Coordinated framework agreements in Sweden

The National Procurement Services (Statens inköpscentral) was established in 2011 and is a department within the central government agency Kammarkollegiet (the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency) tasked with providing administrative, legal and financial services to other public organizations.

The task of the National Procurement Services is to procure and provide coordinated framework agreements for goods and services of general use to central government agencies and it is specified in the government regulation concerning Kammarkollegiet and in the ordinance on coordinated public procurement (1998:796). In the area of information and communication technology (ICT) the framework agreements can also be used by local and regional authorities.

Central government agencies are obligated to use the National Procurement Services framework agreements unless they find another form of procurement to be better suited to their needs. When a central government agency decides not to use a coordinated framework agreement for a particular procurement, the agency must notify the National Procurement Services and state its reasons.

Scope

The National Procurement Services concludes and manages more than 2000 unique framework agreements over 44 framework areas i.e. a wide variety of products and services e.g. all types of ICT products and services, office furniture, office supplies, hotel and conference services, safety and security solutions, transportation  etc.

There is within the government administration an exception to The National Procurement Services task to conclude framework agreements and that is the coordinated framework agreements for Payment services and debit cards. These are procured and managed by the National Debt Office (Riksgälden, RGK).

Financing

The National Procurement Services is financed by fees. These fees are invoiced each supplier (party to a framework agreement) in proportion to the respective supplier's turn-over resulting from call-offs on the framework agreement. The department's economic goal is full coverage of costs i.e. non-profit.

In 2020, the total turn-over derived from the coordinated framework agreements amounted to approximately EUR 1.4 billion (SEK 13,9 billion). This can be compared to the total value of goods and services procured by central, regional and local public authorities in Sweden which amounts to approximately EUR 80 billion (SEK 800 billion 2014) (about 18 % of GDP). These figures are approximate but give a rough idea of the economic scope of the coordinated framework agreements in Sweden.

Safeguarding quality

The National Procurement Services work is carried out in accordance with defined processes to ensure quality in our procurement and contract management activities. An electronic procurement system was implemented in 2011.

Feasibility studies are carried out in dialogue and cooperation with representatives from procuring entities (i.e. central government, regional and local authorities) as well as representatives from suppliers and industry and expert organizations. When defining requirements for the tendering process, sustainability as well as the possibility for small and medium-sized enterprises to place tenders are areas that are always taken into account.

An important part of our work process is active contract management. This means that the framework agreements are followed up by us continuously during the duration of the framework agreement. The contract managers help the procuring entities conduct their call-offs from the framework agreements and follow up the framework agreement terms and conditions in close contact with the them as well as the suppliers. External audits of suppliers are carried out by professional audit firms.

In order to provide adequate and effective support to both procuring entities and suppliers our focus is on the user friendliness of our framework agremeents e.g. by developing electronic forms for the call-off process, developing example specifications etc.

Information and support

This website, avropa.se ("avropa" meaning call-off in Swedish), is our primary means of communication with procuring entities and suppliers. You can find contact information, i.e. phone number and e-mail address, to each Contract Manager on the web-page of the respective framework agreement.

For questions to our shared services : ramavtalsservice@kammarkollegiet.se

General questions about public procurement?

For general questions regarding public procurement in Sweden please contact The National Agency for Public Procurement (Upphandlingsmyndigheten).