Procurement Risk:
Moderate
Score:
55/100
Government Policy
Q57
25/100
Does the country have legislation covering defence and security procurement with clauses specific to corruption risks, and are any items exempt from these laws?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The Public Procurement Code provides a clear framework for all procurement procedures [1]. Defence…
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Decree-Law 104/2011, which established the concrete framework of defence procurement in Portugal, makes no mention of corruption or assorted procurement risks [1].
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There is no extensive monitoring of defence and security procurement. Public procurement in Portugal is reviewed ex-ante and audited ex-post by the Court of…
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Q58
58/100
Is the defence procurement cycle process, from assessment of needs, through contract implementation and sign-off, all the way to asset disposal, disclosed to the public?
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The defence procurement cycle is formalised under a specific defence procurement legal bill [1]. The defence planning cycle is also formalised [2, 3] and…
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Defence procurement legislation is clear in regards to procedures on contract sign-off, awarding and implementation [1]. However, there is no specification on needs assessment…
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Defence procurement is assessed by the Court of Accounts CA) as the Supreme Audit Institution. The CA has found issues with implementation [1, 2,…
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Q59
75/100
Are defence procurement oversight mechanisms in place and are these oversight mechanisms active and transparent?
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Oversight over defence and security procurement is carried out through the Court of Accounts (CA) (as the SAI), the Inspectorate-General of Finance (IGF) (as…
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There is some evidence of increased effectiveness by the CA in recent years, measured via several audits, financial amounts audited and the number of…
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There is some public evidence of CA performing auditing work to the extent of its capacities, according to the Open Budget Survey [1]. With…
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The Military Programming Act [1] and the Military Infrastructure Programming Act [2] are comprehensive policies of forward planning in defence procurement and investment from…
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Although the Military Programming Act and the Military Infrastructure Programming Act show forward planning from 2019 to 2030, budget items are only partially disaggregated…
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Most defence procurement information is made public, as indicated by the Military Programming Act. While a description of purchased items, winning bidders, price paid…
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Tenders and awards require publication, but defence procurement is exempt under conditions specified under the law, namely national security restrictions; not all contracts apply…
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Capability Gap and Requirements Definition
Q62
0/100
What procedures and standards are companies required to have – such as compliance programmes and business conduct programmes – in order to be able to bid for work for the Ministry of Defence or armed forces?
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The Public Procurement Code specifies all qualification requirements for bidders [1] but does not require bidders to show proof of anti-corruption commitment, nor does…
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This indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’ because there are no policies which require anti-corruption standards in defence procurement contracts. The Public Procurement Code specifies…
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Q63
50/100
Are procurement requirements derived from a national defence and security strategy, and are procurement decisions well-audited? Are defence purchases based on clearly identified and quantified requirements?
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While the defence planning cycle is clearly formalised (refer to Q58A) and there is a basis in the National Strategic Defence Concept (NSDC) for…
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The Court of Accounts (CA) scrutinises defence procurement either via ex-ante review [1] or via ex-post audit [2], but these are insufficient insofar as…
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The consistency shown in the Military Planning Act [1] and explanatory notes, in addition to the yearly State Budget [2, 3, 4, 5, 6],…
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Tender Solicitation, Assessment and Contract Award
Q64
NEI/100
Is defence procurement generally conducted as open competition or is there a significant element of single-sourcing (that is, without competition)?
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. An analysis of the public procurement register shows that non-competitive procedures are dominant across defence…
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The Court of Accounts (CA) is specifically mandated to enforce oversight on contract awards [1, 2] and is known to have rejected at least…
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Q65
75/100
Are tender boards subject to regulations and codes of conduct and are their decisions subject to independent audit to ensure due process and fairness?
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The decree-law that regulates defence procurement defers to the Public Procurement Code concerning conflicts of interest in tender boards. The Public Procurement Code itself…
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Tender boards are required to document procedures, including elected or nominated officials participating in decision-making [1]. There is extensive evidence provided by CA’s audits…
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The Public Procurement Code regulates tender boards [1], and existing public workers’ regulations on conduct are fully applicable to defence staff [2]. These are…
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The comprehensiveness of external verification was severely limited by the prevalence of contracts below the €350,000 threshold requiring ex-ante review by the CA (refer…
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Q66
69/100
Does the country have legislation in place to discourage and punish collusion between bidders for defence and security contracts?
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The decree-law that regulates defence procurement defers to the Public Procurement Code and binds both buyers and bidders. The Public Procurement Code is supported…
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The Public Procurement Code explicitly excludes bidders convicted for corruption from procurement [1], but bidders accused or implicated in corruption or collusion are not…
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At least two high-profile criminal investigations involving procurement have emerged recently [1], and one involves the Portuguese Air Force [2]. There is no evidence…
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There is evidence that at least some training is provided to officials [1] [2], but training on collusion is not mandatary across public administration…
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Contract Delivery and In-Service Support
Q67
38/100
Are there mechanisms and procedures that ensure that contractors meet their obligations on reporting and delivery?
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The Public Procurement Code establishes detailed legal reasoning for contract resolution and sets out monitoring obligations for public buyers [1]. Incomplete and or inadequate…
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Public procurement execution reports are not made publicly available in an accessible format. Contract modifications are only searchable if they pertain to a ten…
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There is evidence that contract execution is appraised [1, 2, 3], but sources suggest that monitoring is only appropriately implemented when contracts are above…
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There is no evidence of concrete enforcement of contract termination upon breaches. A recent report on the remaining offsets contract in force suggests a…
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Q68
67/100
Are there mechanisms in place to allow companies to complain about perceived malpractice in procurement, and are companies protected from discrimination when they use these mechanisms?
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The Public Procurement Code specifies formal challenge [1] and complaint [2] procedures for all stages of the procurement process. These are supported by the…
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Administrative complaints and challenges are seen as generally inefficient as a result of generalized problems with the administrative justice system [1]. Nonetheless, there are…
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There is no representative survey of companies’ experiences with complaints mechanisms. However, an appropriate proxy lies in the business perception of the justice system,…
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The Public Procurement Code explicitly excludes individuals and companies convicted for corruption from bidding [1]. Suspected individuals or companies are not excluded, as exemplified…
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Recent evidence suggests that cases are investigated and result in prosecutions [1, 2] without undue influence in specific cases. There is widespread suspicion of…
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There is evidence that corruption in procurement results at least in investigations and prosecutions [1] [2] [3], while bidders are known to be sanctioned…
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Offset Contracts
Q70
100/100
When negotiating offset contracts, does the government specifically address corruption risk by imposing anti-corruption due diligence on contractors and third parties?
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There is no existing due dilligence requirement, as offset contracts are no longer lawful [1]. As such, this indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’.
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Offset contracts are explicitly prohibited via legislation [1]. As such, this indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’.
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Offset contracts are explicitly prohibited via legislation [1]. As such, this indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’.
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Offset contracts are explicitly prohibited via legislation [1]. As such, this indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’.
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Offset contracts are explicitly prohibited via legislation [1]. As such, this indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’.
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Agents / Brokers
Q73
NEI/100
How strongly does the government control the company’s use of agents and intermediaries in the procurement cycle?
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Intermediation is regulated by Law 49/2009 [1], Law 37/2011 [2] and Decree-Law 19/2019 [3]. Intermediaries must be registered with the Ministry of Defence (MoD)…
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There is no publicly available database on the enforcement of sanctions. Existing reports on defence imports and exports date from 2011 to 2014 [1,…
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Financing Package
Q74
0/100
Are the principal aspects of the financing package surrounding major arms deals, (such as payment timelines, interest rates, commercial loans or export credit agreements) made publicly available prior to the signing of contracts?
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Existing information on arms deals [1, 2, 3, 4] does not provide details on financing and does not disclose whether a financing package exists…
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Seller Influence
Q75
NS/100
How common is it for defence acquisition decisions to be based on political influence by selling nations?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. An analysis of defence acquisitions as reported by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute…
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. An analysis of existing expenditure authorisations in the Official Gazette [1, 2, 3, 4]…
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Recent acquisitions are perceived as independent from domestic pressures. Based on previous issues with…
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