New Procurement Rules of Ministry of Interior for Research and Development Services Published in Turkey

The Ministry of Interior (“Ministry”) has published a directive regarding the procedures and principles to be applied on all kinds of research and development service procurements that will be benefited by the relevant public institutions and organizations, universities, private sector and non-governmental organizations in accordance with the exemption provided by Article 3 (f) of the Law No. 4734 (“Directive”). The Directive has entered into force by its publication on Official Gazette dated April 30, 2020.

Note: procurements within the scope of Article 3 (f) are exempted from the general principles and procedure of the Law No. 4734 and Public Procurement Contracts Law numbered 4735 (“Law No. 4735”) apart from penalty and debarment provisions.

As per the relevant articles of the Directive, the Ministry of Interior may procure research and development services through open tender, negotiated tender procedures or as direct supply. The Directive generally reflects the provisions of Law No. 4734 and Law No. 4735 with regard to basic principles, procurement process, security deposits and contractual matters such as force majeure. However, the Directive also provides content-based regulations which will be summarized below.

Accordingly, the Directive apply to the following:

– Research and development service procurement in the economic, social and cultural fields,

– Service procurement that included or proposed in the Investment Program and need technical or scientific evaluation,

– Necessary research and development service procurement during the preparation and implementation of policy documents (such as plans, programs and strategy documents),

– Research and development service procurements within the scope of developing international bilateral and multilateral relations in economic, social and cultural fields,

– Service procurement regarding all kinds of research and development activities for strategy development and/or the implementation of existing policies and strategies.

Projects that are in the scope of above-mentioned categories shall also be evaluated considering their originality, scientificness, feasibility, impact and compatibility with national development priorities in order to be regarded eligible for the procurement.

Protocol Procedure

The Directive also provides procurement of research and development services from Public Service Provider Research and Development Institutions for the services amounted up to TRY 1.000.000,00 (one million) by a protocol arranged between the relevant administration and the research and development institutions.

The relevant administration may arrange a separate protocol for each service procurement or arrange a common protocol for more than one service procurement. Issues regarding the service are determined in the protocol according to the characteristics of each unit as well as provisions regarding the termination of the protocol and the resolution of the disputes, the price of the research and development service procurement, the invoice issuance and payment terms. In addition, it is not obligatory to obtain a temporary or definitive letter of guarantees for the services to be received within this scope, and the contract provisions specified in these Procedures and Principles are not applied for the services to be received regarding the protocol procedure.

Author: Şafak Herdem & Deniz Çelikkaya