Principle Of Avoiding Conflicts Of Interest

Rules defining and limiting conflict of interests situations are necessary to ensure that staff members of the Partner's organisation, cannot use their functions or information obtained for professional reasons for private gain, financial or otherwise, or for private gain of any third party. In this regards, Partners shall:

• take all necessary measures to prevent in the procurement procedures any conflict of interest

• entrust the decision of awarding a contract to an evaluation committee rather than to a sole person. Members of the evaluation committee should be aware that they need to disclose the existence of a conflict of interest.

• have in place clear rules and guidance to staff, on what to do in case they or one of their colleagues are in a situation of conflict of interests including whom they may ask for advise or disclose the conflict to in order to resolve or decide upon the potential problem and, where necessary, take the appropriate action.

• It is good practice that staff involved in the procurement process formally signs a declaration of no conflict of interests before performing their duties. This applies also to those participating in opening committee and evaluation committees.

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A common question related to conflict of interest situations is whether or not to accept gifts from existing or potential contractors, Candidates or Tenderers. Offering gifts to customers is sometimes seen as a common practice in the private sector. Contractors often offer different types of gifts, for example perishable products, hospitality, free training courses or experiences like exhibitions, fair trades, and sometimes in kind donations. Nevertheless, as a general rule, significant gifts and hospitality from suppliers cannot be accepted in order to maintain an atmosphere of honesty and integrity in affairs and to avoid unfair competition. While each Partner remains best placed to manage how to deal with this issue, identifying which gifts are acceptable or not is not always easy so staff require adequate instructions.

In case of any situation constituting or likely to lead to a conflict of interest during the implementation of the Specific Grant Agreement, the Partner shall:

• Notify the Commission in writing and without delay.

• Immediately take all the necessary steps to rectify this situation and inform the Commission accordingly. The Commission reserves the right to verify that the measures taken are appropriate, and may require additional measures to be taken by the Humanitarian Organisation within a specified deadline.

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Failure to implement the requested measures may lead to the termination of the Specific Grant Agreement.

If the Commission has evidence that a situation constitutes or may lead to a conflict of interest, it shall immediately inform the Humanitarian Organisation requesting appropriate measures to be taken.