ECOWAS Tenders Code Chapter II: Responsibilities for Procurement Proceedings and Contract Awards Article 6: Awarding, Approving and Contracting Authorities 1. The Awarding Entity is the Procurement Committee or Procurement Board or Officer responsible for selecting a candidate or contractor through processes specified in this Code for the award of a contract. 2. The Approving Authority is the officer entrusted to endorse the reports of the Awarding Authority and makes recommendation to the Contracting Authority to sign the contract; 3. The Contracting Authority shall be the President or an Officer designated by him to sign and monitor the performance of the contract. 4. The responsibilities attached to each Authority depending on the threshold are indicated in schedules 1-9. 5. The Approving and Contracting Authorities may delegate their functions whilst considering the principles of segregation of functions. 6. The Awarding Authority shall not delegate its functions. Article 7: Public Contracting Officer and Functions 1. The Public Contracting Officer, based on the thresholds indicated in Schedules 1 – 9, shall be: i. Head of Procurement Division or Director responsible for Procurement (Commission); . ii. Head of Procurement Unit or Director responsible for Procurement (Other Institutions); iii. Administration Officer of the Agency or Office or Director responsible for Procurement in the Commission (Agencies and field Offices). In all cases, the PCO shall have the responsibility to: a) Drive and monitor the procurement processes with the relevant Procurement Committees in the procuring entities; b) Prepare the bidding documents, Request for Quotations, Request for Proposals and advertisement; c) Prepare and submit draft contracts for review and approval; 2. The Public Contracting Officer shall be assisted in the execution of his/her functions by competent procurement staff in all ECOWAS Institutions to manage procurement processes. Final Page 5