Which public procurement rules apply to China buying?
Identify your body's devolved or reserved status, then check who established the procurement arrangement or is designated to lead it. Welsh and Northern Irish arrangements have distinct provisions; Scottish participation needs particular care. Agree the route before briefing Cambridge China Bridge.
Establish the buyer's status
Ask your procurement team to record whether the contracting authority is reserved, devolved Welsh, transferred Northern Irish or devolved Scottish. The official tests concern functions or activities and their relationship to reserved matters. Do not classify the body from its delivery address alone. Seek legal advice if its status is unclear.
Devolved Welsh and transferred Northern Irish authorities are regulated by the Procurement Act, with differences in the applicable rules. Devolved Scottish authorities generally use Scottish procurement legislation, subject to exceptions for participation in other procurement arrangements.
Identify the arrangement behind the purchase
For a framework, identify the authority that awarded it. For a dynamic market, identify the authority that established it. For centralised purchasing, identify the purchasing authority. For joint procurement, establish the designated lead. These facts determine the arrangement's classification.
A body using a devolved or transferred arrangement follows the rules applicable to the authority establishing it. An eligible English buyer using a Welsh authority's framework therefore follows the relevant Welsh provisions for its call-off. Ask for the framework documents and confirmation that your body can use it.
Treat Scottish collaboration carefully
Do not assume that every joint purchase involving a Scottish authority brings the whole Procurement Act into play. The legislation's full-application provision concerns a devolved Scottish authority participating in a reserved, devolved Welsh or transferred Northern Irish arrangement, through joint selection or centralised purchasing. A Scottish lead changes the arrangement's classification.
For a devolved Scottish authority buying through a framework or dynamic market established under those other arrangements, the Act specifies applicable provisions and modifications in its schedule. Ask the procurement team to identify those provisions for the actual route rather than copy a joint-procurement checklist.
Check whether the arrangement uses earlier rules
Procurements commenced under the previous legislation continue under that legislation. Contracts awarded through frameworks established under the previous legislation also continue to be managed under it. Check the commencement evidence and framework history before selecting documents for this purchase.
Record the buyer's status, arrangement owner, designated lead, applicable legislation and reasons for the decision together. Keep the supporting notice or framework documents with that record. Resolve contradictions before asking factories for tender-specific submissions.
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Turn the decision into a sourcing brief
Give Cambridge China Bridge the confirmed route, named procurement contact, product specification and evidence checklist. Ask its staff in China to separate factory information, sample findings and inspection records so your team can review each item against the purchasing brief.
Use the guides on consulting factories before a public tender and public tender conditions for Chinese suppliers for the next stage. Keep delivery risks in a Chinese supplier procurement risk register, rather than reopening the regime decision in each factory discussion.
Frequently asked questions
Can we choose procurement rules from our delivery address?
Check the body's functions or activities and the procurement arrangement. Record its devolved or reserved status; seek legal advice if that classification is unclear.
Which rules apply to an English buyer using a Welsh framework?
An eligible buyer follows the relevant Welsh provisions when awarding a call-off under a framework established by a devolved Welsh authority.
Does Scottish participation mean the whole Procurement Act applies?
Check the arrangement and designated lead. Joint selection under a reserved, Welsh or Northern Irish arrangement differs from a Scottish-led arrangement or a framework call-off.
What should we send our China sourcing agent?
Send the confirmed procurement route, specification, evidence checklist and procurement contact. Identify who approves factory documents, samples and inspection findings.