Brazil’s National Public Procurement Portal , one of the main tools created by the new government contracting legislation, went online

Brazil’s National Public Procurement Portal (PNCP – Portal Nacional de Contratações Públicas), one of the main tools created by the new government contracting legislation (La1 14.133/2021), went online on August 10, 2021 (https://pncp.gov.br/).

The PNCP is designed to be the main tool for managing public procurement at a national level, with all the various features provided for in Law 14.133/2021.

Now that the portal is online, annual procurement plans for government bodies and agencies, notices for bidder accreditation and pre-qualification, notices of direct contracting, records of accepted prices, and notices of competitive bidding procedures will all be available on the PNCP.

The PNCP will also host the central supplier registration system, the price consultation panel, and the electronic system for conducting public bidding sessions, gradually replacing systems such as SICAF (the federal central supplier registration system) and comprasnet (the federal government’s electronic purchasing system.

According to Law 14.133, the PNCP will also be used to monitor performance of government contracts, including contracts for engineering works, with shared management of information between the contracting government authority and the supplier.

The Decree 10.764/2021 also provides that the PNCP will adopt open data format, and will comply with requirements for processing, classification and availability of information under the Access to Information Law (Law 12.527/2011).

Although the States and Municipalities are not required to use the PNCP to conduct competitive bidding procedures, any bidding platform they may adopt must be integrated with the PNCP.

The PNCP will be managed by a Managing Committee (Comitê Gestor), created by Decree 10.764/2021. The committee is composed of representatives of the federal, state and municipal governments, and is chaired by the Special Secretary for Reducing Bureaucracy (Secretaria Especial de Desburocratização). In addition to implementing the PNCP, the Committee is responsible for ensuring that public servants and government employees are trained to use the Portal, and for developing initiatives for cooperation, integration and technological solutions to support continuous improvement in the PNCP.

Brazil’s new PNCP represents another step toward more rational and transparent public procurement processes, with benefits for government administrations and, consequently, for all Brazilian citizens.

Photo: Jannoon028/Freepik