Britain proposes tougher procurement laws to protect national security
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The changes will be put forward by the government when the Procurement Bill is debated in Parliament next week.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON - Britain will on Wednesday propose tightening procurement laws to protect sensitive sectors on national security grounds by setting up a new unit to investigate suppliers and also creating new powers to ban suppliers from certain contracts.
Britain has also been reassessing the role of companies with links to foreign countries in its critical infrastructure and supply chains.
The changes will be put forward by the government when the Procurement Bill is debated in Parliament next week.
Under the updated plans, the government will set up a National Security Unit for Procurement to investigate suppliers and assess whether they should be barred from public procurements.
It will also introduce new powers to ban suppliers from sectors related to national security and defence while allowing them to win procurements in non-sensitive areas.
“These new measures will protect our sensitive sectors from companies which could threaten national security and are a firm deterrence to hostile actors who wish to do Britain harm,” junior Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin said in a statement.
The amendments will need to secure approval from both Houses of Parliament before they become law.
In 2020, the government said it would ban Huawei from its 5G network Nexperia to sell Britain’s biggest microchip factory
