Experience in using standards in public procurement in six countries

The aim of the project is to conduct a comparative analysis of six countries’ regulations and experience in using standards in public procurement. The six countries to be assessed are: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and United States of America. The analysis focuses on the following issues:

• Existing regulation and policies, i.e. sector- (e.g. timber) or issue-specific (e.g. ILO labor standards) regulation; existence of systems to recognize standards in (positive lists); regulations and initiatives to support the use of standards in public procurement
• Challenges and issues that arose in implementation, e.g. lawsuits and court decisions
• Efforts to establish public recognition systems for the use of standards (positive lists); the project looks at initiatives both in planning or already implemented
• Strategies and initiatives to deal with challenges in using sustainability standards in public procurement