There is no specific facility on the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) website to facilitate emergency procurement that is visible to the supplier community. For procurements undertaken during an emergency, the Guide clearly states that the award of the contract should be published in GETS, albeit retrospectively, together with a clear statement that it was an emergency procurement. The Emergency provisions enable critical supply chain agility at a time of need, however when quick decisions are used to move vast amount of resources, the risk of fraud, bribery and corruption increase.

TINZ has tracked procurement notifications since the implementation of Emergency provisions, and written to responsible lead agencies. From 1 January to 30 June 2020, 1,012 award notices were published on GETS. Of these, only 14 were for contracts awarded to respond to COVID-19 as emergency procurements, and none includes any indication of the contract value (which is required under the Procurement Rules)

Updated: October 31, 2020

From October 2019, New Zealand updated its Government Procurement Rules which strengthen the government’s expectations for ethical behavior and for suppliers not to engage in any form of corruption. In fact, procurement is managed through the Minister for Economic Development who under the previous government regarded procurement as a low priority. Recent events, such as the Auckland Transport Case, has brought procurement practice into focus.

Updated: April 30, 2020

New Zealand has consulted on amendments to the Government Procurement Rules which strengthen the government’s expectations for ethical behavior and for suppliers not to engage in any form of corruption. Subject to Cabinet approval, the amended Rules are expected to come into force in October 2019. In July 2018 Cabinet agreed to a cross-agency Anti-Corruption Work Programme, through which work is being done to understand procurement vulnerabilities in New Zealand. Part of this work involves a focus on local councils and will result in working with national Local Government bodies to share guidance and best practice.

Updated: May 30, 2019

New Zealand is also reviewing its policy framework and guidance to strengthen the government’s expectations for ethical behavior and for suppliers not to engage in any form of corruption.

Updated: October 30, 2018

Procurement is managed through the Minister for Economic Development who under the previous government regarded procurement as a low priority. Recent events, such as the Auckland Transport Case, has brought procurement practice into focus.

Peer reviewer: Response from Transparency International New Zealand

Updated: October 30, 2018

Government tenders are advertised online. New Zealand has also established a Procurement Capability Index, which is a tool designed to assist government agencies to self-assess procurement performance against a wide range of measures, including governance, accountability and good procurement practice measures. From mid to late 2017, all agencies covered by the Government Rules of Sourcing will be required to complete the Procurement Capability Index. New Zealand Government Procurement will report the findings to Ministers. TINZ does not consider that the monitoring of procurement implementation is strong enough and is working to raise this and find ways of improving it.

Updated: June 30, 2018