COVID-19 REACT 1 - Round 2, 2b and 3 Lab testing

REACT 1 - Round 2, 2b and 3 Lab testing from Eurofins (Swabs, viles, biohazard bags and PCL analysis)

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below

Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive

Explanation:

1. The Covid-19 outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020.

2. A key element of ensuring an effective response to the pandemic is ensuring that there is adequate testing. Therefore, ensuring effective warehousing, assembly and transport of testing kits and associated consumables is critical to the testing value chain.

• 3)DHSC is satisfied the tests permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met:
• A.As far as is strictly necessary: the (services) were identified as strictly necessary to meet the demand to scale up the testing programme in the UK.
• B.There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: It is responding to Covid-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency.
• C.The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: The Commission itself confirmed: 'The current coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency - precisely for such a situation our European rules enable public buyers to buy within a matter of days, even hours, if necessary.' (Commissioner Breton, Internal Market, 1 April 2020).
• D.It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: It is not possible to comply with the timescales of another procedure due to the urgent requirement to ensure the services required are met.
• E.The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority - DHSC has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.