Agro Rural responds to the controller: the purchase of urea was made with equal treatment of all bidders

Agriculture, understand attached to Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri) and in charge of the procurement process for carbamide fertilizers, said in a statement that the purchase of these products was carried out in transparent and with equal treatment of all bidders.

This is in response to a post by Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) which found that the said acquisition process had not adequately assessed the applicant companies and recommended that the winner be disqualified.

according to international standard

According to Agro Rural, the buying process was regulated use and customs of international trade, as a higher standard.” This International Standard has as an international term Incoterm DDP and is used “when the seller covers the maximum responsibilities goods” and “make import payments at customs, among other contractual obligations.”

In this sense, the organization indicated that acquisition during the proposal evaluation phase was framed in that standard. In addition, he noted that “at all stages of the process” constantly accompanied Institutional Control Authority (OCI) Agriculture.

It should be noted that CGR determined that the winning company, Ready Oil Supply LLC, did not submit its financial statements for the past three years as required by the process, and that it only submitted financial statements corresponding to fiscal year 2021 because during 2019 and 2020 ceased operations due to pandemic.

“As regards the requested financial statements: they were necessary in order to prove solely and exclusively solvency and financial capacity. Seniority was never defined as an eligibility requirement for participants in either the directive or any of the consultation’s acquittals. If we were to disqualify a bidder due to years of service as proposed (OCI), we would incur violation of the principle of competition”, – said the company Agro Rural.

Similarly, the Accounts Chamber refused to require bidders to condition the delivery date of urea on receipt of letter of creditalthough it has been determined that this only occurs the next business day after notification purchase order.

“Agro Rural confirms that the delivery time applies from the day following the notification of the purchase order, Therefore, accepted proposals are submitted in strict accordance with current regulations. The international letter of credit referred to by OCI is payment instrument in accordance with the customs and usages of international trade and is given in accordance with what is expressly stated in the “Technical Specifications” as open version so that the awarded company can request an advance,” Midagri said.

In this regard, Agro Rural pointed out that “if the team in charge of hiring had taken the decision proposed by OCI (…) leaving aside usage and customs international trade and discretionary decision-making powers, the Peruvian state would incur overspending of $2,820,241 for the purchase of 65,587 tons of carbamide; situation, if it were economic damage”.

Finally, the organization affirmed “its commitment to protecting the interests of the state” and “the proper use of public resources in a transparent, efficient and equal treatment of bidders in the process of buying.