Sweden has a National Public Procurement Strategy that includes a range of objectives for contracting authorities, in order to take greater responsibility for their procurement purchasing. The following considerations make reference to RBC objectives:
Objective number six refers to the importance of green public procurement and how uptake of this aspect must be increased throughout the public sector;
Objective number four concerns the achievement of well-functioning public procurement which relies on integrity and trust;
Objective number seven refers to the social aspects enhancing more responsible public procurement for a more socially sustainable society. Some considerations included in this objective comprise the respect of human rights, reasonable working conditions, promotion of employment, equal opportunities and respect for different groups.
The Swedish CPB Kammarkollegiet has developed guidance to align labour rights requirements with the ILO conventions, which go beyond national-level frameworks.
2. Implementation
Pre-tender phase
During the pre-study phase, the Kammarkollegiet’s internal processes requires them to investigate environmental requirements linked to the subject of the procurement.
Tender phase
The Swedish Agency for Public Procurement promotes environmental considerations in public procurement. It is responsible for a wide-ranging programme to define model criteria for contracting authorities, for example regarding animal welfare.
According to the Swedish Public Procurement Act, when the user of the purchase is a natural person, the technical specifications shall be determined on the basis of the needs of the users; this includes accessibility for persons with disabilities.
Post-tender phase
Regarding labour rights, contracting authorities are expected to set requirements that the supplier will implement the contract in accordance with agreed standards on wages, holidays and working hours for the employees. Contracting authorities shall also require the supplier to ensure that its subcontractors directly contributing to the performance of the contract comply with the same considerations.
3. Good Practices
In November 2019, the National Agency for Public Procurement released a survey about how Swedish contracting authorities apply the legislation on specific labour law requirements. This survey includes RBC objectives such as human rights, labour rights, environmental protection and anti-corruption in the supply chain and contributes to the Sweden’s efforts to monitor implementation of RBC objectives in public procurement.
The Kammarkollegiet goes to beyond the third tier in its extension of the supply chain for seven out of the eight RBC objectives.
The Kammarkollegiet commissioned a risk analysis team to identify risks for the provisions (including sourcing, manufacturing) of selected goods and services, in terms of environment, human rights, labour rights and corruption.
