Brasilia, 25/10/2012 – Sustainable procurement conducted by the Brazilian government grew 194% in the first nine months of 2012, compared to the same period in 2011. This year, goods and services that take environmental, social and economic criteria into account in all stages of their production cycle accounted for approximately R$ 25.8 million in purchases. This data was taken from the Federal Government Procurement Portal (Comprasnet) by the Ministry of Planning (MP) on Thursday, October 25, and includes data from federal public administration departments.

Computers accounted for the goods purchased most by the federal government during sustainable bidding processes, representing 39% of purchases. After computers, paper (16.4%) and air conditioning equipment (15.7%) constituted the next most popular purchases. The amounts spent on these purchases were in the order of R$ 10.1 million, R$ 4.2 million and R$ 4.0 million respectively. The electronic auction figures as the primary method used in these tenders, with a representation of 99%.

The Ministries of Justice, Education and Defense were the biggest spending departments during this period in 2012. These institutions accounted for 79% of sustainable procurement, with expenses in the order of R$ 11.6 million, R$ 6.4 million and R$ 2.4 million, respectively.

According to Delfino Natal de Souza, Secretary of Logistics and Information Technology, the growth trend should continue in the coming months due to the work of the Inter-ministerial Commission on Sustainability in Public Administration (CISAP). "Within the year, we should publish a standard to guide the process of sustainable procurement by public agencies", he explained.

In monetary terms, Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) continue to increase their participation in sustainable procurement: rising from R$ 2.9 million in 2010 to R$ 14.1 million in 2012, a real increase of 385%. In 2012, the share of this segment in such purchases was 55%, against 45% from other suppliers.

In relation to the total number of participants in these tenders, companies of this size represented 88% (2,553) of total participants (2,914) in 2012.  

30 October 2012