This chapter provides background on the OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement and an overview of developments in public procurement in OECD and accession candidate countries since the 2019 implementation report. It presents the purpose and methodology of the current implementation report.
Implementing the OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement in OECD and Partner Countries
2020-2024 Report
Abstract
The OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement (hereafter “the Recommendation”) was adopted by the OECD Council in February 2015, following rigorous and extensive consultations with Members and non-Members, relevant OECD policy communities, and various stakeholders involved in public procurement. Building upon and replacing the foundational principles of the 2008 OECD Recommendation on Enhancing Integrity in Public Procurement, the Recommendation expands its scope aiming to address the increasingly complex procurement landscape. It emphasises the critical role of procurement governance in achieving efficiency and advancing public policy objectives – such as enhanced well-being and more prosperous and inclusive societies – throughout all stages of the procurement cycle, from defining public needs to executing contracts effectively.
The Recommendation responds to the evolving challenges and complexities in the public procurement environment, characterised by the need for greater transparency, the fight against corruption and fraud, the importance of fostering competition, and the integration of innovative procurement practices. Since its adoption, the Recommendation has become a cornerstone of good governance in public procurement, guiding policy reforms and practice improvements globally to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of public procurement processes. The Recommendation is open to adherence by OECD Members and non-Members. All 38 OECD Members have adhered to the Recommendation (hereafter referred to as “Adherents”).
The Recommendation provides Adherents with a holistic framework that covers all aspects of the public procurement cycle. Its purpose is to guide governments in designing and implementing procurement systems that are efficient, transparent, and accountable, while also ensuring value for money and fostering trust in public institutions.
The Recommendation is structured around twelve key integrated principles, which can be applied across different legal and administrative frameworks. These include transparency, integrity, access, balance, stakeholder participation, efficiency, e-procurement, capacity, evaluation, risk management, accountability, and integration (Figure 1.1).
Source: (OECD, 2015[1]).
Each principle is elaborated upon with specific guidance, providing a detailed roadmap for governments to follow in improving their procurement systems. The scope of the Recommendation is broad, addressing the needs of diverse procurement environments while emphasising the alignment of procurement practices with overarching public policy goals.
Since the adoption of the Recommendation in 2015, the field of public procurement has undergone significant changes driven by economic, financial, social, and technological developments. The 2008 global financial crisis and subsequent economic recovery had already highlighted the critical role of public procurement in stimulating economic activity, ensuring the efficient use of public funds, and supporting broader socio-economic objectives (OECD, 2013[2]).
More recently, the COVID-19 outbreak, with its disrupting impact on global supply chains (OECD, 2020[3]), forced governments to adapt procurement practices to ensure resilience and continuity in the provision of goods and services (OECD, 2020[4]), particularly in critical sectors such as healthcare and energy. The pandemic highlighted the vital role of public procurement in delivering essential public services and ensuring citizens’ well-being and safety, as procurement strategies and practices directly impact the quality of life. In addition, the challenges faced during the COVID-19 crisis underlined the need for robust procurement functions and effective risk management to build resilience and uphold accountability and security of supply chains.
The rise of digital technologies has also had a profound impact on procurement processes. Notably, the widespread adoption of digital procurement systems has driven cost and time savings through automation and standardisation of the procurement processes, while improving transparency and accountability of the public procurement systems. Technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics have the potential to further improve value-for-money, strengthen accountability and transparency, and prevent the misuse of public resources. However, these advancements also raise new challenges. To ensure that procurement-related decisions continue upholding legal compliance, ethical standards, fairness, and societal values in this new environment, it is key to develop strategies to mitigate risks such as bias, as well as to ensure accountability in AI-driven decision-making. In this regard, the OECD and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) prepared a G7 Toolkit for Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector for the 2024 Italian G7 Presidency and the G7 Digital and Technology Working Group (OECD, 2024[5]). This Toolkit aims to support and guide governments in developing, deploying, and using AI in the public sector in a safe, secure, and trustworthy manner and examines strategies from G7 countries to use AI innovation in public procurement.
Additionally, there has been a growing recognition of the potential of public procurement to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, advancing broader societal goals such as environmental protection, innovation and social aspects. In line with this, the Action Plan on Governing Green, annexed to the Declaration on Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy adopted on 18 November 2022 during the meeting of the PGC at Ministerial level, calls for expanding the use of green public procurement. Notably, the Action Plan emphasises ensuring that all participants in the supply chain for public contracts, to the extent possible, meet environmental standards, while also improving the measurement of green procurement practices’ impact.
There has also been increasing recognition of the relationship between public procurement and strengthening integrity in the private sector, including through incentivising suppliers to adopt and maintain internal controls, ethics and compliance programmes. The OECD Anti-Bribery Recommendation, revised in 2021, calls on OECD Working Group on Bribery members to encourage procuring agencies to consider such programmes in their decisions to grant public advantages (including public procurement contracts) for the purpose of preventing and detecting bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions, as well as ensure capacity of relevant government agencies to achieve this objective. The importance of promoting private sector integrity through government procurement practices was also recognised in the UN Convention Against Corruption Conference of States Parties Resolution 10/9 adopted in 2023 and in a number of recent bilateral and multilateral agreements, such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity Fair Economy Pillar which entered into force in 2024. The incentivisation of corporate compliance contributes to the development of more sound and stable markets in which corruption is less likely to undermine competition.
Furthermore, recent findings from the 2023 OECD Trust Survey suggest that citizens doubt governments’ capacity to address complex policy challenges with long-term implications, difficult trade-offs, and large unknowns, such as climate change and the emergence of artificial intelligence (OECD, 2024[6]). While some of these results relate to the inherent uncertainty and complexity associated with these policy areas, concerns about integrity and fairness – both of high-level political officials and government policy overall – also fuel citizens’ scepticism about government’s ability to take policy decisions competently and ethically (OECD, 2024[6]). Indeed, perceptions about public sector integrity have slightly deteriorated between 2021 and 2023, representing a concern in several Adherents. In particular, on average, over 43% of people in 30 Adherents that responded to the 2023 OECD Trust Survey1 believe that a civil servant might engage in petty corruption, while only 36% think they would not (OECD, 2024[6]), highlighting the need of robust public integrity frameworks to build and sustain trust. Public procurement, accounting for 12.9% of GDP in Adherents2 in 2021, has a critical role to play in this context by directly influencing outcomes in health, climate, and social responsibility to help address global challenges. Sound, integrity-driven public procurement systems are thus essential not only for ensuring transparent and effective operations but also for generating the highest value added for society. Transparent public procurement systems enable the public to track procurement activities, thereby helping in re-gaining trust in the public sector and democratic institutions.
In response to these developments, related OECD and other international standards have been adopted or updated to complement the Recommendation. These include guidelines on integrating sustainability into public procurement, best practices for managing procurement risks, frameworks for enhancing the professionalisation of the procurement workforce, and legal instruments such as the Recommendation on the Governance of Infrastructure and the Recommendation on Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement. Additionally, co-ordination with related OECD bodies, such as the (then) Working Party of Senior Budget Officials (now the Committee of Senior Budget Officials, SBO) and the Development Assistance Committee, as well as international fora like the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), has ensured a comprehensive approach to implementing the Recommendation across Adherents.
This Report provides an overview of the implementation of the Recommendation across Adherents based on collected data since the first implementation Report (OECD, 2019[7]) prepared in 2019, as well as conclusions regarding its continued relevance. The Report aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of current practices, identify emerging trends, and highlight areas where further improvements are needed. It serves as a tool for continuous learning and improvement, ensuring that the Recommendation continues to support governments in achieving efficient, transparent, and accountable public procurement systems in the face of new challenges and opportunities.
The primary source of information for this Report is a dedicated survey (the survey on the OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement 2024, hereinafter “2024 Survey”), designed by the Secretariat and finalised in collaboration with LPP Bureau members, who provided feedback on a first draft version. The 2024 Survey was specifically tailored to capture the current state of implementation of the Recommendation, also focusing on its ongoing relevance in a rapidly evolving procurement landscape. The 2024 Survey was distributed between June and July 2024 to all 38 Adherents to the Recommendation, as well as to the 5 Adherent accession candidate countries for which Accession Roadmaps were adopted in 20223, ensuring a broad representation of experiences and practices across different governance contexts. While those accession candidate countries are not yet Adherents to the Recommendation4, they have actively engaged in the policy area covered by the Recommendation and contributed to LPP discussions on implementing and sharing good practices in the field of public procurement. Responses were received from 35 Adherents: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Kingdom, and United States and the 5 non-Adherents covered in this Report. These 40 countries are hereafter referred to in this Report as “Respondents”.
In addition to the 2024 Survey, the methodology incorporated qualitative data collection methods as part of the continuous work of the Secretariat, including country work, targeted interviews, and consultations with key stakeholders. These qualitative insights provided a deeper understanding of the challenges and successes faced by Adherents in implementing the Recommendation, complementing the quantitative data from the 2024 Survey. This approach allowed for a nuanced analysis of how the Recommendation is applied in practice and the factors influencing its effectiveness.
The quantitative data from the 2024 Survey was analysed using statistical methods to identify trends, measure the extent of implementation of the Recommendation’s principles, and assess progress since the 2019 implementation Report (OECD, 2019[7]). Key metrics included the percentage of Adherents having adopted specific practices recommended by this legal instrument, as well as the frequency and scope of those practices. The Secretariat validated the quantitative data, conducting follow-up with individual Respondents to clarify outstanding issues and ensure the analysis represents the most accurate data available on the subject.
Progress was measured by comparing the 2024 Survey data with the baseline established in the 2019 implementation Report5, whenever possible. This comparison allowed for an assessment of improvements in the implementation of the Recommendation, as well as the identification of emerging trends and persistent gaps. The methodology also considered the broader context of economic, social, and technological developments that may have influenced the implementation of the Recommendation.
The combined use of these methodologies ensured a robust and comprehensive evaluation of how the Recommendation is being applied by Adherents and its continued relevance in the face of evolving challenges. The findings from this analysis will guide future updates to the Recommendation and inform ongoing efforts to enhance excellence in public procurement practices globally.
References
[6] OECD (2024), OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions – 2024 Results: Building Trust in a Complex Policy Environment, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9a20554b-en.
[3] OECD (2020), “COVID-19 and responsible business conduct”, OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19), OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/02150b06-en.
[4] OECD (2020), “Stocktaking report on immediate public procurement and infrastructure responses to COVID-19”, OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19), OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/248d0646-en.
[7] OECD (2019), Reforming Public Procurement: Progress in Implementing the 2015 OECD Recommendation, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/1de41738-en.
[1] OECD (2015), Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0411.
[2] OECD (2013), Implementing the OECD Principles for Integrity in Public Procurement: Progress since 2008, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264201385-en.
[5] OECD, U. (2024), Toolkit for Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/g7-toolkit-for-artificial-intelligence-in-the-public-sector_421c1244-en.html.
← 1. The following Adherents responded to the 2023 OECD Trust Survey: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
← 2. Data for Chile is not available. Data for Türkiye is not included in the average.
← 3. Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru and Romania.
← 4. The accession countries will adhere to the Recommendation at the time of becoming Members.
← 5. The 2019 implementation Report presents data collected through a questionnaire which was conducted in 2018 amongst Adherents and certain non-Adherents. The questionnaire received responses from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Türkiye. Morocco and Peru also responded to the questionnaire.