INTEGRITY PACTS IN
ECUADOR:
Effective measures against
corruption in Public
Procurement
VALERIA MERINO DIRANI
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WHEN DOES CORRUPTION
APPEAR?
ROBERT KLITGAARD FORMULA
M+D-T = C
C= CORRUPTION
M= MONOPOLY OR CONCENTRATION OF POWER
D= DISCRECIONALITY
T= TRANSPARENCY
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INTEGRITY PACT
“Is a tool to identify a transaction
within a market and get the
actors in that transaction to
commit to integrity,
in a coordinated manner, and to
monitor in a pro-active way the
transparency of the process”
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INTEGRITY PACTS:
Conditions for implementation
 High levels of systemic corruption;
 Need of structural reform;
 Severe party politics influence over
public contracting system; and,
 Opportunity to isolate a specific
procurement processes and promote
transparency within it (strategic nature
or amount).
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WHAT IS THE LONG TERM
OBJETIVE OF THE INTEGRITY
PACTS?
TO PROMOTE THE
INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF
SPECIFIC PRINCIPLES THAT
ASSURE TRANSPARENCY
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This includes:
– STRUCTURAL REFORM TO
ERRADICATE THE CONDITIONS
THAT PERMIT AND PROMOTE
CORRUPT ACTIVITIES IN PUBLIC
CONTRACTING
– ENABLING AN ADEQUATE
ENVIRONMENT TOWARDS THE
PROMOTION OF PROFOUND
REFORMS IN THE PUBLIC
CONTRACTING SYSTEM
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SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
– Improve transparency and
accountability in a particular
procurement process;
– Improve citizen's perception of
transparency regarding the public
sector; and,
– Initiate a public discussion process
about the public contracting
regulations.
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Integrity pacts = Efficiency
The nature of the IP’s allows for
the promotion of transparency
and anti-corruption at a very
efficient cost-benefit ratio
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Implementation – Tools
Cooperative Agreement
 Code of Conduct
 Confidentiality Agreement
 Integrity Pact

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Main elements of the IP’s:





Access to information
Active monitoring
Possibility to improve the bidding
documents
Inclusion of IP tools in the bidding
documents
Confidentiality and handling of
privileged information
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Main elements of the IP’s:




Reduction of conflict of interest
Justification of technical
decisions
Justification of legal
interpretations and decisions
Clear record keeping
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Limitations:
– There is a difficult tension between the
interest in depicting results and the
necessity of dedicating the sufficient time
towards adequately structuring the
bidding process and discussing with
experts or interested parties;
– The tendency to consider that all
problems should be resolved through
legal means; and,
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Limitations:
–The inherent difficulties of
working on ethical
compromises and voluntary
cultural changes, as those
within the “Integrity Pacts”.
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Special attention should be placed on
the following issues in the
procurement process:

Clearly define which requirements
are mandatory and if not complied
with, result in automatic
disqualification, avoiding discretion
in the interpretation;
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Special attention should be placed on
the following issues:

Guarantee an adequate evaluation and
separation of the technical and economic
aspects of the proposals in such a way
that, once the technical suitability of the
proposals is ensured, those participants
satisfying the minimum requirements
would proceed to the financial bidding
competition - preferably in a public
hearing;
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Special attention should be placed on
the following issues:
– Avoid the manipulation of information
by public officials;
– Eliminate the requirement of
documents, which do not add valuable
or pertinent information for the proposal
evaluation;
– Avoid subjective criteria in the
evaluation (for example the qualification
of the proposed methodology) which
may bias the results;
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Special attention should be placed on
the following issues:
– Eliminate requirements or criteria that can
be completed by only one proponent;
– Eliminate, as much as possible, the
existence of confidential information and
control its possible leakage;
– Advance publication or public discussion
of the first draft of the contract in order to
avoid later changes in the contract terms
which would favour one proponent; and,
– Avoid ex-parte communications.
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“Integrity Pacts” must certainly focus on
the institutionalisation of certain elements:
– Efficiency and
effectiveness;
– Competitiveness;
– Transparency;
– Publicity; and,
– Civic Participation.
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Valeria Merino Dirani
» Phone; 1(202) 250 0376
» E-mail: [email protected]
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