When organizing the procurement of chemical consumables that must be used with specialized medical equipment, Ms. Anh's hospital applied the guidance in Article 65 of Decree No. 98/2021/ND-CP on the management of medical equipment.

Therefore, when organizing the procurement bidding for "chemical consumables that must be used with specialized medical equipment" in the E-HSMT, it is required that bidders participating in the bidding must be "confirmed by the owner of the medical equipment to be compatible with the xxx equipment". This requirement is to ensure the regulations on the rights and responsibilities of medical facilities according to Article 65 of Decree No. 98/2021/ND-CP.

In addition, the owner of the equipment also issued an official dispatch stating that when the hospital does not use genuine chemicals, the maintenance, repair or provision of replacement parts when damaged by the owner of this equipment will not continue.

However, after the issuance of E-HSMT and the evaluation process of E-HSDT, the hospital received feedback from a number of contractors about the regulation "chemical consumables must be used with specialized medical equipment" when participating in the bidding must be "confirmed by the owner of the medical equipment to be compatible with xxx equipment" as having a factor that restricts contractors according to Clause 3, Article 44 of the Law on Bidding.

In the above situation, to ensure that the organization of bidding for the procurement of "chemical consumables must be used with specialized medical equipment" is competitive, fair, transparent, economically efficient and accountable, Ms. Anh requested that the competent authority provide specific guidance on the evaluation and development of E-HSMT.

Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Finance has the following comments:

According to the provisions of Point a, Clause 1, Article 10 of Law No. 90/2025/QH15 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Bidding, the Law on Investment under the Public-Private Partnership model, the Customs Law, the Law on Value Added Tax, the Law on Export Tax, Import Tax, the Investment Law, the Law on Public Investment, the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, bidding packages for selecting contractors, business investment projects that have issued invitations for expression of interest, invitations for pre-qualification, invitations for bids, request documents and bid openings before the effective date of this Law shall continue to organize the selection of short lists, selection of contractors, selection of investors, signing and management of contract performance in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Bidding No. 22/2023/QH15, which has been amended and supplemented by a number of articles under Law No. 57/2024/QH15 and detailed regulations and guidelines. implementation guidance.

According to the provisions of Point d, Clause 1, Article 23 of the Law on Bidding, the form of designated bidding is applied to bidding packages for providing consulting services that must be purchased from the contractor that has performed them before due to the need to ensure compatibility in technology and copyright that cannot be purchased from other contractors; bidding packages for purchasing goods and non-consulting services that must be purchased from the contractor that has performed them before or from the manufacturer or the manufacturer's agent due to the need to ensure compatibility in technology and copyright with available equipment, machinery, software and services or due to the warranty conditions of the contractor or manufacturer that cannot be purchased from other contractors or manufacturers.

Conditions for applying online bidding are stipulated in Article 98 of Decree No. 24/2024/ND-CP dated February 27, 2024 of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures for implementing the Law on Bidding on contractor selection (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 17/2025/ND-CP dated February 6, 2025 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees detailing a number of articles and measures for implementing the Law on Bidding).

Accordingly, in the case of a bidding package for the procurement of chemical consumables that must be used with specialized medical equipment to ensure compatibility and meet the above provisions, the form of direct bidding or online bidding according to the shortened process shall be applied.

In addition, according to the provisions of Clauses 2 and 3, Article 44 of the Law on Bidding (amended and supplemented by Law No. 57/2024/QH15, Law No. 90/2025/QH15), the bidding documents must state the origin according to the group of countries, territories and other standards prescribed by the Government to ensure the quality of goods, services and works.

The bidding documents must not state conditions that limit the participation of bidders or create advantages for one or several bidders, causing unfair competition.