Glossary · Words that travel differently

A Proprietary Article Certificate is the document an Indian public buyer issues to justify buying a specific manufacturer's item without competition, on the stated ground that only that manufacturer makes what the requirement needs. It is the paperwork behind a single-source purchase, and it is where a competitor looks first when a contract is awarded without a tender, because the certificate has to name the reason the item is proprietary. The equivalent idea elsewhere is the negotiated procedure without prior publication in the European Union, and the ajuste direto by material criterion in Portugal.