This project’s purpose is to determine if there is sufficient need to formulate a proposal for further UN/CEFACT activities to develop a recommendation or a standard regarding public procurement.

International standards in support of public procurement can be envisaged to bring enhanced opportunities for trade around the world, particularly through greater efficiencies and by means of opening of new markets through lowering the cost of entry for small and medium enterprises.

Increasingly public procurement appears as an important area of interest in supply chain aspects of trade facilitation and electronic business. Drivers of this greater attention follow from legislation, governmental and market developments and multilateral agreements. Moreover, various related standards initiatives at the national, regional and international levels have been emerging.

Background research is needed to confirm that a recommendation or standard developed by UN/CEFACT at this time would be helpful in providing guidance to member States and other stakeholders on using international standards in support of public procurement.

Given the diversity of standards activities relating to the field of public procurement, the need for a coherent overview appears warranted, before formulating a proposal for further UN/CEFACT developments in this area.

Central themes may include pre-award and post-award requirements, business processes, end-to-end business term vocabulary, semantic interoperability, technology-neutrality and Single Window.
Special challenges may also be included with respect to requirements set by major Procurement entities such as Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and the UN Procurement Division.