New Guidelines to Prove Compliance with  Integrity Program to Enter into Contracts with the Argentine State

Through General Communication ONC No. 18/2022 and OA-DPPT Circular No. 4/2022, the Federal Procurement Office (FCO) and the Directorate for Transparency Policy Planning of the Anti-Corruption Office (OA) approved the guidelines for State suppliers to prove their compliance with the Integrity Program.

Article 24 of the Law 27401 on Corporate Criminal Liability establishes that the existence of an adequate Integrity Program is a condition to enter into contracts with the Federal State when the contract must be approved by an authority higher than a Minister. This also applies if the contracts are governed by article 4 of the Decree No. 1023/2001, by the Public Works Law No. 13064, by the Work Concessions Law No. 17520, by the Public-Private Partnership Contracts Law No. 27328, or when entering into public service concession or license contracts.

Additionally, Decree No. 277/2018 states that the Integrity Program must be submitted together with the rest of the documents for the offer, under the terms of each procurement.

In turn, article 7 of the Decree No. 1169/2018 approved the "Sworn Declaration Model on the Existence of Adequate Integrity Programs under Law 27401", establishing a series of minimum standards regarding integrity programs required from bidders in procurement procedures for public works and public works concessions.

Due to the lack of provisions regarding the procurement of goods and services, the FCO and the OA considered it relevant to recommend a unified criterion. This criterion simplifies the requirements requested to State suppliers and aims at guaranteeing competition and equal treatment in procurement procedures.

The OA implemented the Registry of Integrity and Transparency for Business (“RITE”), which requires submitting information regarding integrity programs as sworn statements. The Communication specifies that the proof of registration in such a Registry is an ideal means for legal entities to prove the existence of their integrity programs when contracting with the Federal State.

Therefore, in the Communication, the FCO and the OA gave the following general interpretation:

1. If submitting to an Integrity Program is a requisite for contracting, such requisite will be fulfilled by submitting the document downloaded from the platform identified as "RITE Report/Presentation" or by an affidavit including the items in the "Sworn Declaration Model on the Existence of Adequate Integrity Programs Law No. 27401".
2. Failure to file proof of these requirements together with the offer will be considered a rectifiable error under article 67 of the Decree No. 1030/2016. However, before requesting the correction, the contracting entity must verify that the offeror is registered in the RITE. If so, the requirement will be considered fulfilled, and a record of the consultation made will have to be included.