On April 19, 2020, the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement” will come into force, as amended on September 19, 2019 № 114-IX.
The expected changes are so significant that they have been defined as the "second procurement revolution". The question of how these changes will affect the procurement of goods, works or services to meet the needs of the state and the local community, taking into account such criteria as resource efficiency, climate change prevention and the improved environmental performance was included in the agenda of the public council of the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine on March 05, 2020 in the Aarhus Information and Education Center.
The representatives of the governmental authorities, experts, public and other organizations that take an active part in reforming the public procurement system and introducing sustainability criteria into the procurement policy were invited to the meeting, in particular:
The participants had an opportunity to get acquainted with the published analytical report prepared by the experts of the NGO Living Planet in partnership with GPA in UA and IEM.
At the meeting the experts presented the principles, methods, benefits and practices of applying a multi-criteria approach. Based on the results of the discussion, the participants unanimously approved the following recommendations to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Government, in particular the Ministry of Energy Environmental protection of Ukraine and the Ministry of Economic Development:
1. Ensure the development, determine the procedure for the coordination and establishment of the recommended to the customer criteria of resource efficiency, prevention of climate change and environmental characteristics for different categories of goods, works and services. Such criteria should be developed at a high level of expertise, taking into account the methods and examples of application recommended by the EaP GREEN and European and world experience. The developed criteria must be agreed with all stakeholders, meet the market opportunities and basic principles of public procurement and approved by the relevant document: resolution or order;
2. Ensure the development, define the procedure for agreeing and establishing the recommended life cycle assessment methods for different categories of goods and facilities;
3. Establish a recommendation for all customers to implement a sustainable public procurement policy at the organization level, based on its needs for the specifics of activities and opportunities, focused on achieving sustainable development goals and environmental policy in general;
4. Accelerate the implementation of the electronic tender documentation system; ensure that the customer's selection criteria are reflected in the characteristics such as efficiency, quality, safety, innovation and environmental performance;
5. Provide for the testing program of authorized persons the main issues related to sustainable public procurement, taking into account the UNEP guidelines and the decisions of the European Commission;
6. Develop a draft Law on Amendments to the Laws of Ukraine on the Development of the Market of Environmental Goods, Services and Technologies in order to ensure the implementation of Articles 293, 361 of the Association Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals, Basic Principles (Strategy) of State Environmental Policy of Ukraine until 2030;
7. Introduce statistical reporting in the sector of environmental goods and services by:
8. Develop a draft Law on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Basic Principles and Requirements for Organic Production, Circulation and Labeling of Organic Products" in terms of removing restrictions on the right to place organic labels on products and feeds only if such products were obtained as a result of organic production;
9. Develop and implement training activities aimed at improving the competence of representatives of customers and manufacturers / service providers on the importance of ecolabels, their types, conditions of use and documents confirming compliance with environmental criteria;
10. Ensure the adoption of the National Action Plan for Environmental Protection until 2025 to implement the Law of Ukraine "On Basic Principles (Strategy) of State Environmental Policy of Ukraine until 2030" in the draft which reflects the measures to promote sustainable public procurement in Ukraine.