The Public Services Agency provides clarifications regarding the Tender for the procurement of blanks interacting with personalization technologies for the identity documents from the national passports system, driving licences and vehicle registration certificates.
In April 2021, the PSA has initiated the open procedures for the procurement of blanks interacting with personalization technologies for the identity documents from the national passport system (ID card of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova, e-ID card of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova, passport of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova, permanent residence permit, ID card for stateless persons, ID card for refugees, ID card for beneficiaries of humanitarian protection, temporary residence permit for foreign citizens, temporary residence permit for stateless persons, travel documents, etc.), driving licences and vehicle registration certificates, with the aim of ensuring the continuous production and issuance of documents of state importance for the period 2022-2023. The public procurement procedure was organized, in strict compliance with the provisions of Law no. 131/2015 on public procurement and Government Decision no. 544/2019 on some measures of organization of the procurement process in the field of information and communications technology.
It should be pointed out that the organization of the public procurement procedures, in advance, during 2021, is required by the procedural and technological specifics, because the corresponding legal procedures include activities that last for 6-12 months. We draw your attention to the fact that the possession of the security printing certificate (printing documents of state importance, printing banknotes, experience in carrying out similar projects of state importance, etc.) is one of the mandatory requirements for tender participants.
That procurement procedure was, is and will be carried out in advance, in order to avoid the risk of depletion of stock of blanks and consumables available to the PSA. The eventual depletion of stocks will inevitably lead to the impossibility of the PSA, respectively of the state, to perform the basic functions of the institution - the provision of public services for the production and issuance of identity documents, driving licences and vehicle registration certificates. At present, the stock of passport booklets is 230,000 units, and of ID cards – 220,000 units.
The procurement of about 1.5 million of blanks is based on the analysis performed by the PSA, according to the number of documents issued in 2017-2020, as well as the number of documents which have expired or will expire in the current year. At the same time, it is worth mentioning that with the launch of each new generation of document booklets/blanks, the PSA is obliged to send their specimens to all the interested bodies - central public authorities of the Republic of Moldova (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (for the diplomatic missions of the Republic of Moldova and other states)).
In this regard, it should be mentioned that the number of citizens of the Republic of Moldova who have previously held a passport, but as of January 1, 2021 do not hold a valid passport is over a million. Also, by the end of 2021, the validity period of over 340,000 passports of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, 100,000 identity cards and other documents will expire. Furthermore, about 45,000 children have reached or will reach the age of 16 in 2021 (according to the provisions of Art. 7 of Law no. 273/1994 on identity documents of the national passport system, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova residing in the Republic of Moldova are obliged to hold an identity card from the age of 16). Please note that in the Nomenclature of the services provided by the PSA, the categories of services provided with benefits or free of charge are included, for example the first identity card of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova is issued free of charge.
The tender documentation submitted by the PSA specified the mandatory requirements regarding the personalization technologies of document blanks and issuance of documents of state importance, the obligation to comply with international standards (DOC 9303, etc.), with the provisions of the Convention on Road Traffic concluded on 8 November 1968, as well as the obligation to ensure the interaction and integration with the software and hardware complex of the PSA during the production process.
It should be emphasized that, in order to avoid any financial indebtedness of the PSA, the procurement procedure includes mandatory contractual clauses that provide for the payments to be made to suppliers only after the PSA shall issue the documents. Meanwhile, taking into consideration that the PSA is a public institution and operates on the basis of financial autonomy (according to the provisions of Government Decision no. 314/2017 on the establishment of the PSA), the financial means for the procurement of blanks are to be allocated from the budget of the PSA.
Please note that the documents issued by the Public Services Agency meet the requirements of international regulations in the field. The PSA ensures a high security level and data content of documents. In this context, the passport of the citizen of the Republic of Moldova combines the most advanced security technologies, corresponds to all EU security requirements and standards, as well as ICAO recommendations. Each new generation of passport books, driving licences, until their launch into production, are subject to expertise and testing in independent international laboratories, accredited in that field, according to the rigors and provisions of ICAO Doc 9303.
For more details about the Tender mentioned above, please visit the following web-page https://mtender.gov.md/en/tenders/ocds-b3wdp1-MD-1619699719304?tab=contract-notice.