Government on Thursday tabled an amendment in the National Assembly to the Small Business Act which when passed will expand the criteria needed to qualify as a Small Business in Guyana.
According to the Explanatory memorandum of the bill, Clause 2 (a) of the Bill, which amends section 2(1) of the Principal Act, seeks to ensure that once a business employs not more than 25 persons; has a gross annual revenue of not more than $60 million , and total business assets of not more than $25 million such a business in addition to satisfying the other applicable conditions stipulated in section 2 (1) (a)-(e), will be classed a small business for all intents and purposes of the Act.
Notably the amendment mandates that a business must satisfy all three of the criteria in order to be classed a small business. Previously businesses were required to satisfy “at least two” of the criteria.
The new amendments also requires that documented verification of the specified criteria be provided before approval as a small business. Previously business owners could supply a “declaration”.
Additionally, Clause 2 (c) of the Bill, which amends section 2(3) of the Principal Act, seeks to allow the Small Business Council to grant “approved small business” status to businesses based on recommendations from the Small Business Bureau.
The final amendment, Clause 3, is intended to expand the procurement opportunities for small businesses to include government works to be executed.
While the Principal Act provides for at least 20% of Government procurement of goods and services to be obtained from small businesses government works were excluded from this provision; the amendment will include these works.
Section 11 (1) now relates to government’s “procurement of goods, services and works to be executed annually.”
The proposed legislation comes days after the National Assembly passed the Procurement (Amendment) Bill which paves the way for small businesses to be given preferential treatment for certain procurements.
These amendments complement those passed by the House on May 15 as part of the Procurement (Amendment) Bill.
The passage of those amendments paves the way for local small contractors to benefit from 20 per cent of all state procurement.
Public Procurement Commission (PPC) Chairperson Carol Corbin had previously pointed out that the Procurement Act needed to be changed to allow for this.
“It is in the Small Business Act but not in the Procurement Act. The Procurement Act is the principal act that governs procurement and which guides procuring entities,” Corbin had told Stabroek News. “There is nothing wrong with giving preferential treatment…many other jurisdictions do it but it is in their Act —South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad and other places…We have done the research…but it must be in the law. The opinion of the PPC is that the Procurement Act must be amended before this can be implemented properly,” she had said.
