Reform of the codification of regulations issued by SERCOP

reformas-codificación-de-resoluciones-del-sercop-octubre-2020-redes-abogados-ecuador

By Regulation No. RE-SERCOP-2020-0111 of September 23, 2020, the Regulation No. RE- SERCOP-2016-0000072 was amended (hereinafter, the “Regulation”), replacing Chapter II of Title VIII, relative to the “ACQUISITION OF DRUGS OR STRATEGIC GOODS IN HEALTH THROUGH A SPECIAL REGIME”. The main aspects of this reform are the following:

1. The Corporate Reverse Auction procedure is regulated for the selection of suppliers of drugs or strategic health goods (hereinafter and collectively, the “Products”) for the acquisition of the Products.

2. The Corporate Tender procedure is regulated for the selection of service providers for the storage, distribution and delivery or dispensing of drugs or strategic health goods (hereinafter, the “Services”) for contracting the Services.

3. It is established that the suppliers that participate in corporate purchase procedures must declare that they have no connection with other participants.

4. The attributions of the Inter-Institutional Committee are regulated, mainly  in the preparatory and contractual execution stage of the procedures for the acquisition of the Products and the contracting of the Services. This Committee is different from the Technical Commission, which will act in the pre-contractual stage.

5. As a result of the Corporate Reverse Auction and Corporate Tender procedures, the respective corporate framework agreements will be signed and the Products and Services will be included in the virtual directory of SERCOP´s Portal of PUBLIC PROCUREMENT  (hereinafter, the “Directory”), for their acquisition or contracting, respectively, through purchase orders.

6. It is established that the termination of a corporate framework agreement will not necessarily generate the sanction of a non-compliant contractor.

7. The obligations of the suppliers of the Products or Services are regulated, without prejudice to those established in the specifications of the selection procedure, the corporate framework agreement and the purchase orders. In the case of Service providers, the following obligations stand out:

7.1. The provision of a “continuity of service guarantee” that ensures the Services’ provision, even in the event of early and unilateral termination of the respective corporate framework agreement.

7.2. The implementation of a technological solution to monitor the Products’ route in real-time.

7.3. The implementation of a technological solution for the registration, administration, and control of stock and inventories in collection centers, warehouses, pharmacies, medicine cabinets, and other units or areas necessary to comply with the Services.

7.4. The creation of tickets for Products not delivered in health establishments for causes attributable to the supplier. Through the tickets, the patient will be able to withdraw the Products in the private pharmacies network associated with the supplier  at a national level or with those subject to a previously signed agreement.

8. It is mandatory for the contracting entities that make up the Integrated Public Health Network (“IPHN”) to acquire the Products and contract the Services through the Directory. Only when the Product does not appear in the Directory, these entities may avail themselves of other contracting procedures.

9. It is established that the contracting entities of the IPHN will centralize the acquisition of the Products. Each IPHN health subsystem must define the entity or administrative body (contracting entity) that will be responsible for the centralized generation of purchase orders, in accordance with its planning.

10. It is the obligation of the contracting entities of the IPHN to contract the Services before the acquisition of the Products, except in cases of  contracts related to small amount and emergencies, or when the Products are received by donation.

11. Contracting entities that do not belong to the IPHN will not be obliged to verify and acquire the Product or contract the Services through the Directory. These entities may directly use other procedures provided by law.

12. The public contracting entities that are not part of the IPHN will preferably use the Institutional Reverse Auction procedure for the selection of suppliers and acquisition of the Products. The contracting entities that are part of the IPHN may use this procedure as long as the amount exceeds the one established  for a small amount procedure, and the Products are not available in the Directory for direct purchases.

 

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DISCLAIMER: The preceding text has been prepared for general information purposes only. CorralRosales is not responsible for any loss or damage caused as a result of having acted or stopped acting based on the information contained in this document. Any given situation requires the specific opinion and view of the firm in Quito / Guayaquil, Ecuador.

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New provisions of the Ministry of Labor

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On September 9th, the Ministry of Labor (“MdT”) issued the following provisions on labor matters:

1. Agreement MDT-2020-171: Exemptions on the application of Chapter III of Humanitarian Organic Law to support and combat the health crisis arising from Covid-19

  • Employers may not reduce the salary of the disabled or their substitutes by the implementation of agreements to preserve labor sources or working-day emergent reduction.
  • Disabled or substitutes employees must inform to the employer their condition within 7 days from the dated they were notified with the application of such measures. If the employee does not comply to inform, then he/she will not benefit from these exceptions.
  • Agreements to preserve labor sources or working-day emergent reduction applied to disabled or substitutes employees before September 9th, are no longer enforceable.
  • From the next salary payment, disabled or substitutes employees shall receive their full salary. This provision has no retroactive effect.

2. Agreement MDT-2020-174: Reform to Ministerial Agreement No.MDT-2020-077

  • In the event of force majeure or unforeseen circumstances, the employer may apply the emergent reduction, modification or suspension of the working-day provided within the Ministerial Agreement No.MDT-2020-077.
  • Emergent reduction, modification or suspension of the working-day ends by:
    • Mutual agreement between the parties.
    • Completion of the emergent working-day reduction term provided for in the Labor Code, article 47.1 (up to 12 months);
    • Completion of the emergent working-day modification term; or;
    • Ceasing of the cause that justified the emergent working-day suspension (Labor Code, article 60).

 

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DISCLAIMER: The preceding text has been prepared for general information purposes only. CorralRosales is not responsible for any loss or damage caused as a result of having acted or stopped acting based on the information contained in this document. Any given situation requires the specific opinion and view of the firm in Quito / Guayaquil, Ecuador.

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