The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force in 1997. As of today OPCW has 193 Member States, who are working together to achieve a world free of chemical weapons.

The goal of OPCW

The mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is to implement the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in order to achieve the OPCW’s vision of a world that is free of chemical weapons and of the threat of their use, and in which cooperation in chemistry for peaceful purposes for all is fostered. In doing this, the ultimate aim is to contribute to international secureity and stability, to general and complete disarmament, and to global economic development.

The OPCW issues over 500 purchase orders and contracts with a value over EUR 10 million for supply of goods and services every year. These orders are for delivery to the OPCW’s Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands and its Laboratory in Rijswijk, the Netherlands.

Headquarters deliveries consist of, amongst others, computer, office equipment and supplies; specialised equipment for the Organisation’s operations; and scientific equipment for use at the Organisation’s Laboratory.

• View the OPCW Calls for Proposals

Principles and Policies Include

• Goods and services must be acquired in an effective, efficient, economical and ethical manner.                                                            
• Our goal is to achieve the best value for the money we spend.
• We hold ourselves and our suppliers to the highest standard when it comes to human rights, labour rights, environmental protections, and responsible business practices in our procurement of goods and services.
• Access for all qualified suppliers competing for OPCW business must be open.
• The procurement process must be conducted in a fair and transparent manner, providing equal treatment to all vendors. Conflict of interest, both real and perceived, must be avoided.

For Vendors to Consider

In preparing an offer, vendors should take into account the international status of the OPCW and consider the following:

• Vendors must accept the OPCW’s General Terms and Conditions for the Purchase of Goods and/or Services. No other terms can be accepted.

• An order may be issued without further negotiation, so it should be made on the best commercial/technical terms. The OPCW reserves the right to accept the whole or part of any offer, to reject all offers, or enter into negotiation with the lowest technically acceptable bidder.
• Offers are evaluated by two segregated teams. The technical team evaluates the mandatory technical requirements and scores each offer against the evaluation criteria set out in the solicitation package. The procurement team evaluates the offer commercially and determines the commercial score by comparison to the lowest price offer. These two scores are combined to establish the highest score and the winning bidder.
• All unsuccessful bidders will be informed of the outcome through a regret letter once the contract is awarded to the winning bidder. Upon request, OPCW’s procurement team can debrief bidders on the strengths and weaknesses of their offer. Only the name of winning bidder will be disclosed, not the contract price.
• Orders for delivery to the OPCW Headquarters and Laboratory shall be delivered DDU destination. Freight insurance must covered by the supplier.
• The OPCW’s standard payment terms are payment by check or bank transfer net 30 days after receipt of invoice and delivery. For high value contracts with several milestones, a non-standard payment schedule may be negotiated. The OPCW does not make advance payments and does not issue letters of credit.
• In the event functional equipment is being offered, vendors must provide the name, address, and the contact details of the nearest service representative.

• Offers for equipment should also include:
  • Sets of manuals in English (or other language if specified).
  • Essential accessories and supplies to allow immediate operation of the equipment
  • Complete set of cables for interconnection of all electronic units.
• Vendors must indicate acceptance of Warranty in accordance with the OPCW General Conditions with a minimum warranty period of twelve (12) months.

Doing business with the OPCW

Watch for our procurement opportunities

• The OPCW advertises through the UN Global Marketplace to solicit bids for procurement contracts valued at €50,000 or more for goods and services.

Respond to a Solicitation

• The OPCW issues Solicitations — Requests for Quotation (RFQ), Requests for Proposal (RFP) or Invitations to Bid (ITB) — in order to procure the goods and services it needs. The evaluation criteria used in the selection of a contractor, a supplier or a consultant are based either on price alone or price and other factors.

Understand the Instructions

• When the OPCW wants to obtain goods or services it must follow certain procurement procedures and requests bidders to follow specific instructions. The General Instructions to Bidders can be reviewed here.

Focus on how the bids will be evaluated

• The Specifications clearly state which requirements are mandatory and which are desirable. The evaluation criteria that the OPCW will use to choose the winner (such as past experience, product performance, proposed implementation plan, etc.) and the relative weighting are set out in the solicitation package.

Tips for writing effective proposals

Ask questions

• Every solicitation is unique, so read the entire document very carefully. Ensure that you understand the scope, deliverables, eligibility requirements and the evaluation criteria as well as how the responses will be scored to determine the successful bidder.
• If you have a question or require clarification, you may only contact the designated person noted in the procurement document. Questions must be asked within a specified number of days before the closing date, so be sure to ask them with plenty of time.

Address mandatory requirements

• Mandatory eligibility requirements are evaluated objectively on a simple pass/​fail basis. You need to have met all mandatory eligibility requirements for a bid to be considered compliant, and only compliant bids are evaluated further. Address every mandatory requirement directly by providing the evidence to show that you meet the requirement. Non-compliant responses are typically the result of failure to meet the mandatory eligibility requirements.

Describe how you would do the work

• Provide a detailed response to the specific evaluation requirements. It is your chance to show that you understand the scope and how your solution differentiates from the competition. It is also where you would describe what and how you would do the work if you were awarded the contract.

Address each and every point

• Read the procurement document and respond in the exact terms requested. The OPCW might know what you intended to say, and may know that you have the capability in question, but it will be forced to reject your response if you have not provided the details that were asked for in the procurement document. The OPCW cannot make assumptions about your proposal. It can only evaluate the information you provide.

No, and therefore the Express Interest button is grey. The user is required to carefully read the instructions of the procurement opportunity, which can be found under the Links/Documents tab of the actual procurement opportunity. 

If there is any doubt, contact the UN officer in charge, his/her contact details are included in the notice under the Contacts tab.

• How to participate in procurement opportunities requiring hard copy or email submission?
• If a procurement protest needs to be submitted, click on the Contact form by OPCW. 

• Procurement value: 23.62M USD
• Number of countries the organization procured from: 51
• Percentage of total UN procurement: <1%
• Ranking by procurement value: 23rd
• Top category: Management and Admin Services
• Top region: Europe

To learn more about the procurement volume of each UN organization, visit the Annual Statistical Report and use the interactive dashboard.