The tender bid made by an Indian pharmaceutical company, Aurobindo,  to provide ARV's for South Africa as a two year contract was rejected. The tender was awarded to a South African pharmaceutical company Aspen and Adcock Ingram, which put Aurobindo up in arms as their tendered price was lower than the S.A company.

Aurobindo is now taking the South African treasury to court. In an article by the South African Press Association, Independant Online brought the artcile below which clearly discusses the tendering issue and what actions are takinig place. Use the link to view various articles on tenders on CBN's website as well as other topical issues.   

Indian company takes SA treasury to court
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Indian pharmaceuticals company Aurobindo is taking the South African Treasury to court, Business Day reported on Monday.

Aurobindo had claimed it lost out to local pharmaceutical companies in a $400-million (about R3,1-billion) contract for antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, even though its tendered price for the drugs was cheaper, the report added citing court papers.

"Almost 60 percent of the contract, which went out to tender last year for the supply of ARVs nationally for the two years from June last year to next May, was awarded to local companies Aspen and Adcock Ingram," the report said.

Business Day added that none of the parties involved wanted to comment on the matter, saying the case was sub judice.

Stavros Nicolaou, chairperson of the Local Pharmaceutical Producers Trade Association, told the newspaper that playing fields in the international market were not level and Indian manufacturers benefited from a vast range of state subsidies.

This gave them a cost advantage of up to 30 percent over South Africa's pharmaceutical firms, Nicolaou said.

"With a local preference in tenders, it really is to level the playing fields against the Indians.

"It is not giving us a leg up," Nicolaou was quoted as saying.

Business Day said the ARV tender award might also have been informed by a study done by the Industrial Development Corporation, commissioned by the department of trade and industry, which calculated the contribution back into the economy of local manufacturers versus importers for every procurement rand spent by the government.

"The study found that local producers' tax contribution, linkages with down and upstream sectors and job creation potential warranted the government spending more on drugs by procuring locally."

However, this local bias could put pressure on bilateral relations with India - "a strategic trade partner with which South Africa plans to strengthen ties into the future", the report said. - Sapa