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Fair procurement in small municipalities - handbook published

More and more municipalities are making their way to get fairer. However, the concrete implementation is not always so simple. FEMNET has advised smaller municipalities on fair purchasing practices. Now let's take the “lessons learnt“ in one manual together: Our examples show that there are ways to achieve something - even if the staffing level is thin, the political backing is (still) lacking or there are legal uncertainties.

 

New requirements for buyers

If socially and environmentally sustainable purchasing criteria are introduced, this entails additional requirements. Procurers must familiarize themselves with relevant product groups and know quality labels. You need to know how appropriate criteria can be legally anchored in the procurement process. This handbook aims to help: The many examples from procurement practice are intended to provide a concrete point of reference.

Social norms can be included

In small and medium-sized municipalities, many procurements are made as direct purchases or direct awards. Especially for this purpose, the legal basis makes it easy to buy socially sustainable products. However, the ILO core labour standards or fair trade criteria can also be included in the restricted invitation to tender with participation competition or the public invitation to tender.

Gathering political backing

Nevertheless, more commitment is needed in some places. This can be ensured, for example, by service instructions or Council decisions. In addition to the ‘major objectives’, it is also possible to determine who is responsible for the implementation, who can provide support and when the agreed objectives should be monitored. A good example is the town of Markkleeberg: Since 2019, the procurement regulations have stipulated that fair trade objectives and, in particular, compliance with the ILO core labour standards must be included in all procurements of sensitive products. In the case of public tenders, social criteria should be weighted at least 30% in the award procedure. In the case of a direct award, only manufacturers with corresponding quality labels are invited to tender; in the case of direct purchases, only companies with corresponding quality marks are taken into account.

Networking different actors

Not just facing the introduction of sustainable procurement can be beneficial on many levels. Sharing knowledge, developing strategies together, distributing tasks: At least these points speak in favour of a common approach. This is exactly what the district of Fürth did: The steering groups founded as part of the Fairtrade Town campaign networked actors from civil society, politics and business. They worked together to promote fair trade and, among other things, submitted requests for comprehensive Council decisions.

Bundling purchases

Cooperation can also be an advantage in concrete purchasing. Larger order volumes often go hand in hand with better financial conditions. Municipalities that procure together can also develop more influence on the market. This is exactly what the city of Ludwigsburg did: Here, the procurement of office supplies was bundled across different offices. Fair alternatives to the required products were jointly researched. The buyers found a dealer company that created an e-catalogue that all buyers can now access