Ministers seek to stop procurement boycotts through new guidance
Public procurement should never be used as a tool to boycott tenders from suppliers based in other countries, “except where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK Government”, ministers have said in new guidance.
Issued by the Crown Commercial Service, the Procurement Policy Note – Ensuring compliance with wider international obligations when letting public contracts – is directly applicable to all contracting authorities, including Central Government, Executive Agencies, Non Departmental Public Bodies, the wider public sector, local authorities and NHS bodies.
“Town hall boycotts undermine good community relations, poisoning and polarising debate, weakening integration and fuelling anti-Semitism,” the Cabinet Office argued. “Locally imposed boycotts can roll back integration as well as hinder Britain’s export trade and harm international relationship.”
It claimed that any public body found to be in breach of the regulations “could be subject to severe penalties.”
The CCS noted that the World Trade Organisation Government Procurement Agreement, which covers international market access, required all those countries that had signed up to the agreement to treat suppliers equally. They include the EU and Israel.
“Any discrimination against Israeli suppliers involving procurements would therefore be in breach of the Agreement,” it said.
Cabinet Office Minister, Matthew Hancock said: “We need to challenge and prevent these divisive town hall boycotts. The new guidance on procurement combined with changes we are making to how pension pots can be invested will help prevent damaging and counter-productive local foreign policies undermining our national security.
“We support UK local authorities, businesses and individual consumers alike in making informed choices about how they procure services and products from overseas.”
In August 2015 Jewish Human Rights Watch applied for permission to bring a judicial review challenge over Leicester City Council’s decision to boycott produce originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
