Schools can now disqualify suppliers citing national security concerns

Schools can now disqualify suppliers if they have reasons to believe that the suppliers engage in activities that endanger national security, as the Education Bureau updated the guideline on procurement in aided schools on Tuesday. 

The latest “Safeguarding National Security” section in the guidelines states that it is the constitutional duty for the SAR to safeguard national security and school staff of all levels must effectively prevent and suppress any act or activity endangering national security. 

“Schools should exercise their professional judgment, maintain a high degree of sensitivity and prudently assess any potential national security risks or issues that may be involved in every stage of the procurement,” the guidelines read. 

“To this end, schools should incorporate the following specific clauses into the quotation/tender documents to allow disqualification of a supplier and to terminate the contract in the interest of national security. 

“The school reserves the right to disqualify a supplier on the grounds that the supplier has engaged, is engaging, or is reasonably believed to have engaged or be engaging in acts or activities that are likely to cause or constitute the occurrence of offenses endangering national securiy.” 

The school may immediately terminate the contract if the contractor has engaged or is engaging in acts or activities that endanger national security; or the continued engagement of the contractor or the continued performance of the contract is contrary to the interest of national security. 

Schools can also terminate contracts with suppliers if they reasonably believe that the events mentioned above are about to occur.