I. Extension of time to renew the RUP: Decree 434 enacted on March 19, 2020. Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.

The term to file all the documentation required to renew the Sole Bidders’ Registry (Registro Único de Proponentes – RUP) was extended up until the fifth working day of July 2020. 

II. Hearings to award public contracts. Concept C-243 of 2020. Colombia Compra Eficiente.

• The hearing may be conducted through electronic means. 
• Upon a reasonable factual impossibility to perform the hearing through electronic means, due to a lack of technological or digital tools, public entities may suspend the hearing, postponing it to the moment when the state of health emergency has ended, or when the entity has the logistic means to conduct the hearing.

III. Criteria and requirements for direct contracting: statement of March 17, 2020. Colombia Compra Eficiente.

1. Direct contracting due to a manifest urgency.
   1. The manifest urgency must be declared through an administrative act.
   2. A manifest urgency exists when there are contingencies that need to be addressed immediately, by performing works, providing services or supplying goods. Because the State needs to give an agile response, during the manifest urgency the contracting of works, goods or services may be carried out without following the public selection proceedings.
   3. Manifest urgency scenarios include (i) an economic, social and ecological emergency and (ii) calamity, force majeure or disaster events, circumstances where the life, health or integrity of the people are under great threat.
   4. The Colombian Government declared a state of economic, social and ecological emergency in the entire Colombian territory, for a period of 30 days, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Contracting with cooperation, assistance or international aid organisms.
   1. Contracts can be directly entered into with cooperation, assistance or international aid organizations (Article 20, law 1150 of 2007) if their regulations allow such contracting.
   2. A certificate from the contracting government is required, specifying that the supplier is a public entity.

IV. Recommendations of the General Controller (Contraloría General de la República) to public officials responsible for contracting directly under a manifest urgency: Memorandum 6 of March 19, 2020.

• The events justifying the declaration of the manifest urgency must be related to the COVID-19 state of emergency. 
• The officer must validate that the contracting proceeding meets the urgency required to satisfy the general interest. 
• An administrative act declaring the manifest urgency is required. 
• The performance of preliminary studies is not required and, in some cases, the contract might not be in written form. 
• It is advisable to verify that the contract’s value is within market prices, among other matters.

V. National Infrastructure Agency – ANI - Decision 471, March 22, 2020 

• Mandates the suspension of any of the following administrative proceedings carried out by the ANI:
  • Administrative sanction procedures;
  • Cure periods;
  • Evaluation process of unsolicited proposal for P3 projects;
  • Requests for amendments of ongoing concession contracts;
  • Procedures related to exclusion of liability and force majeure in environmental, land right or public services network issues. 
  • Prior consultation procedures.
• Mandates the suspension of some Concession Contracts’ obligations, such as:
  • Land-right arrangements;
  • Environmental tasks and environmental activities other than the ones authorized by the environmental authority;
  • Social tasks;
  • Network relocation;
  • Equity disbursements.

This suspension does not include the obligations related to the operation of roads, ports, airports and railroads, nor the essential maintenance obligations for the correct transportation services. This suspension does not include the protective works on unstable locations and any other activity that permits the provision of the public transportation services under safety conditions.

• The public hearings within the selection proceedings can be rescheduled.
• The proposal evaluation can be performed digitally, using the SECOP II platform.

VI. National Institute of Roads (INVIAS)- External Memorandum 001, March 23, 2020

• Partial suspension of contracts: Public works and external audit (interventoría) contracts, whose scope include integral road management, attention to landslides, operation of railroad crosses and toll booths, will be partially suspended on those activities that are not directly related to the operation, service or emergency attention.
• Total suspension of contracts: Public works, external audit (interventoría), consultancy and logistic and administrative services that do not require the fulfillment of activities aimed to grant the continuity of the road infrastructure operation and do not contain activities such as the ones described in the previous section.
• Not suspended contracts: Contracts whose scope include tunnel operation, road administration, micro-enterprise, emergency response with limited resources, ambulance, tow and workshop services will not be suspended. Consultancy contracts where fieldwork has been completed and its completion can be carried out by telework, will not be suspended.

VII. Ministry of Information Technologies and Telecommunication- Decree 464, March 23, 2020 

• The provision of essential public telecommunications services (including broadcasting, television and postal services) will not be suspended. The installation, maintenance and adaptation required for these services will not be suspended.
• For mobile telephony (voice and data), in case of delay in payment, the operator will grant an additional 30 day service to the user. After this term, the operator can suspend the service, but keeping active elements such as (i) recharging option, (ii) 200 free SMS and (iii) free browsing in 20 internet addresses.
• Companies that provide e-commerce services must prioritize delivery of food, beverages, basic necessities goods, pharmaceuticals, medical, cleaning and hygiene products and terminals that allow access to telecommunications (televisions, cellphones) among others. 

VIII. National Planning Department - Decree 440, March 20, 2020 –

• Public hearings may be held by electronic means, granting access to bidders, control entities and any interested citizen.
• For reverse auctions (subasta inversa), Colombia Compra Eficiente will create an application on the SECOP II. In the absence of such an application, entities can acquire the platform in the market, directly, to fulfill this purpose.
• Hearings related to article 86 of Law 1474 (sanctions) may be held by electronic means.
• State entities can suspend the selection processes, as well as revoke the opening act.
• For the acquisition of goods and services of uniform technical characteristics, territorial entities will prefer the purchase by catalog derived from the Framework Agreements in place. 
• When acquiring goods related with the emergency, the entities may acquire them through the demand aggregation instrument for large stores. 
• Considering the state of emergency declaration, the fact that generates the manifest urgency is duly verified. This circumstance allows the direct contracting of the supply of goods, provision services or execution of works that are required to contain and mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as carrying out the necessary tasks to optimize the flow of resources to the inside of the health system.
• The state contracts related to goods, works or services for the management and mitigation of the emergency, can be freely amended and additional resources can be added without limitation.

IX. National Agency for Environmental Licenses - Internal memorandum 007, March 16, 2020.

• Sets forth recommendations for its workers and contractors, especially in health matters.
• Suspends the on-field works, except those that are motivated by a contingency or under urgency circumstances that make such works essential.    
• The entity’s activities will not be suspended. Encourages the use of technological means to carry out legal functions.

X.Concession contracts, toll collections and others- Decree 482, March 26, 2020 –Ministry of Transportation

• Suspends the collection of toll tariffs to vehicles that transit the national territory during the state of emergency, when such vehicles carry out the activities authorized in the Decree 457, March 22, 2020 and this decree.
• Certain infrastructure construction works may continue, due to their operational or technical needs, and as long as the biosafety protocols of the Health Ministry are followed.
• P3 contracts, under law 1508, 2012, where toll tariffs’ collection decreases, due to the adopted measures, may be extended in time over the 20% of the initial contract value. In case the P3 project is an unsolicited proposal, the contract’s extension may exceed 20% of the initial contractual term. 
• Government entities may unilaterally suspend contracts related to transportation infrastructure, when such suspension is necessary to comply with the measures derived from the state of emergency and provided that the suspension is not reached by mutual agreement within the next two days after the notice submitted to the contractor by the public entity.
• The contractual terms of the port concessions may be extended for the time deemed necessary to address duly verified economic effects.