A Study On The Legal System Of Public Procurement In Latin America

Public procurement is a procurement activity conducted by a procuring entity to meet its own needs for goods,services and works.The public procurement market in a country is often closed because it is financed by financial resources and assumes certain policy functions.Under the influence of economic globalization and trade liberalization,the public procurement market and related laws are becoming increasingly open and international.In terms of exploring the international public procurement market,China is now mainly promoting the negotiation of joining the GPA agreement in terms of legislation,hoping to enter the international public procurement market under the GPA system.In terms of practice,Chinese enterprises have started to explore participation in the public procurement market of the relevant UN agencies.As for the international public procurement market of non-GPA system countries(non-GPA agreement full member countries,mainly the vast number of developing countries),China’s current participation is very little.As one of the fastest growing regions in the world,Latin America has a huge public procurement market,which is a great opportunity for Chinese enterprises to "go global".Most of the countries in the region have not joined the GPA or are not full members.The public procurement market in these countries has certain barriers to Chinese enterprises,and their procurement rules and procedures are still unfamiliar to Chinese enterprises.By studying the legal systems of public procurement in Latin American countries,the objectives and principles of public procurement,the disclosure of and access to public procurement information,the application of procurement methods and the criteria for contract award,we propose recommendations for Chinese enterprises’ participation.The body of the article consists of four parts.Chapter 1 provides an overview of the legal systems of public procurement in the sample countries,sorting out the formation and development of public procurement laws,the objectives and basic principles of sustainable procurement in the seven sample countries in Latin America.Chapter 2 first theoretically examines the theoretical and practical development from discriminatory procurement to the opening of procurement markets worldwide,providing an introduction to the two main ways of opening public procurement markets.Secondly,it analyzes the existence of barriers in the public procurement market of the sample countries,which mainly includes three aspects.First,the use of rules of origin to prioritize the procurement of domestic goods.Second,the implementation of trade compensation measures,requiring foreign suppliers to transfer technology,make investments or train personnel.Third,barriers brought about by the differences between central and local public procurement laws at the level of public procurement.Again,the current status of public procurement market opening in the sample countries is examined.It is argued that for the selected sample countries,public procurement by embedding public procurement content in RTAs is the main way to open up public procurement markets.The effectiveness of RTAs in opening up the public procurement market is studied by analyzing the RTAs between some sample countries and the EU.Finally,we suggest that China can take the "Belt and Road" initiative as an opportunity to conclude relevant agreements with Latin American countries.Chapter 3 starts from the theory of information asymmetry in public procurement as a logical starting point and argues that public procurement information disclosure is necessary.Secondly,the requirements of public procurement information disclosure in international public procurement rules are reviewed,mainly in the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and the Model Law on Public Procurement of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.Again,the institutional arrangements for public procurement information disclosure in the sample countries are introduced.This is followed by a summary of the development trend of transparent and open public procurement in the sample countries.Finally,we suggest that Chinese enterprises should standardize their access to procurement information when participating in the public procurement market of Latin American countries through an empirical analysis of the case of Mexico’s breach of contract with a Chinese company for highspeed rail.Chapter 4 begins with a review of the main methods of public procurement in the sample countries,including open bidding,restricted bidding,framework agreement procurement and direct procurement.It examines how the sample countries can achieve sustainable procurement goals through the design of contract standards,and concludes with recommendations for Chinese companies’ participation.