Contractors who won bids to supply rice to the State Reserves but failed to hold onto their end of the bargain will be given poor credit rating, which will hamper their ability to win future bids. — VNA Photo

For the first time, contractors who signed deals with the General Department of State Reserves will be rated using a credit system reflecting their ability and commitment to deliver on contracts, according to the head of the general department's legal office Nguyen Van Binh.

Contractors, based on their rating, will be divided into four groups with Group 1 and 2 the most credible and reliable and Group 3 and 4 including those who won bids and contracts with the general department but failed to deliver or delivered goods and services that did not meet the agreed-upon quality requirements.

Contractors with low ratings will face greater scrutiny in their bids for contracts, according to Binh.

For the time being, the general department said it will only award ratings to contractors who look to supply the State's rice reserve but soon the system will cover more commodities.

The general department also said it had made numerous recommendations to improve the current Law on Bidding to hold contractors to greater accountability for all commodities under its management.

This move is in response to a series of incidents earlier this year, in which contractors won bids by the general department to supply rice to the State Reserves but later declined to sign contracts as rice prices surged due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, they opted to export the rice for greater profit.

The general department said contractors who refused to sign contracts after winning bids stand to lose their deposits while those who failed to deliver faced fines of up to 8 per cent of the contract's value and a 3-5 year ban from bidding under regulations set by the Law on Bidding.

Asked if face masks will be included as a commodity in the State Reserves, Binh said the general department and the Ministry of Health have turned in their proposals, which are under review by the central Government with a decision expected in the first quarter of 2021. — VNS