All submissions received by UNAIDS following a solicitation process must be treated confidentially; they must not be shared with parties not directly involved in the procurement process.

Every solicitation process must explicitly indicate the method for delivering the offers according to the following guidance:

Small-value procurement (<= US$ 2500)

Submissions are to be sent directly to the staff conducting procurement, who will keep them confidential during the solicitation and evaluation period.

Request for Quotations (> US$ 2500 and < US$ 25 000)

Submissions preferably are to be sent to a staff member not directly involved in the procurement. A secured email account has been established in HQ for this purpose, and staff conducting procurement can use this address in their RFQ exercises.

If the above is not possible, the staff member conducting procurement can receive the submissions directly, but their contents must remain confidential during the solicitation and evaluation period.

Request for Proposal (>= US$ 25 000)

An RFP requires suppliers to submit a technical proposal and a financial proposal separately, each in a sealed envelope. The designated recipient should not be involved directly in the tender process.

The two-envelope system is to ensure that the technical evaluation can be undertaken based solely on the contents of the technical proposals without bias from the financial (price) aspects of the proposals.

An evaluation comparing all factors, both technical and financial (price), is carried out only for those bids that were technically qualified.

In case of electronic submissions, the proposal must be sent to two secured email accounts—one email account for the technical proposal and a different one for the financial proposal—established specifically for that purpose in HQ.

Technical proposals must remain undisclosed until the deadline. Financial proposals must remain undisclosed until the technical evaluation is concluded and only open for qualified proposals.

Invitation to Bid (>= US$ 25 000)

A one-envelope sealed bid is the normal method for ITBs. All offers must be addressed to a designated recipient who is not directly involved in the tender process. The designated recipient is responsible for the safekeeping of the sealed bids until the bid opening takes place.

In case of electronic submissions, the bid must be sent to a secure email account established specifically for that purpose in HQ.

In all cases above the following also applies:

• bids received should be included in the procurement file and discarded according to the WHO Records retention schedule 
• physical or electronic submissions can be accepted; and 
• the receiver must record the date and time the submissions were received. 

Technical proposals must remain undisclosed until the deadline.