Health establishments would have two additional methods to select contractors providing medicines: contractor selection in special cases and contractor selection on the Vietnam National E-Procurement System (VNEPS).
It is proposed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in the latest draft circular on selection of medicine supply contractors and purchase of medicines at medical establishments.
Accordingly, health establishments might apply contractor selection in special cases as specified in Article 3.19 of the Prime Minister’s Decision 17 of 2019 in case the estimated value of their procurement bidding package does not exceed VND 50 million (USD 2,100). However, medical establishments must not divide a bidding package into small ones so as to apply the procedure for contractor selection in special cases.
Meanwhile, selection of contractors on the VNEPS would be conducted under the roadmap for selection of contractors online specified in Article 37 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Circular 08 of 2022.
Also under the draft, the method of competitive offering would be applied to bidding packages for procurement of medicines on the MOH’s list of essential drugs or common medicines of standardized quality which are available in the market. However, the value of each bidding package put up for competitive offering must not exceed VND 5 billion (USD 213,300). For those eligible for fast-track competitive offering, the cap would be reduced to VND 200 million (USD 8,400).
Under current regulations, there are six methods for selection of contractors to supply medicines at medical establishments, including open bidding, restricted bidding, contractor appointment, competitive offering, direct procurement, and self-supply.- (VLLF)
