The principles of transparency, open and fair competition, and value for money underpin the Singapore Government's procurement policies.

Additionally, Quotation and Tender documents typically contain descriptions of the goods and services to be provided and the criteria to be met. Under Regulation 19 of the GP Regulations, information required to be provided in a tender notice or its documentation shall include all evaluation criteria the contracting authority will apply in the awarding of the contract, and, except where price is the sole criterion, the relative importance of such criteria. As such, evaluations of bids are based strictly on the criteria indicated in the Tender document to ensure fairness and transparency.

The Supplier Guide further states that contracting authorities typically have two sets of criteria:

• Critical Criteria: these criteria must be met in order for the bid to be considered for award; and
• Criteria not defined as Critical Criteria: suppliers who do not meet these criteria will still be considered, but may be disadvantaged against another supplier that meets the criteria.

Agencies may require suppliers to have professional qualifications or accreditations to ensure that the products or services delivered conform to industry standards.

Regulation 13(4) of the GP Regulations provides that a contracting authority may exclude a supplier from participation in a procurement, or treat the supplier as ineligible to tender for the procurement, or refuse to short‑list the supplier for the procurement, on any of the following grounds:

• the supplier, being an individual, is bankrupt or has made any composition or arrangement for the benefit of his creditors;
• the supplier, being a company, has passed a resolution or is the subject of an order by a court for the company's winding up otherwise than for the purposes of bona fide reconstruction or amalgamation, or has had a receiver, manager or administrator on behalf of a creditor appointed in respect of the company's business or any part thereof;
• the supplier has furnished any false information or document to the contracting authority;
• the supplier has committed significant or persistent breaches in the performance of any substantive requirement or obligation under any contract with any contracting authority;
• the supplier has been convicted of any offence involving fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude;
• the supplier has committed professional misconduct or acts or omissions that adversely reflect on the commercial integrity of the supplier;
• the supplier has failed to pay taxes under any written law; and
• any other ground for the debarment of suppliers published in the Government Gazette or on the GeBIZ Platform.

Regarding grounds of debarment, the Supplier Guide provides that suppliers may be debarred from being awarded future Government contracts (for a period of time) if they have infringed any of the following debarment grounds:

• abandonment/ termination of contract
• withdrawal of tenders before award
• withdrawal of tender after award
• use of sub-standard materials and short supply/ cheating/ attempted cheating
• giving false information
• corruption
• poor performance reports
• unauthorised sub-contracting
• novation of contract
• defaulting repeatedly
• violation of safety regulations or safety requirements or debarment by MOM for poor safety record
• compromise of national security or public interest
• bid-rigging

Further, the Supplier Guide states that an agency will submit the debarment recommendation of a company (or an employee of a defaulting company) to the Standing Committee on Debarment for approval. If the recommendation is approved, the company or employee will be informed of the outcome, including the reason for debarment. These companies or individuals will be barred from participating in all government tenders listed in GeBIZ for a period of time, ranging from one to five years, depending on the severity of the default.

A contracting authority is required under Regulation 7 of the GP Regulations to conduct procurement in a transparent and impartial manner that is consistent with the GP Regulations, avoids conflicts of interest and prevents corrupt practices. Whether there is a conflict of interest will depend on the circumstances of each case.

There are no mandatory rules in respect of combined bids from two or more bidders. We note that the terms and conditions governing most public sector tenders allow for submissions by a consortium.

Nonetheless, note that in general but subject to certain exemptions, the Competition Act prohibits all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings or concerted practices which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within Singapore. Whether these anti-trust rules operate to limit a bid will depend on the circumstances of each case.

This would depend on the terms of the applicable tender. It would not be common for a member of a bidder consortium to be changed after the submission of a tender and even less likely that such member can be changed after award of a tender.

If the related bidders are bidding as a consortium, there should not be any competition issues as the bidders would likely be treated as a "single enterprise", and assuming that the terms of the tender do not prohibit such participation.

Assuming that the related bidders are participating as separate bidders in a competitive bid, generally, and subject to certain exemptions, we would highlight that the Competition Act prohibits all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings or concerted practices which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within Singapore. As such, these anti-trust rules may operate to limit a participation of related bidders in the same procedure with competitive bids will depend on the circumstances of each case. It may help for related bidders to be transparent with the authorities in the event they do wish to bid in the same procedure with competitive bids, where there is a valid reason for submitting such separate but competitive bids.