International Trade Centre

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is the only United Nations development agency fully dedicated to supporting the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

ITC enables SMEs in developing and transition economies to become more competitive and connect to international markets for trade and investment, thus raising incomes and creating job opportunities, especially for women, young people and poor communities.

ITC works with developing countries and economies in transition to achieve ‘trade impact for good’. It provides trade and market intelligence, technical support and practical capacity building to policymakers, the private sector and organizations that support business — termed trade and investment support institutions (TISIs). ITC helps link SMEs to regional and international markets.

ITC partners with: governments, policymakers, development agencies, international and regional organizations, TISIs, trade promotion organizations, women business organizations, SMEs and other stakeholders in the public and private sectors. This coordinated support ensures that impact is both multiplied on the ground and is sustainable.

Established in 1964, ITC is the joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

The Procurement Services (PS), Central Support services (CSS) /Division of Programme Support (DPS) is carrying out the procurement and contracting for ITC. PS provides purchasing and contracting services for headquarters, for field offices or for the implementation of projects worldwide.

The type of goods and services procured by ITC serve to support project implementation such as trade data, specialized laboratory equipment and hotel accommodations and conference room for workshops, events and seminars. PS also procures a wide range of IT and Office equipment as well as services to support the ITC for its functioning at Headquarters. 

ITC also engages the services of consultancy companies to assist with the implementation of projects. ITC participates in the UN Common Procurement Activities Group (CPAG), which strives to achieve economy of scale, to standardize and to pool purchases by adopting common service contracts whenever possible.

General terms and conditions 

The ITC General Terms and Conditions for procurement, as below, are incorporated in all ITC contract documents, and shall form an integral part of any commercial contract awarded by ITC.

General Terms and Conditions for Procurement of Goods and Services - please consult this link to access to the documents

Vendors are encouraged to take note of the ITC General Terms and Conditions before registering as ITC vendors and all sub-contractors are required to abide by them.

Supplier code of conduct

ICT vendors and all sub-contractors are required to abide by the UN Supplier Code of Conduct - please consult this link to access to the document

Rules and regulations

ITC procurement is carried out in accordance with United Nations Financial Rules and Regulations and is based on competitive bidding. Bids are obtained by means of formal or informal tender. Contracts/purchases over USD 40,000 are awarded on the basis of international competitive bidding unless there are exceptional factors that preclude bidding. The main considerations for contract award are compliance with specifications, price, technical quality and acceptability, and compliance with delivery schedules.

Competitive Procurement Process

Tendering among pre-qualified vendors from the United Nations Global Market Place Vendor list is the norm; however, very large prospective contracts may be advertised by Requests for Expression of Interests through the ITC web site or the United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM), newspapers, or through specialized publications. Information about upcoming requirements is posted on the ITC web site under “Major Upcoming Business Opportunity Notices”.

Yes, therefore the user should be automatically taken to the external website when clicking on the blue Express Interest button. The blue Express interest button will change to a green View documents button.

e-Procurement system used by this UN organization: In-Tend

Contact email of the e-Procurement system: support@in-tend.co.uk 

• How to participate in procurement opportunities requiring electronic submission on UNGM?
• If a procurement protest needs to be submitted, contact the UN organization at Taki@intracen.org 

Unfortunately, ITC does not report to the ASR. To learn more about their procurement volume, visit their ITC Trade Statistics website.