While international competition is the preferred mode of procurement in UNDP, national competition may be allowed when the value of the requirement is less than US $200,000, and when any one or any combination of the following circumstances also exists: a. The required goods/services/works are available locally at about the same or lower prices compared to those of comparable quality from the global market. b. The requirement is for construction works that are expected to be geographically scattered in various parts of a country and intensive in the use of local labour, and the country has a sufficient base of contractors with the qualifications and competence needed to complete the works. c. Services needed require a substantive depth of knowledge and understanding of the local environment, culture, language, socio-political dynamics or national systems that an international entity will probably not possess. d. There is a very low probability that an international entity will be interested in submitting an offer or partnering with national entities, so that the administrative and financial costs of opening to the international market will not yield any benefit.
Limited international competition is conducted by narrowing the competitive field to a short list of prospective offerors. This is pre-determined through a non-discriminatory evaluation of qualifications. Such a process may involve various sourcing methods, such as: a. Use of existing rosters; b. Shortlisting from previous rounds of prequalification or expressions of interest from another selection process, assuming similar goods or services; c. Previous vendors of known satisfactory performance; d. Referrals of vendors from other UN entities; e. Publicly accessible trade books and online databases; f. Advertised call for expressions of interest; g. Conventional business directories