Last week, the Executive Committee of the Consortium approved an Instruction Manual to promote the incorporation of social and environmental clauses in their contract specifications
This guide homogenizes the criteria included in the tenders, promotes their real use and strengthens the social and environmental responsibility of the Institution
Among the recommendations that technicians will have to evaluate when processing a tender are energy saving measures, reduction of polluting gases, gender equality plans, work-life balance and socio-labor insertion of people with disabilities, among others.
Along these lines, the manual seeks to promote contracting with special employment centers of social initiative and social insertion companies, prioritizing them in minor contracting as long as they can attend to the type of service that is contracted.
The Cádiz Free Trade Zone has taken another step in its social and environmental commitment with the approval in the last Executive Committee of the year, held last week, of an Instruction Manual to promote the incorporation of clauses on both matters in its public procurement and that of its group of investee companies.
Con esta medida, el Consorcio homogeneiza cláusulas y condiciones que ya se incluían en sus pliegos por normativa –Ley de Contratos del Sector Público; Directiva 2014/24/UE; y Orden PCL/566/2019– y sobre todo amplía e impulsa su aplicación real, ofreciendo a los técnicos de la Institución una herramienta que facilita la implementación de este tipo de cláusulas y especificaciones técnicas durante la redacción de los pliegos de contratación, siempre que sean adecuadas al objeto del contrato.
Tanto para las cláusulas sociales como ambientales se incorporan dos tipos, unas que serán de inclusión obligatoria y otras que son recomendaciones para incorporar atendiendo al tipo de prestaciones que se quiera contratar.
Entre las cláusulas medioambientales, destacan medidas destinadas a la reducción del nivel de emisión de gases de efecto invernadero; medidas de ahorro, eficiencia energética y utilización de renovables durante la ejecución del contrato; y acciones para el mantenimiento o mejora de los recursos naturales que puedan verse afectados.
For its part, as social clauses, the manual aims to promote, through different means, the socio-labor insertion of people with disabilities or a situation at risk of social exclusion; gender equality plans and promotion of female hiring; reconciliation of work, personal and family life; improvement of working and salary conditions; stability in employment and the hiring of a greater number of people to execute the contract.
Likewise, it highlights a series of recommendations based on the different objects of the contract, such as advising the inclusion of sustainability criteria in textile products in a double aspect: both from the point of view of their raw materials and components, they comply with the limitation of chemical substances, promote recycled fibers and reduce packaging in the distribution chain, and that they come from a production process that respects the basic conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). It also recommends establishing sustainability standards in computer equipment, standardizing the criteria around lower energy consumption and reducing emissions; and include sustainability criteria in the purchase and consumption of paper, in contracts for drafting projects and execution of works, in the cleaning and selective collection of office waste or sustainability criteria in the acquisition of vehicles or in service contracts that require the use of vehicles.
An important section of the manual focuses on promoting hiring with special social initiative employment centers and social insertion companies through minor hiring. And this is because it is considered one of the most appropriate ways – due to its simplicity and speed of processing – to encourage the participation of this type of centers and companies and comply with the reservation established by the Public Sector Contracts Law.
Así, los técnicos de la Zona Franca y su grupo de empresas participadas al iniciar una contratación deberán cotejar el objeto contractual con la existencia de empresas de inserción o centros especiales de empleo que operen en dicho sector de actividad y cuenten con capacidad adecuada para prestar o ejecutar debidamente el contrato y, en el caso de estos puedan ejecutar el servicio, obra o suministro, se les reservará la adjudicación.
It should be noted that the Manual approved by the Free Zone makes an exhaustive overview of the inclusion of this type of clauses in the different parts and phases of the contract (special contract conditions, subcontracting, bid evaluation criteria, etc.), taking into account the nature and characteristics of the contract. In addition, it establishes a control system for their execution that includes consequences for non-compliance with these social and environmental criteria.
Given the implementation of this instruction-guide of social and environmental clauses, the State delegate in the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz has stressed that "the Consortium makes the commitment to more sustainable management and with a clear social sieve a reality with facts. We do not stop at the philosophy but rather implement with a complete manual how technicians can and should collect in public procurement criteria and recommendations that promote works and services that are more respectful of our environment, with the future of the planet and that meet the social and labor rights, collective agreements and social inclusion.”