Global Practices for Public Procurement Provide Pathway to Fiscal and Political Success

Herndon, VA – NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement and the UK Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) today jointly announce the release of ten Global Public Procurement Practices. As part of a larger shared initiative to define and formalize global professional standards for government procurement officials, these ten standard practices provide high-level guidance across the following procurement activities: Strategic Procurement Planning; Performance Management; Performance Measurement; Performance Metrics; Use of Cooperative Contracts; Transparency; Risk Management; Ethical Procurement; Procurement Policy Manual; and Performance-Based Contracting.

Public entities at all levels of government perform many of the same procurement activities, yet their methodologies and outcomes differ as each entity’s practices have been defined based on their unique operating environments.  With a reference of formalized standard practices, established through the collaboration of public sector professionals around the world, agencies will have an authoritative resource that defines professional standards of practice across critical public procurement functions.

As political leaders draw increasing scrutiny and voter pressure to demonstrate fiscal responsibility, procurement professionals must ensure that they maximize the value of every tax dollar.  U.S. governments spend a combined seven trillion dollars, Canadian governments 360 billion dollars and U.K. governments over 500 billion pounds. Consistent and professional procurement practices across governments can positively impact the effective expenditure of public funds.

The Practices for Public Procurement are founded upon the Values of Public Procurement necessary to preserve the public trust, protect the public interest, and ensure fairness for the public good. Those Values are: Accountability, Ethics, Impartiality, Professionalism, Service, and Transparency.

NIGP and CIPS will continue to jointly develop and release additional Practices while maintaining an ongoing review process to ensure that the body of Practices remains relevant and supports the needs of government procurement practitioners over time.