The document discusses the OECD Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement. The guidelines help public officials reduce the risks of bid rigging in public tenders through careful design of procurement processes and detection of bid rigging conspiracies. Bid rigging illegally raises prices or lowers quality by groups of firms conspiring in public tenders, costing governments billions annually. The OECD runs training and reviews to assist adoption of the guidelines in fighting bid rigging.

1. Markets in which bid rigging is more
likely to occur
Methods that maximise the
number of bids
Best practices for tender
specifications, requirements
and award criteria
Procedures that inhibit
communication among bidders
Suspicious pricing patterns,
statements, documents and
behaviour by firms
Fighting Bid Rigging in
Public Procurement
Bid rigging happens when groups of firms
conspire to raise prices or lower the quality
of goods, works or services offered in
public tenders. It is illegal, anti-competitive
and costs governments and taxpayers
billions of dollars every year across OECD
and non-OECD countries.
OECD countries spend approximately 12%
of their GDP in public procurement. This
percentage can be higher in developing
countries. The elimination of bid rigging
could help reduce procurement prices by
20% or more.
The OECD Guidelines for Fighting Bid
Rigging in Public Procurement help public
officials to reduce the risks of bid rigging,
through the careful design of public
procurement tenders, and to detect bid
rigging conspiracies during procurement
processes.
The Guidelines are available
in 26 languages at oe.cd/gfbr.
The OECD runs in-country targeted training
workshops and conducts tailored reviews
of public procurement regimes.
For more information, please contact:
antonio.capobianco@oecd.org or
despina.pachnou@oecd.org.
From advice to action
The Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging
help to identify
www.oecd.org/competition/bidrigging • @OECD_BizFin • #OECDcomp
The OECD Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging in
Public Procurement are part of an OECD Council
Recommendation adopted in 2012 that calls for
governments to assess their public procurement
laws and practices at all levels of government in
order to promote more effective procurement and
reduce the risk of bid rigging in public tenders.
OECD Council Recommendation on
Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement