Another success for Andersen in Poland before the National Appeals Chamber!
The Andersen team in Poland has obtained another favorable ruling before the National Appeals Chamber. The Chamber dismissed the appeal of one of the competitors who attempted to challenge the correctness of selecting our client’s bid as the most advantageous, raising allegations of unfounded claims of trade secrets, grossly low prices, and violation of fair competition as a result of submitting the bid.
The public procurement procedure concerned the collection, transport, and management of waste generated in the process of thermal treatment of municipal waste. The value of the tender exceeded PLN 6 million.
The Chamber did not uphold any of the allegations in the appeal, fully accepting our client’s position expressed in the appeal proceedings and confirming the correctness of the contracting authority’s actions.
The Chamber dismissed the appeal lodged by the competitor in its entirety, confirming:
- the correctness of the selection of our client’s bid,
- the effectiveness of the trade secret reservation in relation to explanations concerning the price,
- the lack of grounds for considering the price to be abnormally low, and the lack of grounds for attributing unfair competition to the consortium.
This ruling is an important confirmation that the protection of trade secrets is not an exception to the principle of transparency of proceedings, but an equivalent principle of the public procurement system. At the same time, it shows how important it is to carefully and substantively prepare trade secret protection, clearly demonstrating the economic value of the information, its confidentiality, and the protection measures used, as well as responsibly formulating allegations of abnormally low prices and unfair competition.
Winning the contract covered by the proceedings is another important step for our client in building a portfolio of contracts for the launched installation for the processing of hazardous waste in the form of dust and slag using stabilizing preparations.
If your organization is applying for public procurement contracts, particularly in the field of waste management, our lawyers are at your service with their specialist knowledge and experience!
The case was handled by:
Dawid Mielcarski, attorney-at-law, Partner at Andersen in Poland
Klaudia Raczek-Słomka, attorney-at-law, Manager at Andersen in Poland