In Guatemala, President Alejandro Giammattei decided to veto the reforms to the Contracting Law and announced that the bill will be returned to Congress with the respective observations.
According to Giammattei, the observations consist in the fact that the reforms to the Contracting Law should only apply to the purchases made by the Municipalities and not to the bids made by the institutions of the Executive.
In Guatemala, the Chambers of Industry, Construction, Commerce and Agriculture agree that the reforms to the State Contracting Law constitute a step backwards in terms of transparency and open the door to greater opacity in public spending.
In April 2021, the deputies approved the amendments to Decree 57-92, which among other things allow for an increase in the amounts of direct and low value purchases.
Arguing that the reforms to the Contracting Law constitute a step backwards in terms of transparency, the Guatemalan business sector is asking President Alejandro Giammattei to veto what was approved by the Congress of the Republic.
In the last days of April 2021 the Guatemalan deputies approved the modifications to Decree 57-92, which among other things allow for the expansion of the amounts of direct and low value purchases.
In Guatemala, the Congress of the Republic approved the amendments to Decree 57-92, which allow for an increase in the amounts of direct and low value purchases.
With the favorable vote of 82 congressmen, the Plenary of the Congress approved this Wednesday night, April 28, Decree 4-2021, reforms to the Law of State Contracting, informed the Legislative Body.
Costa Rican businessmen support efforts to avoid changes to the bill being discussed in the Legislative Assembly, which originally seeks to stop abuses in hiring directly by public entities.
With the proposed regulatory framework for Public-Private Partnerships in Panama, construction businessmen hope to ensure that the projects conclude with the required parameters and that the processes are transparent.
A bill to modify the law that regulates public contracting was presented, which contemplates among its changes to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises, with smaller purchases at the national level.
According to the Minister of Finance, the current regulation does not have mechanisms that allow price analysis, market investigations, citizen complaints, participation of civil society and the private sector, in addition to accountability, transparency, the obligation to open contracts and the disclosure of information.
For the business sector in Costa Rica, the large number of direct contracts between state institutions implies a number of defects and abuses in the use of public funds.
The employers' guild is of the opinion that in direct contracting there is no guarantee that the best use is actually being made of public funds, and there are indications of a lack of transparency in contracts. Some of them have even been declared confidential.
The bill being analyzed in the Congress of Guatemala seeks to regulate direct purchases, quotations, bids, reverse auction and, specifically, contracts granted in times of national emergency or urgency.
From a statement issued by the Congress of Guatemala:
Representatives from the Transparency and Probity Commission concluded the preparation of the preliminary draft of "general and integrating law of the national procurement system of the State", with the purpose of creating a new tool that allows resources to be executed in a fluid, transparent and safe manner.
A new law initiative pretends to forbid the participation of companies that have been convicted in other countries for crimes against the public administration in contracts with the State.
The bill that was presented on January 23, requests the modification of texts in the legal framework that regulate Panamanian public procurement, to avoid awarding contracts to companies that are accused of acts of corruption in Panama and also abroad.
From October 28th amendments to the Law on Government Procurement, come into effect, including the concept of open contracts and ERAs.
The decree published in Diaro de Central America indicates that "...The reforms include a total of 25 items. The first of these states that in the process of acquisitions made with resources from external loans originating from public credit operations or donations to the State, its agencies, institutions or municipal councils, policies and established procedures will apply to financial agencies or donors, considering these provisions as a special rule."
The aim of the law reform is to increase direct purchases in state institutions when the amounts are greater than $3,000 and less than $11,000.
From a statement issued by the Congress of Guatemala:
With the aim of enabling the implementation of the State budget, members of Congress approved Decree 46-2016, through which the State Procurement Law was amended.
In Guatemala reforms are being proposed to the Development Councils Act to eliminate interference from Deputies and Governors in tenders and management of projects.
Taking into consideration intervention on the part of governors as coordinators of the Community Development Councils (COCODES), and the pressures made by lawmakers on the appointment of its members, the bill on the General Budget of the Nation will contain a reform to the Development CouncilsAct, to avoid this kind of interference which eventually leads to acts of corruption.
Various organizations have criticized the text of the new procurement law pointing out that it does not impose the transparency needed in these processes.
The main criticism concerns the fact that the text finally approved by the National Assembly eliminated an item which enabled companies convicted of corruption to be disqualified.
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