to carry out all or part of the awarded projects, with payment of an amount fixed by the program of the competition; failing that, the program shall fix the calculation bases. The program of the competition shall indicate if the project promoters will have to cooperate to the performance of their awarded projects and under which conditions.

ARTICLE 36 : When the competition deals, at the same time, with the study of the project and its performance or only with the performance of a project beforehand studied, the jury may ask all the competitors or one of them, to bring some modifications to their proposals. The processes and the prices proposed by the competitors shall not be disclosed.

ARTICLE 37 : The premiums, rewards or advantages are granted by the public purchaser on a proposal from the jury. It may be provided the grant of premiums, rewards or advantages to the non retained competitors and whose projects have been the best ranked. The premiums, rewards or advantages may not be fully or partly granted, if the received projects are not deemed to be acceptable. The competition shall not be continued if no project is deemed to be acceptable. In all cases, the competitors are notified about the continuation which has been reserved for their project.

ARTICLE 38 : (Decree n° 2551 dated 2 November 2004) The procurements shall be contracted, after competition, by way of widened consultation in accordance with article 39 of the decree herein. The public purchaser shall, in the cases it is resorted to the procedure of a widened consultation, observe a written procedure guaranteeing the equality of the participants, the equivalence of the chances and the transparency in the choice of the holder of the procurement.

ARTICLE 39 : (Decree n° 1638 dated 4 August 2003 - Decree n° 2551 dated 2 November 2004) The procurements may be contracted after competition, by way of widened consultation in the following cases: 1 - the orders that the requirements of public safety or national defense prevent from performing by way of call for competition or when the State high interest requires it or in the case of imperious urgency resulting from unforeseeable circumstances, 2 - the orders for which has resulted a procedure of invitation to tenders, have not been the subject of no tender or with regard of which it was proposed unacceptable tenders on condition that the resort to the widened consultation allows the contracting of a procurement within acceptable and more advantageous conditions, 3 - the procurements of works and supplies of goods or services contracted with the micro-enterprises within the framework of national programs of social nature on condition that the amount of these procurements, all inclusive of tax, does not exceed seventy thousand dinars (70.000 dinars); for the framework procurements which the performance duration exceeds one year, the amount to be taken into consideration is seventy thousand dinars (70.000 dinars) all inclusive of tax for each year. 4 - the forests works and water and ground conservation works requiring limited means of supervision and simple materials and which are entrusted to micro-enterprises or development groupings in the field of agriculture and fishing on condition that the annual value of the procurement does not exceed one hundred thousand dinars (100.000 dinars) all inclusive of tax.

ARTICLE 40  Are considered negotiated procurements, the procurements concluded by the public purchaser, without that this one completely observes the procedures and the methods of the invitation to tenders or of widened consultation. It may be contracted negotiated procurements for the procurements of works, supplies of goods or services and research which performance may only be entrusted to a determined supplier or service provider.

Article 40 bis : (Decree n°2167 dated 10 August 2006) The public purchaser may organize an invitation to tenders in two stages for the orders of work, supplies and equipments having a specific nature from the technical point of view or which requires a new technology that the public purchaser seeks to explore and to exploit and which technical specifications may not be defined beforehand. It may be resorted to this procedure only for the procurements of the competence of the procurements higher commission.

Article 40 third: (Decree n°2167 dated 10 August 2006) The first phase consists of launching an invitation to tenders by virtue of which the public purchaser invites the potential candidates to present technical tenders comprising the conceptions and the studies without any indication of the prices, and this, on the basis of term of reference elaborated by the public purchaser. The public purchaser proceeds to the definition of his final needs and to the fixing of the standards and technical specifications required within sight of the technical solutions proposed by the participants, and elaborates the specifications which will be used the second phase.

Article 40 fourth: (Decree n°2167 dated 10 August 2006) The candidates having taken part in the first phase are invited in the second phase to present their technical and financial tenders on the basis of the final specifications elaborated for this purpose.  The public purchaser proceeds to the evaluation of the tenders and to the choice of the lowest tenderer at the technical and financial level. This procedure shall respect the provisions of articles 64, 66, 67, 68 and 69 of the decree herein.

ARTICLE 41: The specifications shall specify the conditions within which the procurements are contracted and performed. They shall notably comprise:   1 - the books of the general administrative clauses which fix the administrative provisions applicable to all the procurements dealing with the same nature of orders.  2 - the books of the common prescriptions which fix essentially the technical provisions applicable to all the procurements dealing with the same nature of orders.  3 - the books of the particular administrative clauses which fix the administrative clauses specific to each procurement and comprise compulsory the indication of the articles of the books of the general administrative clauses to which it is possibly derogated or for which it is provided for contrary provisions. 4 - the books of the particular technical specifications which fix the technical specifications specific to each market and which comprise compulsory the indication of the articles of the books of common prescriptions to which it is possibly derogated or for which it is provided for otherwise provisions. The books of the general administrative clauses and the books of the common prescriptions will be enforceable by decree of the Prime Minister on opinion of the procurements higher commission.

ARTICLE 42 : The procurements may comprise an overhead global price for the whole order, one or many unit prices on the basis of which the price of payment according to the real performance of the order will be determined or an overhead global price for one part of the order and unit prices for the remainder.

Article 42 bis : (Decree n°2471 dated 5 July 2008) The holder of a procurement of definite price, may request the updating of his financial offer if the period between the date of presentation of the financial offer and the notification of the procurement or the issuance of the order of the beginning of performance, exceeds six months. The specifications shall indicate the bases of the updating and its computing methods. The holder of the procurement shall present to the public purchaser a request in which he indicates the amount of the updating due, the bases and indications determining it This request shall be matched with all documents and proofs. The public purchaser shall consider this request and establish for the purpose a report to be submitted to the competent commission for procurements. This report shall include the opinion of the public purchaser about the updating request and his proposal for the purpose. If the competent commission for procurements approves the updating request, the public purchaser shall proceed to the updating of the amount of the offer if the procurement is not concluded, or to the establishment of a project annexed to the procurement concluded, according to the opinion of the commission for procurements, which shall be submitted to the holder of the procurement for signature.

ARTICLE 43 : When the procurement comprises a clause of price review, it shall indicate: - the date in which it is meant the agreed price;  - the precise methods of review of this price and notably conditions and formulas of review as well as the reference documents;  The orders performed during three months following the date of establishment of the prices are paid, without review, at procurement prices, except particular clauses of the specifications. As of the expiry of the three-month deadline mentioned above, the prices of the procurements may be reviewed by application of the formulas of price review. The orders remaining to be performed at the expiry of the contractual deadline are regulated on the basis of the last reviewed price applicable at this date. When the procurement provides for a maximum beyond which cease the application of the penalty for delay of performance and that this maximum is reached, the services remaining to be performed will be regulated at the prices applied at the date of the beginning of performance.

ARTICLE 44 : Exceptionally, for the orders of works or complex supplies or of new technique and presenting whether imperious urgency nature, or significant technical risks, which oblige to start the performance of the procurement whereas all the conditions can not be completely determined, procurements may be contracted at provisional prices with the contractors or suppliers who submit themselves to a particular control.           The procurement at provisional prices shall specify, apart from control to be exercised with regard to these providers, the accounting obligations which are imposed on them as well as the elements and rules which will be used as a basis for the determination of the order final price, as it will be fixed by the addendum provided for by the subparagraph hereafter. An addendum fixing the final clauses of the procurement and notably the final price or at least the precise conditions of its determination, shall intervene at the latest at the date in which these conditions are known.

Article 46 : (Decree n°1638 dated 4 August 2003 - Decree n° 2008-561 dated 4 March 2008 The specifications determining the financial guarantees to be produced by each tenderer for the temporary guarantee and by the holder of the procurement for the final guarantee. The public purchaser fixes the temporary guarantee amount by application of a percentage ranging between 0.5% and 1.5% of the estimated amount of the orders subject to the procurement. The public purchaser can exceptionally fix the provisional guarantee amount according to a lump amount which takes into account the importance and complexity of the procurement. Engineering and design departments are exempted during their participation in the public procurements from the presentation of the temporary guarantee, and this, during the first five years as from the date of their establishment. The amount of the final guarantee cannot be superior to 3% of the increased initial amount of the procurement, if need be, of the amount of the annexes when the procurement does not provide a guarantee deadline and to 10% when the procurement comprises a guarantee deadline. However, for certain procurements of supply of goods or services, a final guarantee cannot be required when the circumstances or the nature of the procurement justify it, and this after, an opinion of the competent procurements committee.

ARTICLE 47 : For the procurements contracted on behalf of the State, the local collectivities and the public establishments, the guarantee, in whatever form it is constituted, is received by the paying public accountant. The oppositions against the guarantee shall be made before the accountant who received this guarantee; all the other oppositions are null and void. For the procurements contracted on behalf of the public enterprises or of the public establishments of non administrative nature, the guarantee is received by the agent entitled for this purpose. The related oppositions shall be made according to the regulation in force.

ARTICLE 48 : The provisional guarantees of all the participants whose tenders are eliminated, in accordance with the provisions of article 68 of the decree herein, shall be restituted to them or the guarantors who are replacing them released if necessary.  The provisional guarantee shall be restituted to the tenderers whose tenders have not been retained after the choice of the procurement holder and this, taking into account the deadline of tenders' validity. The provisional guarantee shall be restituted or the guarantor who is replacing him released, to the procurement holder after constitution of the final guarantee, and this, within a twenty-day deadline as from the notification of the procurement.

ARTICLE 49 : The final guarantee or the guarantor who is replacing him remains assigned to the guarantee of the proper performance of the procurement and to the recovery of the sums which the holder would be recognized as debtor for this procurement.

Article 64  : Decree n° 2008-2471 dated 5 July 2008 Every technical offer which doesn’t include the provisory caution or includes information about the prices or the offer’s amount shall not be taken into consideration.

ARTICLE 65 : It is established by each public purchaser, a permanent commission of the envelopes opening composed at maximum of five members including its chairman appointed by decision of the public purchaser. Exceptionally, it may be established more than one commission of the envelopes opening by a public purchaser after opinion of the procurements higher commission. The commission of the envelopes opening shall be chaired by the controller of the public expenses for the procurements of the State, the local collectivities and the public establishments and by the State controller for the procurements of public enterprises and the public establishments of non administrative nature.  The public purchaser, in coordination with the chairman of the commission, shall invite the members, at least three working days before the date of the opening of the envelopes. The commission may meet only in presence of the majority of its members among them obligatorily its chairman.   The public purchaser, in coordination with the chairman of the commission, shall in addition:  - establish the correspondences mentioned in article 67 of the decree herein and address them to the tenderers,  - expressly inform the tenderers whose technical tenders are accepted, of the place, the date and the hour of the holding of the commission meeting of opening of the envelopes containing the financial tenders;  and this, in accordance with the provisions of article 69 of the decree herein.

ARTICLE 67 : (Decree n° 2006-2167 dated 10 August 2006) The commission of the envelopes opening may, if necessary, expressly invite the tenderers to provide the required missing documents, including the administrative documents, to complete their tenders within a prescribed deadline, trough postal way or directly at the mail receiving office of the public purchaser for fear of elimination of their tenders.  However, the non-presentation of the provisional guarantee shall constitute a reason of automatic rejection. It is the same for any document containing elements considered in the evaluation of the tenders. The commission of the envelopes opening shall expressly invite the participants who did not sign and did not put their paraph on all the documents, according to the required methods, to do it within a deadline which will be fixed by the aforesaid commission. The technical tenders arrived after the reception deadline, are restituted to their holders accompanied with a copy of the original envelope. The latter, being conserved by the public purchaser as a mean of proof. Will be also restituted, the technical tenders which did not comply with the provisions of article 64 of the decree herein and the tenders not accompanied with the provisional guarantee or those which have not been completed by the missing documents or the obligatory signature of the specifications within the required deadlines as well as the rejected tenders. In all cases, the public purchaser shall inform in writing, the tenderers who require it, of the reasons of rejection of their tenders.

Article 79 : (Decree n°2471 dated 5 July 2008) The public purchaser at the presentation of the counting report of the technical offers to the competent commission of the procurements, shall precise explicitly in a written report his opinion on the results of competitiveness and on the proposals submitted to him in a counting report of the technical offers, and he may eliminate the offers of the tenderers whose the follow up slips referred to in article 150 of decree herein, includes infringe the professional guarantees necessary to the proper performance of the procurement. The public purchaser at the presentation of the counting report of the financial offers to the competent commission of the procurements, shall precise explicitly in a written report his opinion on the choice of the holder of the public procurement and the proposed prices. The public purchaser shall inform the minister in charge of trade about the eliminated financial offers for the extremely low prices infringing the loyal competitiveness. In this case the minister in charge of trade may lodge a complaint before the competition council against the tenderers, in accordance with the provisions of law n° 91-64 dated 29 July 1991 relating to competition and prices. In case of emergency the Minister in charge of trade may require the taking of provisory measures as referred to in the last sub-paragraph of article 11 of law n° 91-64 dated 29 July 1991 relating to competition and prices.

.

ARTICLE 87 : The procurements specialized commission of building, civil engineering and of related studies, chaired by a representative of the Prime Minister is composed of the following members: - A member of the Court of Auditors. - A representative of the Minister charged of Foreign Affairs. - A representative of the Minister charged of Development and International Cooperation. - A representative of the Minister charged of Finance. - A representative of the Minister charged Industry. - A representative of the Minister charged of Trade. - A representative of the Minister charged of Equipment, Housing and Territorial Development. - A representative of the Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia. - A representative of the supervisory Minister for the procurements of the public establishments of non-administrative nature and the public enterprises when the supervisory Ministry is not represented within the commission.

ARTICLE 88 : The procurements specialized commission of the communication technologies, informatics, electricity, electronics and related studies, chaired by a representative of the Prime Minister is composed of the following members: - A member of the Court of Auditors - A representative of the Minister charged of Foreign Affairs - A representative of the Minister charged of Development and International Cooperation - A representative of the Minister charged of Finance - A representative of the Minister charged of Industry - A representative of the Minister charged of Trade - A representative of the Minister charged of Equipment, Housing and Territorial Development - A representative of the Minister charged of Communication Technologies - A representative of the Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia - A representative of the supervisory Minister for the procurements of the public enterprises and the public establishments of non-administrative nature when the supervisory Ministry is not represented within the commission.

Article 88 bis : ( Decree n°1329 dated 4 June 2007) The commission specialized in raw materials and products resold in their original status deals chaired by a representative of the Prime Ministry shall consist of the following members : - a member from the court of auditors, - a representative of the Minister charged of foreign affairs, - a representative of the Minister charged of finance, - a representative of the Minister charged of development and international cooperation, - a representative of the Minister charged of trade and handicrafts, - a representative of the Minister charged of industry, energy and small and medium-sized enterprises, - a representative of the Minister charged of transport, - a representative of the governor of the central bank, - a representative of the supervising Ministry for public enterprises procurements when the supervising Ministry is not represented in the commission.

ARTICLE 89 : The specialized commission of the procurements related to the diverse orders, chaired by a representative of the Prime Minister is composed of the following members: - a member of the Court of Auditors - a representative of the Minister charged of Foreign Affairs - a representative of the Minister charged of Economic Development and International Cooperation - a representative of the Minister charged of Finance - a representative of the Minister charged of Industry - a representative of the Minister charged of Trade, - a representative of the Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia - a representative of the supervisory Minister for the procurements of the public enterprises and the public establishments of non-administrative nature when the supervisory Ministry is not represented within the commission.

ARTICLE 90 : The Procurements Departmental Commission chaired by the concerned Minister or his representative is composed of the following members: - The controller of Public Expenses, - A representative of the Minister charged of Development and International Cooperation, - A representative of the Minister charged of Finance, - A representative of the Minister charged of Trade - A representative of the Minister charged of Industry - A representative of the Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia - The director of  Administrative and Financial Affairs - A representative of the Minister charged of Communication Technologies for the procurements dealing with the acquisition of computer equipments or software or the achievement of the related studies - A representative of the Minister charged of Equipment, Housing and Territorial Development for the projects of building and civil engineering to  be concluded by other Ministries The composition of the Departmental Commission established within the ministry of sectorial supervision is reviewed by replacing the director of Administrative and Financial Affairs by the Director General of the concerned establishment and Controller of Public Expenses by the State Controller when it examines the procurements to be concluded on behalf of the public establishments of non-administrative nature.

Article 115 bis : (Decree n° 2008-2471 dated 5 July 2008) The holder of the procurement may be compensated for damages and supplementary expenses due to the delay imputed to the public purchaser or to the major modifications made to the project to be performed. The specifications shall indicate the conditions of compensation with regard to the period of delay, the importance and the nature of the modifications made to the project as well as the computing methods of the compensation.  The holder of the procurement shall present a request for the purpose to the public purchaser, in which he indicates the amount of the compensation, the bases and indications of its evaluation, and shall be matched with all documents and proofs. The public purchaser shall consider this request and establish for the purpose a report to be submitted to the competent commission for procurements. This report shall include the opinion of the public purchaser about the compensation request and his proposal for the purpose. If the competent commission for procurements approves the compensation request, the public purchaser shall proceed to the establishment of a project annexed to the procurement, according to the opinion of the commission for procurements, which shall be submitted to the holder of the procurement for signature.

ARTICLE 124 : The advisory committee of the amicable settlement of litigations is composed as follows : An advisor at the Administrative Court : chairman, A representative of the procurements higher commission : member, A representative of the profession to which belongs the holder of the procurement: member. The members of this committee are appointed respectively by order of the Prime Minister on a proposal from the First President of the Administrative Court and from the president of the concerned federation of the profession

ARTICLE 129 : The opinion of the committee is advisory and confidential. It may not be produced or used by the parties before the courts.

Article 138 : (Decree n°1329 dated 4 June 2007) The commission of the enterprise deals fixes the conditions and procedures of the deals provided for in article 134 of the decree herein. It shall study the relevant bids and select, in each operation, the most advantageous bid. To carry out the missions mentioned in the previous sub paragraph of the article herein, the commission of the enterprise deals shall comprise in addition to the members mentioned in article 93 of the decree herein, the following members: - a representative of the Minister charged of finance, - a representative of the Minister charged of industry, - a representative of the Minister charged of trade, - a representative of the supervisory Minister for the department not represented in the commission, - a representative of the central bank of Tunisia. This commission may only take a decision if the majority of its members are present among which obligatorily the chairman managing director or the enterprise directorate, the representative of the Minister charged of finance and the state controller; its decisions are taken by unanimity of the members present and voting. Failing unanimity, the commission submits immediately a report to the supervising Minister who shall give his/her final decision . Its deliberations shall be placed in a record signed by the members present relating the proceedings and the data required for evaluation on which their decision is based.

In order to obtain the best tenders from the point of view of quality, price, conditions of performance and guarantee, the procurements commission of the enterprise is entitled to depart from the normal rules of contracting and performance of the public enterprises procurements. However, the procedure shall remain in writing.

When the procurements commission of the enterprise considers helpful to proceed to the negotiations with the suppliers, it proceeds by itself or gives for this purpose a delegation to two of its members, who shall give an account of the stages, the detail and the results of these negotiations.

the procurements governed by this chapter are concluded within the framework of a  purchase program beforehand  approved by the board of directors  or the supervisory board of the enterprise.
If the amount of the purchase is not in the line of competence of the higher commission for procurements, the related files are submitted a posteriori to the opinion of the latter within a deadline not exceeding fifteen days as from the date of the decision of the commission of the enterprise procurements, accompanied with a report established by the latter making clear the methods and procedures adopted as well as the fixed choice.
The opinions of the procurements higher commission are communicated to the board of directors or to the supervisory board of the concerned public enterprise and to the supervisory Ministry.

However, if the purchase of some imported products with fluctuating prices the list of which is fixed by the joint order mentioned in article 135 of the decree herein, is within the line of competence of the procurements higher commission, the enterprises shall submit the files relating to these purchases to the prior opinion of the said commission.

The draft specifications include the proceedings relating to the elaboration of tenders, their submission, opening and examination methods. The procurements higher commission gives its opinion on the proceedings proposed in consideration of the relevant sector specificities, of the kind of the products and the purchase efficacy.

Without prejudice to the provisions of article 136 of the decree herein the procurements concluded by way of broad consultation are not governed by the provisions of articles 30, 39 and 40 of the said decree. However, it is obligatorily required to have the prior opinion of the procurements higher commission before having recourse to either for proceedings mentioned above.

the procurements of  public enterprises relative to the purchase of products destined to be sold in their condition or conditioned as for  a commercial activity  are not submitted to the procedures of public procurements except the purchases relative to the products with fluctuating prices  governed by the chapter 2.

However, for purchases the amount of which isn’t within the line of competence of the higher commission for procurements, the enterprises shall submit the files relating to these purchases to the prior opinion of the said commission.

The draft specifications include the proceedings relating to the preparation of tenders, their presentation, opening and examination methods. The higher commission for procurements opines on the proceedings proposed in consideration of the special characteristics of the sector, the nature of the products and the purchase efficacy.

The deals concluded by way of broad consultation are not governed by the provisions of articles 30, 39 and 40 of the said decree. However, it is required to have the prior opinion of the higher commission procurements before having recourse to either proceedings mentioned above.

The specific provisions of this chapter are not applicable to the procurements of studies and to the orders related to the acquisition of equipments or the achievement of the works listed in the investment budget of the concerned public enterprises.

The provisions hereafter are applicable to the orders of supplies of goods and services of the public enterprises which evolve in the competitive environment which the list is fixed by decree.

The board of directors or the supervisory board of the public enterprise concerned with these provisions shall fix the thresholds from which the orders are subject of a written procurement.

the procurements related to these orders shall be concluded on the basis of a specific manual approved by the board of directors or the supervisory board and the supervisory authority taking into account the  principles of equality of the candidates before the public order, equivalence of chances, transparency of procedures and resort to the competition.

if the purchases amount isn’t within the line of competence of the higher commission procurements, the enterprises shall submit the files relating to these purchases to the prior opinion of the said commission which shall comprise at least the following members:

- the chairman and managing director or the chairman of the enterprise directorate,

- the representative of the Minister charged of finance,

- the state controller.

Its deliberations shall be placed on a record signed by the members present among which the chairman and managing director of the enterprise directorate, the representative of the Minister charged of finance and the state controller. The minutes shall relate the proceedings and the assessing elements on which their decision is based.

The board of directors and the supervisory board shall determine the cases which require the resort to the competition by way of invitation to tenders or widened consultation. The public enterprise shall observe as far as possible the procedures fixed by the decree herein.

The provisions of article 116 related to the terms of payment are applicable, to the purchases subject of the title herein, concerning the grant of advances and installments.

The procurements related to the orders governed by the chapter herein are submitted, in the field of the control, to the particular provisions fixed by the board of directors or the supervisory board of the public enterprise.

It is established within the procurements higher commission, a National Observatory of the Public Procurements charged of:
- Establishing of an information system allowing the gathering, the treatment and the analysis of the data related to the public procurements,
- Following the recorded evolution concerning the public purchase; the procedures of purchase and evaluation of the economic and social impacts and proposing every measure likely to improve the placement of the orders,
-The keeping of an information register about the holders of the public procurements on the base of follow up slips established after the performance of each procurement. The methods relating to the information register and the follow up slips are determined by order of the Prime Minister.
- Studying and proposing every measure likely to improve the regulation of the public procurements notably on the basis of the jurisprudence of the procurements higher commission.
- Controlling the public purchase and improving its profitability to the judicial, economic, commercial and technical levels.
- Assisting the public purchasers through the establishment of the training programs and the consultations as well as the establishment of the standard documents and computer applications and diverse assistance measures aiming at facilitating and simplifying their grant. 

The observatory of the public procurements establishes each year a general inventory of the public procurements and the partial inventories concerning all public purchasers or a given category of procurements.
The Prime Minister shall fix the list of the data required within the framework of the inventory of the public procurements as well as the methods and the deadlines of their collection.

It is established by the Prime Minister, a committee of follow-up and investigation. This committee of follow-up and investigation is composed as follows:

1. A representative of the Prime Minister: president

2. A member of the Court of Auditors: member

3. A representative of the General Control of the Public  Departments: member

4. A representative of the General Control of Finance: member.

The members of this committee are appointed by order of the Prime Minister on a proposal from the concerned Ministers and from the First President of the Court of Auditors.

The order of the Prime Minister appoints the secretariat of the committee of follow-up and investigation. The secretariat provides the reception, the examination of the files and the organization of the works of the aforesaid committee.

The committee of follow-up and investigation. This committee is charged of the following:

1. Following-up the respect of the basic principles ruling the grant of the procurements and notably the equality of the candidates before the public order, the transparency of the procedures, the resort to the competition and to the publicity

The committee may examine the data related to the performance of the procurements which are likely to change the elements which have been taken into account during the grant of the procurement.

1. Investigating into the procurements including the addendums and the files of final settlements, mainly on the basis of the data collected by the public procurements observatory established by article 150 of the decree herein.

2. The committee of follow-up and investigation is also charged of examining:

3. The requests emanating from every person concerned with the grant of the public procurements and the respect of the related procedures.

4. The addendums to the procurements which are likely to produce increase of the global amount of the procurement of more than fifty percent (50%) apart from the increases due to the revision of the prices or, if need be, to the change of the value of the currency and this notwithstanding the global amount of the procurement.

5. A pattern of concluded procurements representing at least ten percent (10%) of the number of  files examined by the departmental commissions, the regional commissions, the public enterprises commissions and the public establishments commissions established by special texts as well as any file that the committee considers proper to examine whatever the reason is.

6. The public purchaser shall, upon a request from the president of the committee, produce all the documents related to the files subject of revision, follow-up and investigation.

Within the framework of the examination of the files, the president of the committee of follow-up and investigation may ask to allow the members of the permanent secretariat to consult, on the spot, some documents by the public purchaser.

The committee of follow-up and investigation may ask the public purchaser to suspend the contracting procedures of the procurement when it is proved, according to the preliminary study of the request or on the basis of the public purchaser response, that the pursuit of the procedures is likely to involve consequences which are hard to reverse.

When the request concerning the regularity of grant of the procurement are proved to be founded, the committee shall inform the Prime Minister, the presidents of the concerned public institutions, the supervisory Ministries and the relevant procurements commission.

The opinion of the committee of follow-up and investigations is consultative.

Are repealed, all the prior provisions contrary to the decree herein and notably decree n°89-442 dated 22 April 1989 as amended by decree n°90-557dated 30 March 1990 and decree n°94-1892 dated 12 September 1994 and decree n°96-1812 dated 4 October 1996 and decree n°97-551 dated 31 March 1997 and decree n°98-517 dated 11 March 1998 and decree n°99-824 dated 12 April 1999 and decree n°99-2013 dated 13 September 1999.

The Prime Minister, the Ministers and the State Secretariats are charged, each in his respective capacity, of the implementation of the decree herein which shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia.