NEDA sets another review of Sicpa proposal

MANILA, Philippines - The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is preparing to conduct another review again of the proposed stamp technology project offered by Swiss company Sicpa Product Security SA, taking into consideration all thorny issues, including concerns raised by lawmakers on the project cost.

The NEDA-Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC), which reviews big-ticket projects, earlier gave the BIR the go-signal to negotiate with Sicpa. It expects to review the proposal again in the first quarter of 2010.

Augusto Santos, acting NEDA director-general, said NEDA-ICC will have the last say on the project after the BIR concludes talks with Sicpa and opens the proposal for a Swiss Challenge.

“NEDA-ICC will have to review it again,” Santos said. He said the Cabinet-level committee will have to look into the concerns raised by lawmakers that the technology would raise the cost of cigarettes.

He said NEDA expects the two parties to conclude negotiations soon. The BIR will then open the proposal to a Swiss Challenge by inviting other parties to match or surpass Sicpa’s offer.

“It looks like we will review the proposal in the early part of next year already,” Santos said.

Sicpa earlier submitted to the BIR an unsolicited proposal to provide tamper proof stamps on cigarettes as a deterrent to smuggling.

The BIR has been negotiating with Sicpa to lower the cost and is expected to wrap up talks soon.

So far, the agency has not yet closed the negotiations. BIR Deputy Commissioner Lilia Guillermo, head of the BIR negotiating team, said in a recent briefing with lawmakers on the Sicpa project that under the Build-Operate-Transfer Law or Republic Act 7718, a government agency that receives an unsolicited proposal from the private sector has 60 days to negotiate the project. The BIR started negotiations with Sicpa last Oct. 26 which means that the two parties have to finalize the talks by today.

BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres, said nothing is final yet. He also stressed that the agency would be “transparent” with the details of the project.