ISLAMABAD: The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has held that fresh exemption from public procurement rules is not required for import of urea, as a chunk of already approved quantity of 75,000 has already been imported, well informed sources told Business Recorder.

The decision was taken on a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Industries and Production, which is responsible for arranging urea for the country either through local production or import by Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP).

Managing Director, PPRA Maqbool Ahmad Gondal informed the Authority on a letter written by Secretary Industries and Production, in which the latter requested to grant partial exemption from applicability of Rule 8, 9, 13, 35, 38 and 40 of Public Procurement Rules, 2004 for initiating the procurement of 75,000 MT of urea by international tendering (by import) through the TCP.

Secretary Finance Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh invited Secretary Industries and Production, Imdadullah Bosal to further explain the reasons for seeking exemption from PRRA Rules and asked whether there is any need of another exemption in the presence of already granted exemption for procurement of 300,000MT urea especially when the procurement could not mature due to the disappearance of the successful bidder.

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Secretary Industries and Production apprised the Board that the Ministry (based on the suggestion of the TCP) proposed that a part of import may be through G2G agreement with China in terms of Rule-5, and remaining through open competitive bidding. He further explained that as per the review of the TCP, 40,000 MT procurement will be through tender rather than already requested quantity of 75,000 MT and the remaining amount will be through G2G agreement.

Director General (M&E) Engineer Muhammad Zubair explained that this is the same procurement and there is no need of another exemption; hence, previous exemption shall prevail. Managing Director PPRA endorsed the notion.

Secretary Finance invited the views of remaining members. Secretary Defence Production, Lt. Gen. Humayun Aziz (retired) Secretary Communication, Capt. Khurram Agha (retired) and Secretary Housing, Iftikhar Shalwani also endorsed the view that the previous exemption would prevail in this procurement.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022